ATP Masters Series Toronto Preview

Indianapolis winner Andy Roddick will have a number of roadblocks in the way of defending his Masters Series-Canada title this week in Toronto, mainly in the form of world No. 1 Roger Federer, and former No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marat Safin, Andre Agassi, Carlos Moya and Gustavo Kuerten.

Here's a look at how the four quarters of the 64-man draw break down:

Top Quarter
Seeds: (1)Roger Federer, (7)Juan Carlos Ferrero, (9)Lleyton Hewitt, (14)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan
Floaters: former champ Andrei Pavel, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic, Fabrice Santoro

World No. 1 Roger Federer must have taken a look at this draw and said, "Are you kidding me?" To simply emerge to the semis the Swiss will likely face either former No. 1 Ferrero or Hewitt in the quarterfinals, and a couple testers beforehand. Fed will open against the athletic Hicham Arazi, who he holds a 3-1 career advantage over, then the winner of Swedes Robin Soderling-Thomas Enqvist. The Swiss has a potential 3rd round meeting with (14)The Thai Fighter, which would be an interesting first-time match-up. (14)The Thai Fighter opens against the former champ Pavel, with a handful of other tough openers in (9)Hewitt vs. The Prodigy, and (7)Ferrero vs. Santoro.

Second Quarter
Seeds: (3)Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria, (6)David Nalbandian, (12)Sebastien Grosjean, (13)Nicolas Massu
Floaters: Taylor Dent, Gregory Carraz, Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, Mikhail Youzhny

The Euro/South American section features two fastcourt specialists in US Open semifinalist Nalbandian and Wimbledon semifinalist Grosjean, as well as the MS-Miami runner-up El Fragile. (3)El Fragile has possibly the best draw of any of the seeds, and could look forward to a quarterfinal with the big-serving unseeded floater Dent. (6)Nalbandian has a tricky opener against the Russian Youzhny, who he has never faced, while (12)Grosjean likewise plays a countryman (always a tough prospect, especially if you practice with them) in Gregory Carraz (then possible the ridiculously-huge serving Swede J.Johansson in the second round), and (13)Massu will be the underdog against Dent in his opener. Look for a (3)El Fragile vs. Dent 4th round (80% chance someone will get injured in that match) to face the winner of (6)Nalbandian vs. (12)Grosjean to reach the semis.

Third Quarter
Seeds: (4)Carlos Moya, (8)Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, (10)Andre Agassi, (15)Marat Safin
Floaters: Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, Vince Spadea, Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Tommy Haas, Nicolas Kiefer, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Fernando Verdasco

The toughest section of the draw contains not only three former No. 1s, but also a host of dangerous floaters, including three-time 2004 title winner The Dominator and Germans Tommy Haas (a winner a week ago at LA) and Nicolas Kiefer (runner-up in his last two events), both of whom have started the hardcourt season in red-hot form. First-round blockbusters include (10)Agassi vs. Haas (the German won their last meeting), (15)Safin vs. Kiefer (Safin leads meetings 3-1), as well as (8)Schuettler vs. Gonzalez and an all-Spanish in (4)Moya vs. Verdasco (Fernando is due). Whoever's coming out of this section is your best guess, with the (15)Safin/Kiefer winner having the nicest road.

Bottom Quarter
Seeds: (2)Andy Roddick, (5)Tim Henman, (11)Gaston Gaudio, (16)Juan Ignacio Chela
Floaters: Gustavo Kuerten, Irakli Labadze, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri, Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Escude, Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez

A fairly nice road for seeds (2)Roddick and (5)Henman, considering this is a Masters Series draw, but the floaters abound. A-Rod opens against a qualifier, then faces the winner of Escude-Lopez. The Brit Henman trails first-round opponent Mariano Zabaleta 3-4 in their career meetings, but three of the four losses came on clay. The winner of that match will face the winner of Kuerten-Ginepri. (16)Chela has a tough opener against Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, but there are not many other openers to sustain your interest in this section. Roddick will be kicking himself if he doesn't emerge into the quarterfinals to likely face either (5)Henman or the unseeded Fish, if the "B"-squad American is fully recovered from his hip problems of late.

Former MS-Canada champions in the field are Roddick (2003), Pavel (2001), Safin (2000), T.Johansson (1999), and Agassi (1995-94,'92).