The 2012 London Olympics are over as far as tennis goes and the British public can finally celebrate a home grown champion at the All England Club.
Andy Murray may not have won Wimbledon yet but he did something nearly as impressive. Murray defeated Roger Federer in the gold medal match at the London Olympics on Sunday and in doing so, the Scot took down the biggest match of his career.
This achievement promises to inject a ton of confidence into Murray as he looks ahead at the hard court season, typically the strongest surface for the World No. 4.
Other medallists in men’s singles include Switzerland’s Federer, who took away the silver medal, and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro who won bronze. World No. 2 Novak Djokovic leaves London empty handed after losing to both Murray and del Potro in the final days of tennis competition at the All England Club.
Alexandr Dolgopolov did not participate in the London Olympics, however, he still had a productive week. The Ukrainian took full advantage of a draw that was diluted in talent (no doubt thanks to the Olympics) and he won the final of ATP Washington on Sunday. Dolgopolov’s opponent was Tommy Haas of Germany and both players saw their rankings improving quite significantly with the April 6th, 2012 update.
Dolgopolov is now ranked 16th in the world and he is approaching his career-high rank of World No. 13. Haas’s career high ranking of World No. 2 is surely out of reach at this late stage of his career but the German is back into the Top 25 on tour for the first time in a long time.
Other notable ascenders in the rankings include del Potro, who inched up a spot to World No. 8, Mardy Fish who is up two spots and now ranked World No. 13, and Igor Sisling of the Netherlands who gained 28 spots to reach the World No. 74 position with the Vancouver Challenger title. Del Potro’s rise of just one spot is quite significant because, if he holds onto the ranking or improves his standing, it would imply a seeding at the 2012 US Open of at least eighth. That seeding would guarantee that he would not have to face a player seeded higher than himself until the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.
The US Open is still weeks away but there is plenty to look forward to in the next week of tennis. The Toronto Masters take place this week where Novak Djokovic is the top seed and Andy Murray the second seed. Both players have much needed byes through the first round following their efforts in London.
In my opinion Djokovic and Murray are small question marks in Toronto. They are the highest ranked players in the tournament with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer both sitting the event out. I think you do have to wonder how much Djokovic and Murray will have in the tank following their exertions in London.
But del Potro might be facing bigger fatigue issues than either Murray or Djokovic. Quite frankly, I am moderately surprised that the Argentine hasn’t joined some of the other top players on the sidelines this week. Delpo’s conditioning is a little more suspect than either Murray’s or Djokovic’s and the Argentine, in my opinion, might be smart to look ahead to Cincinnati and Flushing Meadows at this point.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych are important players in the Toronto Masters draw as well. Tsonga, however, could also face fatigue issues as he was active in both the singles and doubles draws in London, winning the silver medal in the latter. Berdych did not do well at the Olympics and should be well rested heading into Toronto. However, the four seed at the Canadian Masters has been playing so crummy lately that it’s hard to mention his name alongside the other tournament favorites. The former Wimbledon runner-up suffered first round upsets at Wimbledon 2012 and at the Olympics and that is more than enough to suggest that something is not right with his game right now.
With all of the key players either missing the event outright or facing possible fatigue issues ATP Toronto presents a fantastic opportunity for a player not accustomed to Masters Series success to break through.
Marin Cilic is well-rested heading into Toronto after suffering an early round loss at the Olympics. He could be looking at the Toronto Masters as his opportunity to creep back toward the Top 10 on tour. When at his best, he’s perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone although it has been about two years since we’ve seen the Croat play his best - maybe longer.
Milos Raonic is another player to watch and the Canadian has a bye through the first round of the Masters. Canada isn’t exactly known for producing tennis prodigies, but the Toronto Masters represent a chance for Raonic to change his country's reputation. He has a chance to solidify his name in the minds of his countrymen as he plays in front of what promises to be a partisan Canadian crowd.
Raonic will have to survive a section of the draw that includes Murray if the Canadian is to make a deep run in Toronto.
Outside of Toronto, there are plenty of other tournaments taking place although they are all on the challenger circuit. Resurrected American Brian Baker is the top seed at the Aptos Challenger (hard), surging Slovak Martin Klizan is top seeded in San Marino (red clay), and Spaniard Tommy Robredo looks to keep making progress in his comeback at Pozoblanco (hard). Igor Kunitsyn, Victor Hanescu, and Thiemo de Bakker are also scheduled for action this week in clay court challengers.