Pete, thanks for this look at Canadian tennis.

Er, sorry, meant to say Ed. Thanks-- I wish the Canadian media would also devote 1000 words to Canadian tennis.

Russ:

Ed Mcrogan wrote this not Pete.

SECOND!!

Ed, thanks for this interesting and timely post.

I do not understand why the Canada does not really excel in tennis on the world stage. With it's Anglo/Saxon roots, one would think there'd be a tradition to look back on, and as you say, the Rogers Cup tourney is the 3rd oldest in the world. (Although, is this a relatively new name for the cup?) I used to think it was because Canada's population is small, about 32 million now, or something (but then look at Serbia with a 10 million pop.) Canada does have a large immigrant population that may not have a tennis tradition; or the time to devote time to playing sports.

Maybe Canada is producing some outstanding skiers....

Um, Russ, that's Ed on the byline.

Moving up to Calgary, I have to say (with genuine regret) that tennis is very much a niche sport. Television coverage is scant, the Tennis Channel mostly unavailable. There's a six month season in which outdoor play is possible, and a very limited number of indoor sports.

By and large, it is all hockey, all the time. You might get a "sport" player like a Federer or Srichiphan (or a Murray), but I honestly can't see Canada developing the depth of a Spain, France, Argentina or Germany.

what is our take on fedex, nadal and joker ?

fedex will win toronto !!

Yeah, hockey. The only thing it has in common with tennis is the net. Except in hockey you actually try to hit your shot into it! Weird.

Nice work, Ed! I must say, although I said that about Frank, I hope he proves me wrong and goes on to the top ten and the final rounds of big tournaments. I like him and his attitude and game a lot. And he's from just across the river from my hometown, Buffalo.

When I was talking to Jimmy Arias at last year's Open, we mentioned Dancevic and Jimmy said, "maybe I'm not the best player from the area anymore." A nice compliment to Frank.

Ed
Any info on what happened to this canadian player named Bester (Philip?). He was another one with a Federer like game.

And let's not forget to give a shout-out to Daniel Nestor, doubles specialist though he is.

Oh, right, Daniel Nestor, forgot.

Ed:

PLEASE give us and update on the weather. Everyone is dying over at the CCC.

Here is Wikki's lowdown on Philip Bester.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Bester

The Canadian national anthem needs some work too.

No 7 in canada. Oy vey.

Slice-n-Dice,
Thanks for saying Nestor as he has the Career Slam in doubles as he won Wimbledon 2.5 weeks ago with Zimonjic.

PC:

No, it doesn't.

The best national anthem on the planet, with the old Soviet anthem (musically) being a close second.

PC, not in my mind, I love the words, and the music too.

afwu1216: pouring.

Hi Matt, I've missed your expertise. Care to give some predictions for toronto?

No way. The Canadian national anthem is hands down the worst. "Oh Canada..."

While we're waiting for the rain to stop....
Rogers Cup Website is awful.
I have to press enter every time to get to the home page.
There is no weather.
No scores - you have to down load a pdf file to get them.
Same with the order of play.
No interview transcripts.

On the plus side - is it me or is Fernando Verdasco getting better looking??

Great post, Ed. Say what you will about the anthem, but is there any doubt that Canda has the coolest flag of them all. The regal maple leaf. Who needs all those crowns and lions and laurel wreaths anyway?

I love the music to the Canada anthem! Just love it...! (and I'm from America!) lol...but I have always liked the music of the Canadian anthem...(don't know the words, but the music is pretty)

I love the music to the Canada anthem! Just love it...! (and I'm from America!) lol...but I have always liked the music of the Canadian anthem...(don't know the words, but the music is pretty)

Too bad Dancevic is out. Yeah, his game could use some firepower. It's not enough to have the 'ability' to hit winners (ask Baghdatis). It's got to translate. Too many guys' games are built to deal with consistency.

If I were Canadian, I wouldn't claim flip-flopper Rusedski, and not only because of his mediocre tennis.

Given that Canada doesn't have a strong tennis tradition, it is probably not realistic to hope for great strength or depth in pro tennis representation. On the plus side, though, that means that simply having a couple of players in the top 50 would generate a lot of excitement.

What seems strange to me is the situation in Sweden - at least on the male side. For a country with Borg and Edberg among their not-so-distant heroes, they look like they are heading into surprisingly deep trouble. Once you set aside those nearing the end of their career (Bjorkman, Johansson), you have Soderling (mid-career) and then more or less nothing. They don't even have a junior boy in the top 100. What gives?

Most Canadians prefer hockey especially those who live in the rural area. They have never played or watched tennis but hockey is so deep into the roots that no other sports can compete. Of course, the new immigrants that come to Canada are more into football aka " soccer". I'm sure in the next few decades, soccer will definately replace hockey, not tennis.

Oops, sorry. That 3:35pm post was me.

As a Canadian tennis fan (and long-time lurker here) I have to agree that it's unlikely that tennis will infiltrate the hockey centric Canadian sporting world. Although I have been to the Roger's Cup (a couple of years ago) and had a great time and the fan support was great.
On a personal level I have been able to convert my mother into a tennis fan, so maybe tennis will grow one fan at a time:)

Oh, and I like the Canadian national anthem. Although I think the lyrics might be more powerful in French than English (its not a direct translation).

alana

Fedex is an all time great , one of the GOATs;

Fedex has dominated the safin-roddick-hewitt generation toamass 12 grand slams;

he is now 27; and cannot dominate the nadal-joker generation as they reach their prime time;

yes, like other GOATs, he will continue to win one slam per year ; but he dcannot beat a healthy nadal on clay; probably not on grass ; and may start losing to joker on hard courts;

fedex is not the GOAT ; nadal destroyed that talk by his FO-wimby triumph; fedex could have lost in straight sets at wimby had nadal not faltered ; or lost last year at wimby had nadal not injured his knee ;

anyway , fedex is great ; and we shall continue to enjoy his greatness ;

but let us not invite humiliation for fedex by calling him the GOAT

The state of amateur sports in Canada is disgraceful (with the exception of hoooookey and baseball ).

The infrastructure is here though, but no programs.

There was a nice show on TV a while back, after the 2000 Sidney Olimpics done by Peter Mansbridge, regarding the "Australian success story", that was achieved with the help of a Canadian: Peter Bowman as to what does Canada need to do, to improve the state of its amateur sports?

The answer was 3 folded:

a) Money
b) Good decision making: the right people in the right places
c) Nation wide programs starting at young ages.

We had all of those in Eastern Europe, in socialist countries, although we didn't have 1/10th of the infrastructure Canada has.

Canada is very social also, but it's selling itself short in terms of what it provides for our children/youth as amateur sports.

"anyway , fedex is great ; and we shall continue to enjoy his greatness ;

but let us not invite humiliation for fedex by calling him the GOAT"

Well, the tone of that was a little bit sharp - but I'll ignore that and agree with you on the last point. No-one will EVER be the GOAT. The concept is wrong. The media love it as it creates good headlines and lots hype with little work on their part. But in reality, there will only ever be a list of those who are the Greatest (plural) Of All Time - who comes top will be debated and argued forever I expect.

ed

i can't quite "see" how canadians are great tennis fans when i see so many empty seats in the main show courts for the matches. disappointing to say the least. the event can't even sell out the tickets.

i've said this many times and i'll say it again: bring the masters tourneys to asia and you'll get packed matches from day 1. none of those boring empty seats, i guarantee you. population figures alone, you'll have SRO (standing room only) status all days of the week!

Svelterogue,
We will find out if Shanghai have SRO from day one when the Masters Series come there in 2009.

*waves*

I just wanted to thank the people at tennis.com for hearing my complaint and putting the Travelblog on the front page, much easier to find. Thank you!

vetmama, I don't think Fed's match is happening before 7:30, the end of Raf's match was irrelevant.

California has a larger population than Canada and has slightly better weather for year-round tennis. Yet, Sam Querrey is the only top 100 Californian. Why would anyone think that Canada would or should have more than that?

"California has a larger population than Canada and has slightly better weather for year-round tennis."

Slightly Better??? LOL!!! There's an understatement... Have you been to Canada (exception being coastal BC) from October to April?

Roger's in trouble...

why aren't youzhny and kiefer on the court?

Kiwibee: What happened to Roger's game?

Demian,
Sarcasm. I'm from CA but lived in Buffalo, NY (a suburb of Toronto) for 2 years. I get the weather. Canada should have about 1 top 100 player for every 20 CA has--i.e. zero.

Living only a few hours from Toronto, I must say they do a great job with the Canadian Open at the new grounds. The old "digs" at York University were a dump and a disgrace to Canadian tennis. This tennis center alone should bring new excitement to up and coming players......... Toronto is a melting pot but with the climate, the top promising "imports" will go to Florida.

"Canada is very social also, but it's selling itself short in terms of what it provides for our children/youth as amateur sports."

Spot on!! Although in fairness they have started a tennis program for the underprivileged at Jane and Finch if I'm not mistaken.