Djokovic in another Masters final

Simona Halep won her semi final in surprisingly convincing fashion over Wimbledon finalist Angie Kerber in Montreal.

The 5th seed grabbed the first set 6-0, with Kerber winning only a third of the points when serving.  Although she came back in set two to level the match, Angie could not sustain the effort against a rampant Halep who returned the German serve brilliantly, breaking three more times to win a finals spot 6-0 3-6 6-2.

Madison Keys will be the final hurdle for Simona to clear following the American's straight sets victory over Kristina Kucova.  Kucova should remember this tournament for all the matches prior to this disaster which saw Keys serve nine aces, break four times while not facing a single break point on her own serve, and winning two thirds of all points played.

My selection for the final is Madison Keys but I underestimated Halep at my peril in the semi and could well be doing so again.

Toronto will host a Nishikori v Djokovic final.  That Novak is there surprises no one - once the wobbly first few games of his semi final were negotiated, the world's best controlled Gael Monfils in a classy display featuring by far the best tennis he has exhibited in the tournament.

A repeat of that will cause Kei Nishikori a mountain of strife, but the Japanese number one is handling big challenges beautifully as evidenced by his destruction of Stan Wawrinka in the other semi final.

The third seed triumphed in straight sets, the second a 6-1 thrashing, on top of a competitive opening set tie break won 8 points to 6.

The only reason to pick Djokovic to lose the final would be a last minute attempt to make up ground in a tennis tipping competition.  All logic suggests that because he plays a similar brand of tennis to Nishikori, but a bit better in all facets, Novak should prevail.

Kucova surprise Montreal semi finalist

It's semi final time in Canada, and sadly no Canadians will feature.  The top female maple leaf hope was Eugenie Bouchard - after fine victories over Safarova and Cibulkova in Montreal, she lost to Slovakian Kristina Kucova, who despite winning the US Open Junior Grand Slam title in 2007, has never been ranked in the top 100. 

Kucova didn't stop there, impressing all with her quarter final success over last start winner Johanna Konta, in the process denying the Brit's attempt to enter the world's top ten.  Instead of Dominika Cibulkova flying the Slovak flag, it will be Kristina doing battle against 10th seed Madison Keys in one of the semi finals.

Keys has had a tough run, requiring three sets each to overcome Venus Williams and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in respective third round and quarter final clashes.  Pavlyuchenkova had previously dispensed with fourth seed Aga Radwanska.  I expect the power game of the American to be enough to guide her through to the final, with Kucova finally entering the top 100 irrespective.

The second of the semi finals of the Rogers Cup - yes the ATP and WTA event organisers in Canada must have accepted Mr Federer's donation of his name, just as the women's team event paid homage to the great man when calling itself the Fed Cup - will include Angie Kerber and Simona Halep, who were seeded to meet in the final four following the withdrawal of Muguruza. 

Kerber was facing defeat in the third round with Elina Svitolina serving for the match at 6-1 5-4, before pulling off the comeback of the tournament to survive and remaining favourite to win the title.  Halep also was threatened, her problems arriving in the quarter final against Kuznetsova, losing the opening set 6-3.  However, it proved only a slight diversion as the next two sets were wrapped up for Romania in rapid fashion.

In Toronto, the Canadian expected to reach the semis, fourth seed Milos Raonic, fell to the highly watchable but for much of his career just as unpredictable Gael Monfils.  Their quarter final was the highlight of the tournament leading into the battle of the final four.  Raonic played great tennis - better than at least two of the other winning quarter finalists - but Monfils was at the peak of his powers.  The locals were treated to a top spectacle, with only the result contributing anything negative.

Numbers 1, 2 and 3 seeds fill the other semi final spots.  Second seed Stan Wawrinka has displayed some of his best in each of his matches, not dropping a set while eliminating dangerous opponents including Sock and Anderson.  Three of the sets have gone to tie breaks and Stan has shown composure through these.  

He will need to remain composed against Kei Nishikori in the semi final because the third seed will keep the ball in play for an annoyingly long time.  Although his form has been scratchy, Nishikori has done all that is necessary and he is capable of lifting for the big occasion.  Not quite enough for this occasion though in my opinion.

Another who has yet to produce his best is the top seed Novak Djokovic, and that is scary for Gael Monfils.  The world number one, on the rebound from his Wimbledon disappointment, has used two opponents as hitting practice before rolling out a pile of unforced errors against Tomas Berdych - he can afford to do it when playing Berdych because somehow the win always come, whatever either does.

The semi final should be exciting to watch - Monfils will play glorious unconventional shots and hopefully challenge Djokovic to defend from unusual positions.  This may force the number one out of his comfort zone and produce some shot making that is rarely asked of him but is breathtaking in its skill and artistry.  

A win for Monfils is a big ask but a close match packed full of highlights is warranted for a crowd unhappy that a Canadian is not playing.

Rio nearing - and no Roger !

It's hard to judge the performances of players competing in Toronto and Montreal this week.  For the men, the Masters event in Toronto is one of nine in a points scoring class second only to the four Grand Slam tournaments, and points from it must be included in a players overall total. This means Andy Murray will score zero as he has bypassed Canada this year.  Last year he won and scored 1000 points (it was held in Montreal as the two cities rotate hosting duties) Because of the Olympics, Canada is scheduled earlier in 2016, but in the wash up Murray will lose ground to Djokovic who was beaten by the Scot in the 2015 final but is contesting as top seed in Toronto.

The Premier 5 WTA tournament in Montreal is also in a category just one tier below the majors, and would normally attract the steadfast focus of the top players.  The Wimbledon and Roland Garros champions had originally entered the tournament as the number one and three seeds but Serena Williams and Garbine Muguruza both withdrew after the draw was published.

Questions have to be raised about the timing of these events right on the doorsteps of the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.  The focus of many clearly is split between the task at hand and the prospect of representing ones country at an Olympics - a chance that may come only once in a career.  

For Roger Federer, injury has robbed him of his probably last tilt at a medal for Switzerland, and the tennis world will be without him for the remainder of the year.  Career ending may be too severe a call, but no bigger challenge has been presented to Federer, especially when his comeback from serious injury will be at age 35.

After three rounds in Montreal, the seeds have survived apart from:

Carla Suarez Navarro (8) defeated by 121 ranked Slovakian Kristina Kucova, after leading by a set

Dominika Cibulkova (11) smashed by Canadian Eugenie Bouchard to the thrills of the locals - Slovakia a win and a loss but not the way it was expected.

Samantha Stosur (14) once leaving the clay, rediscovered her inconsistency, and Russian teenager  Daria Kasatkina, now ranked 33, won in straight sets.

One of the semi finalists will come from either Varvara Lepchenko (who as lucky loser took Serena's place in the draw), Kukova, Bouchard or Stanford winner Johanna Konta.  You could have been given long odds on that before the tournament.

Kerber, Radwanska and Halep lead the way as the tournament enters the final sixteen.

In Toronto, 11th seed Nick Kyrgios didn't have Rio on his mind as an excuse because he is not going, but he still lost to 17 year old Canadian wild card Denis Shapovalov, ranked 370 in the world.

Other seeds to fall in round one were Benoit Paire (14) and Steve Johnson (15). 9th seed John Isner was felled in round two by fellow American Ryan Harrison who had to fight through qualifying to make the main draw.  13th seed Lucas Pouille also failed to pass the second round, ousted by 118th ranked American Rajeev Ram.  Ivo Karlovic served 20 aces on his way to defeating 8th seed Marin Cilic to make the final 16, and 6th seed Dominic Thiem surrendered to a hip injury when down 1-4 in the first set to Kevin Anderson.

Djokovic, Wawrinka and Nishikori all safely gained entrance to the round of sixteen.

O Canada

Canada is the setting for the 2 big tennis tournaments before the Olympics.  The men are playing a Masters event in Toronto, led by Djokovic, Wawrinka, Nishikori and Wimbledon runner up Milos Raonic, hoping to take out the event in front of a home crowd.

10th seed for Toronto is Gael Monfils, fresh from winning a three set final in Washington against Ivo Karlovic.  Ivo provides a tough first round match up for 8th seed Marin Cilic in Canada.

In other events decided in the last couple of days, Feliciano Lopez won the Gstaad title.  As top seed he proved too strong for Robin Haase, but neither have chosen to compete in Toronto.

Kitzbuhel saw fourth seed Paolo Lorenzi prevail over Nikoloz Basilashvili and Fabio Fognini defeated Andrej Martin to win in Umag.

The Premier event for the women this week is in Montreal and the draw is headed by

Kerber, Muguruza, Radwanska and Halep.  Venus will be the sole Williams sister following the withdrawal of the world number one.

Venus is continuing her fine Wimbledon form, just missing out in a three set final in Stanford to Johanna Konta.  Konta, as 15th seed, will be one to watch in Montreal.

The Washington title was snapped up by Belgian seventh seed Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets over American Lauren Davis.

Germany had reason to celebrate as sixth seed Laura Siegemund triumphed in Bastad, defeating Katerina Siniakova in the final.

Konta has moved from 18 to 14, Wickmayer 44 to 36, and Siegemund 40 to 32 in the latest rankings.

Tennis on 2 Continents

Tennis has continued in Europe while it is also making its presence felt on the hard courts of North America, a number of players beginning their preparation for the US Open just over a month away.

Still the top of the pack are giving tournament play a rest, only a handful of top ten players out and about, and having mixed success.

In Washington, both the ATP and WTA are holding events, with four of the men's quarter finalists from the USA.  All the top eight seeds are there except for third seed Bernard Tomic who fell to big serving Ivo Karlovic in the second round.  Karlovic won a close first set, in which no break points were created by either player. The only break of the match came in the second set and the Croatian won 7-6 6-3, winning an amazing 37 points from his 39 first serves.

Top seed John Isner is favoured to win the title but he will need to first eliminate fellow American Steve Johnson in his quarter final.

Top women's seed in Washington is Samantha Stosur, in fact the only top twenty player in the draw.  Sam has ridden the bad luck of Caroline Wozniacki, who was a set up before an injured left arm forced her to concede the match to the Aussie who now sits comfortably in the final eight.  Her major competition left in the tournament looks to be France's Kristina Mladenovic, the fourth seed, following early exits by Sloane Stephens and Monica Puig.

Stanford is the other US WTA title up for grabs this week, and again half the quarter finalists are American, all in the top half of the draw.  Venus Williams, the top seed, and Dominika Cibulkova, second seed, both buoyed by great Wimbledon campaigns, are continuing their fine form, and the tall and short of it may well battle out the final at the weekend.

Dangerous, though, to discount the chances of Coco Vandeweghe and Johanna Konta.

Angie Kerber, the Wimbledon finalist, and Bastad top seed, withdrew from the tournament in Sweden before her third round match, leaving Sara Errani and Annika Beck as the top seeds left, ranked 21 and 38 respectively.

Three ATP tournaments are happening in Europe.  While Karlovic is gunning for the Washington title, his home country of Croatia is hosting a tournament in Umag.  Portugal has two of the quarter finalists, with Gastao Elias upsetting top seed Pablo Cuevas, and second seed Joao Sousa needing two close sets to knock out Leonardo Mayer.

Gstaad, Switzerland hosts a tournament where only two of the world's top thirty are competing.  Top seed and world number 20, Feliciano Lopez is among seven confirmed quarter finalists, but second seed Gilles Simon is yet to play his second round match.

Kitzbuhel, Austria is another venue allowing ATP tour players the chance to hit some serious tennis ball.  Headlining the tournament - Dominic Thiem, eager to win his home nations title.  However both he and second seed Philipp Kohlschreiber lost second round matches, following first round byes.

The semi finals have been reached with 107th ranked Gerald Melzer flying the Austrian flag meeting fourth seed Italian Paolo Lorenzi in one, and 123th ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili from Georgia against Serb sixth seed Dusan Lajovic.in the other.

Halep, Golubic win titles at home

Martin Klizan won the Hamburg title, defeating Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-4.  As a result, Klizan jumps 19 spots to 28 in the rankings and Cuevas moves from 24 to 20.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas has risen four spots to 31 with his win over Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-4 to take out the Bastad tournament.  Verdasco is back in the top fifty at 47 having moved up 12 places.

The Newport final was an epic three tie break set thriller between Ivo Karlovic and Gilles Muller.  Karlovic lost the first set but won the next two, the final tie break decided 14-12.  Karlovic and Muller are ranked 35 and 36, both improving three spots.

Simona Halep literally gave nothing away to Anastasija Sevastova in the Bucharest final, winning a home country title 6-0 6-0.  Halep remains fifth ranked in the world while Sevastova rises 17 places to 49.

Viktorija Golubic upset Kiki Bertens in Gstaad to also win a tournament in her home country, after dropping the opening set.  Golubic's win rockets her 33 places into the top 100 at 72 and Bertens rises five spots to 21.

Five tournaments - finalists set

In the Hamburg showdown, third seed Pablo Cuevas will play seventh seed Martin Klizan after semi final wins over unseeded Renzo Olivo and Stephane Robert respectively.

Gilles Muller, seeded three will play Ivo Karlovic, seeded two, in the Newport final.

In the semis, Muller defeated American Donald Young in straight sets and Karlovic also won in two, Marcos Baghdatis pushing the Croatian to tie breaks in each set.

In Bastad, Sweden, there will be an all Spanish final but it won't feature top seed David Ferrer who was defeated by compatriot and third seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in their semi final.  Albert will need to overcome Fernando Verdasco if he is to win the title, the  fifth seed beating Gastao Elias easily 6-3 6-1.

In Simona Halep's home country of Romania, the top seed has the chance to win the Bucharest title, but for awhile it looked as though she may miss the final.  She lost the first set in a tie breaker before steadying and winning her semi final against unseeded American Vania King in three.

Halep will meet seventh seed Anastasija Sevastova in the decider after the Latvian proved too strong for fourth seed German Laura Siegemund.

In Gstaad, the locals were happy to see three Swiss players in the semi finals.  However only one will be seen in the final following third seed Kiki Bertens knocking out top seed Timea Bacsinszky.  The Dutch player won a tight match 7-5 7-6.

The Swiss opponent for Kiki is unseeded Viktorija Golubic whose semi final win was at the expense of Rebeka Masarova, also unseeded, 6-3 6-2.

For all the intrigue on the tennis courts of Europe, the most exciting news in the tennis world this week has been the announcement of Victoria Azarenka's pregnancy.  Although women's tennis will miss her presence, the impending arrival of a child for Vika more than compensates for that.