Guillermo Cañas

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Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Canas Umag 2007.JPG
Country (sports)  Argentina
Residence Buenos Aires, Argentina
Born (1977-11-25) November 25, 1977 (age 46)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro 1995
Retired 2010
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money US$ 5,285,575
Singles
Career record 252–195
Career titles 7
Highest ranking No. 8 (June 6, 2005)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 4R (2004, 2005)
French Open QF (2002, 2005, 2007)
Wimbledon 4R (2001)
US Open 3R (2004)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals Alt (2004)
Doubles
Career record 61–82
Career titles 2
Highest ranking No. 47 (July 15, 2002)

Guillermo Ignacio Cañas (born November 25, 1977), often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired Argentine professional tennis player. He was born in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 8, achieved in June 2005. Cañas was the coach of Ernests Gulbis from July 2011 until May 2012.

He now runs his own tennis academy in Aventura, Florida along with former tour pros Martín García, and Gustavo Oribe.

After being suspended in August 2005, Cañas returned to the circuit on September 2006 at the challenger of Belém, Brazil.

Cañas holds a record of 5 victories and 2 defeats (3:1 in singles) in Davis Cup matches.

Playing style

Cañas played a defensive counter-punching game from the baseline, utilising his retrieving skills in order to frustrate opponents. He used a double-handed backhand.

Career

Early years

Cañas started playing at age 7. He turned professional in 1995, and began playing on the juniors circuit, enjoying some successes; these included a runner-up appearance at Surbiton, United Kingdom, and a win in the doubles event at the Italian Junior Championships, partnering Martín García.[1]

From 1995–1999, Cañas played mainly Challenger Series tournaments, that is, the level of competition directly below that of the ATP Tour. In April 1998, he broke into the top 100 for the first time, having won three Challenger tournaments in the previous 52 weeks.[2] This allowed him to qualify for more ATP level tournaments, and he reached his first final in 1999 at Orlando. He also began to regularly qualify for Grand Slam tournaments, the most prestigious events in tennis.[3]

In 2001, after a right wrist injury the previous year, he climbed from 227th place in the ATP rankings to the 15th, and was named ATP Comeback Player of Year.[4] Cañas had won the first ATP level title of his career that season, in Casablanca, and reached the final of three other tournaments. In addition to this, he reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, achieving this result on two occasions, at the French Open and Wimbledon.[5]

In the 2002 ATP Masters Series of Canada, an unseeded Cañas won his first ATP Masters Series title in Toronto, defeating Andy Roddick 6–4, 7–5 in the final. Cañas's path to the final saw him defeat a renowned set of players, including world number two Marat Safin, and top ten ranked Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Roger Federer. Cañas was also the first Argentine to win the Canada Open since Guillermo Vilas in 1976, and also the first to win a Masters Series shield (the Series was created in 1990).[6][7] Cañas won one other tournament in 2002, the Chennai Open, and reached in the finals in Casablanca and Stuttgart. He also emerged as a more potent force at the Grand Slams, as he reached his first quarter-final at the French.[3]

Doping

On August 8, 2005, Cañas was suspended for two years and was forced to forfeit US$276,070 in prizes by the ATP after testing positive for a diuretic called hydrochlorothiazide, a substance with no benefits in itself other than as treatment for hypertension, but used to cover other forbidden substances.[4] No traces of any other forbidden substance were found in Cañas's sample, and the player asserts the diuretic was present in some medicine prescribed by ATP doctors Mercader and Chinchila for a cold he contracted during the Acapulco tournament in Mexico.[8] At the time of his ban, Cañas had been at the highest ranking of his career, world number eight.[7]

Cañas vowed to fight the ban, claiming he was innocent of the charges against him. Cañas took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. His perseverance paid off on May 23, 2006, when he was acquitted of deliberate performance enhancement through illegal substances, since the substances were in a prescription medicine. He was, however, considered careless in not checking the medicine before ingesting it. He was allowed to return to full professional activity from September 11, 2006, and the money prizes acquired before the suspension were restored. Cañas's points, which determine a player's ranking, were nil upon his return, as they had expired.[4][9]

Return

Upon his return to the tour, Cañas won five Challenger titles and one ATP title (2007 Brasil Open).[3] In the six months after his return, he had won 42 of 47 matches, going from being unranked to rank 60.[4] He won his first ATP-level match since his September return on February 15, 2007, beating Marcos Daniel 6–1, 6–4.[3]

On March 11, 2007 Cañas defeated ATP ranked number one Roger Federer 7–5, 6–2 at the Indian Wells Masters, ending Federer's streak of 41 consecutive victories, 5 short of Guillermo Vilas's record on ATP Tour matches.[10] He defeated Federer again (7–6, 2–6, 7–6) 16 days later at the Miami Masters to back-up his victory at Indian Wells. This double victory made him the only player (besides Rafael Nadal) to have defeated Federer in consecutive tournaments since 2003. Cañas told the New York Times that, "I came back very motivated, I came back with a lot of energy."[7]

Cañas became the first qualifier to reach the semifinals of the Miami Masters. He made the final by beating Ivan Ljubičić, the seventh seed, 7–5, 6–2. In the final, the Argentine lost to rising talent Novak Djokovic of Serbia in straight sets. To get to the final, Cañas defeated Tim Henman, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Tommy Robredo, and Ivan Ljubičić, respectively, before losing to Novak Djoković. In spite of that loss, Cañas jumped 121 positions to reach the 22nd place in the ATP ranking as of April 30, 2007, the highest jump so far in the year.[11]

Guillermo Canas coaching at the US Open after retiring as player

Cañas reached the final of one more tournament in 2007, the Torneo Godó in Barcelona, where he lost to clay-court ace Rafael Nadal. Cañas commented afterwards that he believed he would be a strong contender at the French Open.[12] However, his bid was thwarted for a third time at the quarter-final stage, as Nikolay Davydenko denied him an opportunity to play Federer for a third time in the next round.[13] Having set himself a goal of finishing in the top 20, Cañas finished the year in 15th, equalling his finishes from 2001 and 2002.[2][12] He announced his retirement from professional tennis in March 2010.

Career finals

Singles: 16 (7–9)

Wins (7)
Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup /
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series /
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (1–1)
ATP International Series Gold /
ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–4)
ATP International Series /
ATP World Tour 250 Series (5–4)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. April 26, 1999 Orlando, USA Clay Sweden Magnus Norman 0–6, 3–6
Winner 1. April 9, 2001 Casablanca, Morocco Clay Spain Tommy Robredo 7–5, 6–2
Runner-up 2. June 25, 2001 s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Australia Lleyton Hewitt 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. July 23, 2001 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 3–6, 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 4. October 15, 2001 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) Germany Tommy Haas 2–6, 6–7(6–8), 4–6
Winner 2. December 31, 2001 Chennai, India Hard Thailand Paradorn Srichaphan 6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Runner-up 5. April 15, 2002 Casablanca, Morocco Clay Morocco Younes El Aynaoui 6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 6. July 22, 2002 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Russia Mikhail Youzhny 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Winner 3. July 29, 2002 Toronto, Canada Hard United States Andy Roddick 6–4, 7–5
Winner 4. July 12, 2004 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Argentina Gastón Gaudio 5–7, 6–2, 6–0, 1–6, 6–3
Winner 5. July 19, 2004 Umag, Croatia Clay Italy Filippo Volandri 7–5, 6–3
Winner 6. September 27, 2004 Shanghai, China Hard Germany Lars Burgsmüller 6–1, 6–0
Runner-up 7. October 18, 2004 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) Spain Feliciano López 4–6, 6–1, 5–7, 6–3, 5–7
Winner 7. February 12, 2007 Costa do Sauípe, Brazil Clay Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Runner-up 8. April 2, 2007 Miami, USA Hard Serbia Novak Djokovic 3–6, 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 9. April 30, 2007 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Rafael Nadal 3–6, 4–6

Doubles

Wins (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. August 23, 1999 Boston, USA Hard Argentina Martín García South Africa Marius Barnard
United States T. J. Middleton		 5–7, 7–6(2), 6–4
2. July 19, 2001 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Germany Rainer Schüttler Australia Michael Hill
United States Jeff Tarango		 4–6, 7–6(1), 6–4

Career ITF finals

Singles: 15 (11–4)

Wins (11)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. December 2, 1996 Santiago, Chile Clay Argentina Franco Squillari 7–6, 6–1
2. August 25, 1997 Santa Cruz, Bolivia Clay Brazil Marcio Carlsson 6–2, 4–6, 6–2
3. September 29, 1997 Santiago, Chile Clay Netherlands Dennis van Scheppingen 4–6, 7–5, 6–3
4. April 20, 1998 Espinho, Portugal Clay Argentina Mariano Puerta 6–1, 2–6, 6–2
5. September 14, 1998 Florianópolis, Brazil Clay Brazil Marcio Carlsson 6–2, 7–5
6. December 29, 2003 Nouméa, New Caledonia Hard Australia Todd Reid 6–4, 6–3
7. September 11, 2006 Belém, Brazil Clay Argentina Carlos Berlocq 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(10–8)
8. October 23, 2006 Montevideo, Uruguay Clay Ecuador Nicolás Lapentti 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
9. November 6, 2006 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Argentina Martín Vassallo 6–3, 6–4
10. November 13, 2006 Asunción, Paraguay Clay Brazil Flávio Saretta 6–4, 6–1
11. January 1, 2007 São Paulo, Brazil Clay Argentina Diego Hartfield 6–3, 6–4
Runner-ups (4)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. March 9, 1998 Salinas, Ecuador Hard Brazil André Sá 7–5, 5–7, 6–4
2. March 29, 1999 Barletta, Italy Clay Spain Jacobo Díaz 6–7(6–8), 6–0, 6–3
3. April 12, 1999 Bermuda, Bermuda Clay Argentina Hernán Gumy 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
4. October 2, 2006 Quito, Ecuador Clay Australia Chris Guccione 6–3, 7–6(7–4)

Doubles

Wins (5)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. November 16, 1998 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Argentina Martín García Spain Alberto Martín
Spain Salvador Navarro		 6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–4
2. March 29, 1999 Barletta, Italy Clay Spain Javier Sánchez Argentina Gastón Gaudio
Argentina Hernán Gumy		 4–6, 6–2, 6–2
3. November 15, 1999 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Argentina Martín García South Africa Paul Rosner
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dušan Vemić		 6–4, 6–4
4. December 4, 2000 San José, Costa Rica Hard Chile Adrián García United States Devin Bowen
United States Brandon Coupe		 7–6(7–5), 6–1
5. November 10, 2008 Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Hard (i) Russia Dmitry Tursunov Poland Łukasz Kubot
Austria Oliver Marach		 6–3, 7–6(7–5)

Performance timeline

Singles

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2008 Wimbledon.

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Career SR Career win–loss
Australian Open A A A A A 1R 1R 2R 3R 2R 4R 4R A A A 2R 0 / 8 11–8
French Open A A A LQ LQ 2R 1R 4R QF A 1R QF A QF 1R LQ 0 / 8 16–8
Wimbledon A A A LQ 2R 2R 1R 4R 2R A 1R A A 3R 1R 2R 0 / 9 9–9
U.S. Open A A LQ A 2R 2R A 2R A A 3R A A 2R 1R A 0 / 6 6–6
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 32 N/A
Grand Slam Win–Loss1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–2 3–4 0–3 8–4 7–3 1–1 5–4 7–2 0–0 7–3 0–3 2–2 N/A 42–31
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A 1R A 2R SF A 3R 4R 1R 0 / 6 9–6
Miami Masters A A LQ LQ 2R A 2R A 3R A 4R 2R A F 4R 1R 0 / 8 8–8
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A 2R A 1R 2R A A A A 0 / 3 2–3
Rome Masters A A A LQ A A A A 1R A 2R 3R A 2R 2R A 0 / 5 4–5
Madrid Masters A A A A A LQ A 3R 2R A 2R A A 3R LQ 1R 0 / 5 4–5
Canada Masters A A A A 2R A A A W A A A A 1R 1R A 1 / 4 7–3
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A 3R 1R A A A A 1R A A 0 / 3 2–3
Shanghai Masters Not Held Not ATP Masters Series Not Held Not ATP Masters Series A 0 / 0 0–0
Paris Masters A A A A A LQ A 2R 3R A SF A A 3R 1R A 0 / 5 5–5
Hamburg Masters A A A A A A A A 3R A 1R 2R A 1R 1R NM1 0 / 5 3–5
Total Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 N/A 7
Overall Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–3 1–4 6–14 15–24 5–12 44–21 45–23 5–4 40–22 23–11 0–0 39–21 21–22 N/A 244–181
Year End Ranking 557 365 183 129 95 71 231 15 15 272 12 102 142 15 79 191 N/A N/A

A = did not participate in the tournament.

LQ = lost in qualifying draw

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

See also

References

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  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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