Finals day at the Rogers Masters Cup

Well, that may not have been the prettiest day of semifinals that I've ever seen, but it certainly was exciting.

Kiefer and Simon played the longest match of the tournament, and it really could have gone either way! But in the end, Kiefer's experience and Simon's exhaustion just made it too much for the young Frenchman. This wasn't an especially pretty match, as Simon wasn't hitting nearly as many beautiful backhand winners as he was against Federer, and Kiefer seemed to only play well from behind. Whenever he went up a break, the errors started again. Good for Kiefer, though - he made it to his first career Masters Series final after three previous trips to the semifinals, two of which took place at this very tournament! I attribute his success to his recent haircut, which is really a much better look for him, I must say. The folks at Tennis Served Fresh may disagree, but I like it!

The other semi lived up to its hype, for the most part. Murray gave Nadal his toughest run since their first meeting at the Australian Open, but Nadal was just too tough. The type of game that Murray was forced to play to stay in contention was so difficult to keep up, and eventually the errors did him in. What was up with Murray and Cedric Mourier arguing about the trainer at 6-5 in the first set? If you're Murray in that situation, you either need to insist on seeing the trainer, or you need to forget about it. It really bothered him in that tie break, and who knows what would have happened if he had managed to pull that one out? He didn't wilt like Gasquet in the second, so it could have made a huge difference.

But it didn't, and Nadal won. He hasn't been to the final of the Canada Masters since 2005, where he beat a 35-year old Andre Agassi. He won that in three, but he should have an easier time against 31-year old Kiefer. At this point, it's very difficult to see Rafa not continuing to dominate the hard court season like he did on clay. It may not have happened in years past, but he wasn't playing this well before. We may have traded one hegemonic tennis power for another! I'm calling today's final for Rafa, something like 6-3, 6-2.

Also worth noting: Bob and Mike Bryan are playing Nestor and Zimonjic, who just won Wimbledon. And it's actually being broadcast on www.atpmastersseries.tv! The first doubles match at the tournament that I'm going to get to watch. It should be exciting. Bob and Mike have had a lousy season by their standards, so maybe they can help redeem it with a win over the white-hot Nestor and Zimonjic.

And poor Jelena Jankovic! She had a chance to take the number one spot (again!) but she lost in the semis to Dinara Safina. I take Safina over Pennetta in the final, but that's another pretty exciting one. Should be closer than Nadal-Kiefer.