Guillermo Cañas
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| Nickname | Giant Killer | |
| Country |  Argentina |
|
| Residence | Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
| Date of birth | November 25, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | |
| Weight | 86 kg (190 lbs) | |
| Turned Pro | 1995 | |
| Plays | Right | |
| Career Prize Money | $4,192,195 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 204 - 142 | |
| Career titles: | 7 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 8 (June 6, 2005) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 4th (2004, 2005) | |
| French Open | QF (2002, 2005) | |
| Wimbledon | 4th (2001) | |
| U.S. Open | 3rd (2004) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 51 - 60 | |
| Career titles: | 2 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 47 (July 15, 2002) | |
Guillermo Ignacio Cañas (born November 25, 1977) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He was born in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. His highest singles ranking was 8th (June 2005).
Guillermo Cañas started playing at age 7, and had an excellent start reaching quarterfinals of Junior Wimbledon in 1995, the same year he turned pro.
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. In ATP Masters Series - Canada 2002, Cañas won his first ATP Masters Series title in Toronto, defeating Andy Roddick in the final. In the tournament, he defeated many famous players (all are career Top 10 players, and all but Haas and Srichaphan reached World No. 1) for title :
- R64 - Roger Federer (SUI) by 7-6(10),7-5
- R32 - Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) by 6-2,6-1
- R16 - Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) by 6-2,6-2
- Q - Marat Safin (RUS) by 7-5,6-3
- S - Tommy Haas (GER) by 6-4,3-6,7-6(5)
- F - Andy Roddick (USA) by 6-4,7-5
After a year of suspension for doping, 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.
Contents |
[edit] Doping
In June 2005 rumors spread that he was being investigated by the ATP for a doping offense. The case was handled in secrecy. On August 8, 2005, Guillermo was suspended for two years and was forced to forfeit US$276,070 in prizes by the ATP for the use of a diuretic called hydrochlorothiazide, a substance with no benefits in itself other than as treatment for hypertension, but used to cover other forbidden substances. No traces of any other forbidden substance were found in Cañas' sample, and the player asserts the diuretic was present in some medicine prescribed by ATP doctors Mercader and Chinchila for a sore throat he contracted during the Acapulco tournament in Mexico.
Cañas vowed to fight the ban, claiming he was innocent of the charges against him. 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 of 2006, and the money prizes and points acquired before the suspension are to be restored, though points expire after a full year. [1]
During his absence, he was turned away at the gate of the 2005 US Open having turned up as a spectator. [2]
[edit] Return
Since returning to the tour, Cañas has won five challenger titles and one ATP title (2007 Brazil Open), and is currently ranked No. 55 as of March 19, 2007). Because he reached the Miami Masters final, he rose to #29 in the world. He won his first ATP-level match on February 15th, beating Marcos Daniel 6-1 6-4.
On March 11, 2007 Cañas defeated ATP ranked #1 Roger Federer 7-5 6-2 at Indian Wells, ending Federer's streak of 41 consecutive victories, 5 short of Vilas' record.[1]. He defeated Federer again (7-6 2-6 7-6) 16 days later at the Miami Masters to validate his victory at Indian Wells, causing ESPN to dub him the "Giant Killer". This double victory is a feat indeed as he is the only person (besides Rafael Nadal) to have defeated Federer in consecutive tournaments since 2003. Cañas was quoted by media outlets when questioned about what is the secret behind beating Federer as - "I don't know what I do, I just know I played very good tennis."[2] His record against Federer is (as of March 28, 2007) 3 victories and only 1 defeat, therefore being one of very few to have an advantage over Federer's head-to-head. In Miami, he became the first qualifier to make it to a semifinal. In the semifinal, he beat Ivan Ljubicic, the seventh seed, 7-5, 6-2 to make it to the final with rising talent Novak Djokovic. However, he was comfortably beaten by the Serbian in straight sets. Canas defeated Tim Henman, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Tommy Robredo, and Ivan Ljubicic, in respective order, before losing to Djokovic.
[edit] Masters Series singles finals
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Tournament | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2002 | Toronto |  Andy Roddick |
6-4, 7-5 |
[edit] Runner-up (1)
| Year | Tournament | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2007 | Miami |  Novak Djokovic |
6-3, 6-2, 6-4 |
[edit] Titles (9)
[edit] Singles wins (7)
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (1) |
| ATP Tour (6) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 9 April 2001 | Casablanca, Morocco | Clay |  Tommy Robredo |
7-5 6-2 |
| 2. | 31 December 2001 | Chennai, India | Hard |  Paradorn Srichaphan |
6-4, 7-6(2) |
| 3. | 29 July 2002 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Andy Roddick |
6-4, 7-5 |
| 4. | 12 July 2004 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | Gastón Gaudio |
5-7, 6-2, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 |
| 5. | 19 July 2004 | Umag, Croatia | Clay |  Filippo Volandri |
7-5, 6-3 |
| 6. | 27 September 2004 | Shanghai, China | Hard |  Lars Burgsmüller |
6-1, 6-0 |
| 7. | 18 February 2007 | Brasil Open, Brazil | Clay | Juan Carlos Ferrero |
7-6, 6-2 |
[edit] Doubles wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | 23 August 1999 | Boston, USA | Hard | Martín García |
 Marius Barnard T.J. Middleton |
5-7, 7-6(2), 6-4 |
| 2. | 19 July 2001 | Stuttgart, Germany | Hard | Rainer Schüttler |
 Michael Hill Jeff Tarango |
4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 |
[edit] Singles performance timeline
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 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, which concluded on March 18, 2007.
| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Career SR | Career win-loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 4R | 4R | A | A | 0 / 7 | 10-7 |
| French Open | A | 2R | 1R | 4R | QF | A | 1R | QF | A | 0 / 6 | 12-6 | |
| Wimbledon | 2R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 2R | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 6 | 6-6 | |
| U.S. Open | 2R | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | 3R | A | A | 0 / 4 | 5-4 | |
| Grand Slam SR | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 23 | N/A |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss1 | 2-2 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 8-4 | 7-3 | 1-1 | 5-4 | 7-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | N/A | 33-23 |
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | SF | A | 3R | 0 / 4 | 7-4 |
| Miami Masters | 2R | A | 2R | A | 3R | A | 4R | 2R | A | F | 0 / 6 | 6-5 |
| Monte Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | A | 0 / 3 | 2-3 | |
| Rome Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | 3R | A | 0 / 3 | 3-3 | |
| Hamburg Masters | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | 1R | 2R | A | 0 / 3 | 3-3 | |
| Canada Masters | 2R | A | A | A | W | A | A | A | A | 1 / 2 | 7-1 | |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2-2 | |
| Madrid Masters (Stuttgart) | A | A | A | 3R | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | 0 / 3 | 3-3 | |
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | A | SF | A | A | 0 / 3 | 4-3 | |
| Total Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 7 |
| Overall Win-Loss | 31-23 | 29-31 | 5-15 | 49-24 | 45-23 | 10-5 | 42-23 | 22-12 | 4-2 | 17-4 | N/A | 204-142 |
| Year End Ranking | 95 | 71 | 231 | 15 | 15 | 272 | 12 | 102 | 142 | N/A | N/A |
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
[edit] References
- ^ "Federer Loses to Cañas, Ending Bid to Break Vilas's Win Streak"
- ^ Kerting, Steve. "Federer stunned by Canas again in Miami", 2007-03-27. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.
[edit] External links
- ATP Tour profile for Guillermo Cañas
- Unofficial Site
- ESPN profile (Spanish)
| Association of Tennis Professionals | Top ten South American male tennis players as of April 2, 2007 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) (5) • 2. David Nalbandian (Argentina) (12) • 3. Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) (23) • 4. Guillermo Cañas (Argentina) (29) • 5. Agustin Calleri (Argentina) (33) • 6. José Acasuso (Argentina) (37) • 7. Gastón Gaudio (Argentina) (43) • 8. Juan Monaco (Argentina) (52) • 9. Nicolás Massú (Chile) (55) • 10. Juan Martín del Potro (Argentina) (58) | |
