Baghdatis enjoying himself.

Whilst at the Rogers Cup, some players were apparently invited to join the Montreal Fashion Show. The players paraded down a runway accompanied by female models. From the pics, Marcos seems pretty much in his element. I wander if he will be back for next year’s Montreal Open?

Djokivic wins Rogers Masters.

OK, where does this info fit into this particular blog you may ask… This is no general tennis blog, my main concern is Marcos and his antics.

But it is relevant. It was only a few weeks ago that Marcos bowed out of Wimbledon by the thinnest of margins. To Djokovic, who had to run so hard for his money that he in turn walked out of his next match with Nadal. Whereas I (and most of the world) considered Federer virtually unbeatable on hard surface Djokovic has given the rest of the tennis world a glimmer of hope. It means Marcos can compete against the likes of Federer, if only he was in the right frame of mind.

Marcos vs Murray does not feature on today’s order of play in Cincinnati, so by default it must be tomorrow.

Reflections

For those of you who remember this year's Wimbledon duel with Novak Djokovic, you’ll have to be wandering how Marcos collapsed in front of Andy Roddick two days ago. Djokovic seems to have just walked all over Roddick in Montreal before going on to beat Nadal! Which surely has to mean that Marcos stands a good chance of beating any of the three above.

Oh dear oh dear...

I get the impression that Marcos gets nervous in front of 3-4 top players. Namely Federer, Nadal and Roddick. How else can one explain his appearance yesterday? He collapsed like a house of cards. I just hope he gets his act together before next months’ US Open.

Time to play Andy.

With Haase swept aside, it’s time for a real challenge. It’s 1-1 in encounters with Andy Roddick but Marcos took the only one on a hard court surface (en route to the Australian Open final 2006). Today's match is on quite late and needless to say, Roddick is by far the bookie favourite.

Marcos downs Moya

I did not get to watch the game, but it was a bit of a struggle to wrap up the first set. Down 6-2 in the tie break but Marcos still went on to win it. However hard, the records will read "straight sets"; 7-6, 6-1. That makes it 2-1 for Marcos in encounters with Moya. There can't be that many left, Moya having passed 30.

The next game should be a bit of an easy ride. Marcos plays Robin Haase, the surprise young Dutchman (ranked 103 by ATP) who eliminated Thomas Berdych. Marcos has never come across Haase before.

Marcos vs Moya

Whilst the top 8 seeds in the Rogers Cup get to advance to round 2, without contest, Marcos gets to play an ex world no1 for the privilege. Carlos Moya is never easy. However, the score to date is 1-1, with the last match going to Marcos on clay Carlos Moya's favourite surface.
Moya is currently ranked one place above Marcos at 18th, but I am confident Marcos will overcome him. Oh, and the bookies have Marcos down as favourite.

The Rogers Cup

So, bar a mishap, come next week, Marcos should be competing in the Rogers Cup. This Canadian tournament is in fact quite ancient, having began in 1881. Plus it is part of the Master’s series so there’s a lot of dosh to be won here. $2.45 million according to their website. I wander if that is US or Canadian currency.

And no, it’s not named as such because Roger Federer keeps winning it. It used to be called the Canadian Open, but they too succumbed to the sponsorship carrot.

Not much to write about.

Marcos seems to be taking a well deserved break. At the moment there is hardly any news on him knocking about. However, he has just appeared on the Rogers Cup entry list and I think this will be his next appearance. It must be a move to North America in preparation for the US Open, which starts end of August.