Djokovic ready to recharge in Toronto
For the first time since Wimbledon, all the top guns are at the same venue, hoping to kick off their hard-court season in style at the Toronto Masters Series.
Tournament: Rogers Cup
Surface: Hard
Draw: 64
Prize Money: $2,615,000
Top seeds: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko
Rafael Nadal's win over Roger Federer at Wimbledon, according to many, signalled a changing of the guard atop men's tennis, no matter what the rankings say.
Federer, still technically the No. 1, has a chance to re-establish his authority in Toronto and build some momentum ahead of next month's Olympics and U.S. Open, while Nadal, whose knees don't take kindly to hard courts, is hoping to keep things going.
Novak Djokovic, the defending Rogers Cup champion, is seeking to bounce back from a surprising second-round exit at Wimbledon. He just might be the man to beat on this surface.
First Quarter: New territory for Federer?
After a first-round bye, Federer could run into two players he's never faced before, improving Frenchman Gilles Simon and the dangerous Ernests Gulbis, the only foe apart from Federer to take a set off Nadal at Wimbledon this year.
Simon, whose best results have traditionally come on clay, won his first hard-court title in Indianapolis on Sunday.
Gulbis should coast in his opener against puzzling Argentine Jose Acasuso and would likely need to down another combustible South American, Fernando Gonzalez, to get to the third round -- and potentially Federer.
Andy Roddick might not need to wait long to get revenge on Janko Tipsarevic, his conqueror in the second round at Wimbledon. If the Serb wins his opener, they'll meet in Round 2.
Rising Croat star Marin Cilic is also in this quarter of the draw and could be a dangerous floater.
Second Quarter: Blake looking good
James Blake always heats up during the U.S. Open series. As if we needed more evidence of that, the dashing baseliner reached the semifinals in Indianapolis this past weekend.
He gets a chance to ease into the Toronto draw, too, a bye in the opening round followed by a qualifier in the next.
Wimbledon quarterfinalist Feliciano Lopez, crafty Czech Radek Stepanek -- a winner over Blake in the Los Angeles final last summer -- and the potentially dangerous Dmitry Tursunov, Blake tormentor in the Indianpolis semis, are all in the section, though only one advances to the third round.
Nikolay Davydenko is the highest seed. He's trying to regain some momentum following third-round and first-round exits at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively.
His first foe will probably be German Tommy Haas. Two of their last three head-to-heads went to five sets.
Blake, incidentally, is a perfect 6-0 versus Davydenko.
Prediction: Blake
Third Quarter: Djokovic's to lose
Djokovic broke through at this tournament last year, upsetting Federer in the final after saving a flurry of set points on the Swiss's serve in the opening set. He carried the momentum to the U.S. Open, although Federer exacted revenged and saved a few set points of his own in a straight-sets thriller in the finale.
Djokovic likely begins with Croat Mario Ancic, somewhat on a roll in the wake of his quarterfinal showing at Wimbledon. Ancic knocked off two Spaniards who'd been performing well, in David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco, along the way.
Verdasco, becoming a tad less unpredictable -- reaching at least the semis in three of his last four tournaments -- is one of several dark horses, along with Andy Murray, coming off his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Marat Safin and Stanislas Wawrinka.
Safin toppled Wawrinka in the fourth round at Wimbledon and they're on course for a second-round rematch.
Prediction: Djokovic
Nadal has a potentially tasty start, if nothing else, against charismatic Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. Nadal hasn't lost to the Peter Lundgren-led Baghdatis in five tries, although several of their tilts, including one at Wimbledon two years ago, made for great entertainment.
Czech Tomas Berdych could be heading into journeyman status if he doesn't start raising his game, and a possible third-round clash with Nadal looms.
Nadal has claimed their last three tussles, though Berdych has won three of their four career meetings on hard courts.
Nadal's scheduled quarterfinal opponent is Ferrer, a match-up that would provide yet more interest. Ferrer overcame Nadal in their previous two hard-court matches, using his inside-out forehand to good effect.
Prediction: Nadal
Semifinals
Fellow Americans Mardy Fish and Roddick ended their jinxes against Federer this season, so Blake should be as confident as one can be despite losing all eight matches against him and taking a solitary set.
Nadal used his lefty serve effectively at Wimbledon, but how will it fare on hard courts? He claimed just 58 percent of points behind his first serve in a crushing 6-3, 6-2 loss to Djokovic in the Pacific Life Open semifinals in March and is 1-3 in their latest four hard-court duels.
Prediction: Federer, Djokovic to advance
Final
With every cloud comes a silver lining. Djokovic's earlier than anticipated exit in London surely gave him time to recharge for his favorite part of the campaign. On the other hand, Federer won't need any extra motivation, since Djokovic apparently riled him with some comments on the eve of Wimbledon.
Prediction: Djokovic
Ravi Ubha is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.
