To Card or Not To Card

The wildcards have just been announced for the Rogers Masters in Toronto - yes, it is in Toronto this year, I worked it out! There are three Canadians (Frank Dancevic, Peter Polansky and Frederic Niemeyer) and one really wild wildcard. And that belongs to Marat Safin.

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See, Marat is the type of person people should give wildcards to - though surely he can make it into the main draw on his own recognisance now? He's ranked #40, and it's a 64-draw tournament, I'm pretty sure. But still, he's a good person to wildcard in. Excellent player, maybe a little down on his luck over the past few seasons, but with the potential for greatness, etc, etc. And Toronto was Safin's big breakthrough tournament back in 2000, when he beat Levy in the final. So all in all, a good person to hand a wildcard to.

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But I'm not sure about these Canadians. I mean, I know it's the done thing to hand wildcards to your home tennis players. But let's face it: the only one of those three I have heard of is Frank Dancevic. So is it a good practice to hand out these wildcards to people who might not really deserve them - when there are Safins out there that do?

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Let's examine these two. Frederic Niemeyer is #225 in the rankings, and on the ATP level, he's played four matches this year, three of which were Davis Cup. The ATP site lists his highlight this year as a Challenger quarter final. Peter Polansky is #277 in the rankings, and has played five ATP matches this year, four of which were Davis Cup. He's made a Challenger semi and two quarters, as well as winning a Futures event.

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I'm not sure about this year, but last year the cut off for direct acceptance was #57. This year, that's Fabrice Santoro. If we assume that the cut off is about the same this year - let's say #60 - then let's look at who's missing out, unless they come up through qualies. At #62 we have Eduardo Schwank. Sebastien Grosjean at #64. Juan Martin del Potro, Robin Haase, Thomaz Bellucci. And we haven't even hit #70 yet. If we look a bit further down the rankings, we find Yen-hsun Lu, Arnaud Clement, John Isner, Denis Gremelmayr - and look, Frank Dancevic of Canada, sitting in there at #99.

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It's a long way down to Frederic Niemeyer and Peter Polansky.

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I suppose it all evens out in the end, because it's a universal practice. I've lost count of the amount of wildcards Peter Luczak and Chris Guccione and even Nathan Healey have been handed here in Australia. But is it really fair that players like Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or Evgeny Korolev miss out because they're not Canadian?

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Like I said, I guess it evens out. But I'm not sure if it's a practice I really agree with. I suppose it's good for the little guys like Niemeyer and Polansky to get blooded on the ATP circuit, so to speak. But should it be at the expense of players who might deserve it more than they do? Because let's face it: they're first round bunnies. If they win a match, it will be nothing short of a miracle - unless they draw each other. Which would be a miracle.

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But before the wildcard system even gets thought about, there's the bye system to worry about... because if Niemeyer and Polansky are taking up valuable room, imagine what byes are doing. Actually, does Toronto have byes? I don't think it does. In which case, the wildcards are what we should be worrying about. Oh, what a dilemma.

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I don't know if I'm necessarily opposed to nationalistic wildcarding. But I don't think I'm in favour of it either. As someone who has never been a tennis patriot, having natives in the draw makes no difference to me viewing-wise. You show me an Australian playing Federer and I'm going to go for Federer every time. But I think I am in the vast minority.

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Today's Results

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Mercedes Cup (Stuttgart)

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Richard Gasquet def. Albert Montanes, 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

Juan Martin Del Potro def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Agustin Calleri def. Michael Berrer, 6-4 6-2

Eduardo Schwank def. Jan Hernych, 6-0 4-6 6-3

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Allianz Suisse Open (Gstaad)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Guillermo Canas, 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Mikhail Youzhny, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Igor Andreev def. Marin Cilic, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

Victor Hanescu def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

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Catella Swedish Open (Bastad)

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David Ferrer def. Robin Soderling, 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-1

Fernando Verdasco def. Bjorn Rehnquist, 2-6 6-1 6-0

Tommy Robredo def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Tomas Berdych def. Potito Starace, 6-3 6-2

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Fabrice Santoro def. Ivan Navarro, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Vince Spadea def. Alexander Peya, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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Gaz de France Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Alizé Cornet def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-2 6-3

Greta Arn def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-1 6-0

Andreja Klepac def. Petra Kvitova, 7-6 (7-2) 6-0

Karolina Sprem def. Katalin Marosi, 6-0 6-1

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Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo (Palermo)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Margalita Chaknashvili, 6-1 6-1

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-0 3-6 6-0

Sara Errani def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 4-1 retired

Mariya Koryttseva def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3

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And a one week trial of a new Tennis From The Backseat feature - Stars of the Past, Stars of the Future. Today's Star: Marat Safin.

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In 2000, a nineteen year old Russian called Marat Safin won the US Open, defeating Pete Sampras (then utterly dominant) in straight sets. The world was stunned. Who was this kid? It hadn't been long since the young Safin was accused of tanking a match at the Australian Open and was fined several thousand dollars. But after this victory - which Marat described as God coming to him, patting him on the head and telling him he would 'win the glory' - he was suddenly a superstar. His charisma and dark charm had already given him a large female fan base, but this established him as a real tennis force. Sampras, in defeat, said that he believed Safin could be #1 for many years to come.

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And then came the bane of all tennis players - injury. Chronic knee problems meant that Safin, who had not yet won another Grand Slam, was out for most of the 2003 season. A dark cloud of doubt began to swirl over his head. This was staved off briefly after an excellent 2004 season, followed by a memorable victory at the Australian Open in 2005, where Safin defeated Federer in a semi final widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest matches of all time. Marat Safin, everyone believed, was back in the building.

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But he has not won another tournament since. His hotheadedness, which he used to be able to channel into brilliant tennis, seemed to take control. Safin could no longer move his tall body around the court the way he used to. Injury returned. Safin missed the 2006 Australian Open, which sent him plummeting down the rankings, and he has never been able to reestablish himself since. Marat Safin, it would seem, is a star of the past - one who blazed brightly for a while, but inevitably burned himself out.

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Until Safin proved them wrong.

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Safin has a long history of hating Wimbledon. 'Grass is for cows,' he said one year, after an embarassing early exit. 'I'm never coming back.' He hated - and perhaps still does - the speed of grass, which makes it tougher for a big man like him to get himself set in time. But then in 2008, when the world thought that his star had vanished, saw Safin reach the semi finals at SW19 - a run which saw him defeat four seeded players, including world #3 Novak Djokovic, and which was only stopped by world #1 Roger Federer. It was his best ever result at the tournament - and the first time he had won five successive matches since claiming his second Slam crown in Australia over three years ago.

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So is Marat back? Only time will tell. He lost in the second round at the Catella Swedish Open in Bastad, but considering this tournament is played on clay while virtually the rest of the year will be on hard courts, it is hard to gauge just how much effort Marat really put in. Hard courts are traditionally his best surface. In a few weeks, when Safin lines up to play in Toronto and Cincinatti, and after that at the US Open, perhaps then we will know. Was Wimbledon a blip, a last hurrah? Or is it the first sign of real Safin comeback?

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Safin is 28, and in his own words, he is a little bit tired of making comebacks. But the tennis world is not quite ready for this star to burn out just yet - and neither, it seems, is the man himself.