Guillermo Cañas

Infobox Tennis player
playername = Guillermo Cañas


nickname=Willy
country = ARG
residence = Buenos Aires, Argentina
datebirth = birth date and age|1977|11|25
placebirth = Buenos Aires, Argentina
height = height|m=1.85
weight = convert|85|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro = 1995
plays = Right-handed; two-handed backhand
careerprizemoney = $5,059,932
singlesrecord = 245–175
singlestitles = 7
highestsinglesranking = No. 8 (June 6, 2005)
AustralianOpenresult = 4th (2004, 2005)
FrenchOpenresult = QF (2002, 2005, 2007)
Wimbledonresult = 4th (2001)
USOpenresult = 3rd (2004)
doublesrecord = 60–76
doublestitles = 2
highestdoublesranking = No. 47 (July 15, 2002)
updated = July 14, 2008

Guillermo Ignacio 'Willy' 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).

Cañas plays a defensive counter-punching game from the baseline, and utilises his retrieving skills in order to frustrate opponents. He uses a two-handed backhand and his favourite surface is clay, but he is adept on hardcourt and grass too.

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.

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 Martin Garcia. [citeweb|url=http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/players/activity.asp?player=10011926|title=Guillermo Canas junior playing activity|publisher=International Tennis Federation (ITF)|accessdate=2008-08-25]

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 in to the top 100 for the first time, having won three Challenger tournaments in the previous 52 weeks.citeweb|url=http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/playerprofiles/rankhistory.asp?playernumber=C433|title=Guillermo Canas ranking history|publisher=Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)|accessdate=2008-08-25] This allowed him to qualify for more ATP level tournaments, and he reached his first final in 1999, at the ATP Houston. He also began to regularly qualify for Grand Slam tournaments, the most prestigious events in tennis.citeweb|url=http://www.itftennis.com/mens/players/activity.asp?player=10011926|title=Guillermo Canas playing activity (ITF)|publisher=ITF|accessdate=2008-08-25]

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.citeweb|url=http://www.tennis.com/tournaments/2007/pacificlife/pacificlife.aspx?id=68670|title=Rollercoaster Ride: Another comeback for Canas|publisher=Tennis.com|author=Kamakshi Tandon|date=2007-03-09|accessdate=2008-08-25] 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.citeweb|url=http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/playeractivity.asp?query=Singles&year=2001&player=C433&selTournament=0&prevtrnnum=0|title=Guillermo Canas playing activity in 2001 (ATP)|publisher=ATP|accessdate=2008-08-25]

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).. [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/2172587.stm|title=Canas triumphs in Canada|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2002-08-04|accessdate=2008-08-25] citeweb|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/sports/tennis/30tennis.html|title=After Beating Federer, Cañas Keeps Winning|publisher=New York Times|author=Karen Crouse|date=2007-03-30|accessdate=2008-08-25] 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.

Doping

In June 2002 rumors spread that he was being investigated by the ATP for a doping offense. The case was handled in secrecy. On August 8, 2005, Cañas 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's 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. [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/4120266.stm|title=Canas banned for two years by ATP|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2005-08-09|accessdate=2008-08-25] At the time of his ban, Cañas had been at the highest ranking of his career, world number eight.

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. [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/5009718.stm|title=Canas has drug ban cut on appeal|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2006-05-23|accessdate=2008-08-25]

Return

Upon his return to the tour, Cañas won five Challenger titles and one ATP title (2007 Brasil Open). In the six months after his return, he had won 42 of 47 matches, going from being unranked to rank 60. He won his first ATP-level match since his September return on February 15, 2008, beating Marcos Daniel 6–1, 6–4.

On March 11, 2007 Cañas defeated ATP ranked number one Roger Federer 7–5, 6–2 at theIndian Wells Masters, ending Federer's streak of 41 consecutive victories, 5 short of Guillermo Vilas's record on ATP Tour matches. [citeweb|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aeVVcab8hEh8&refer=home|title=Federer Loses to Canas, Falls Short of Vilas's Record|publisher=Bloomberg|author=Dan Baynes|date=2007-03-12|accessdate=2008-08-25] 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."

At the 2007 Miami Masters, Cañas once again defeated Roger Federer, and became the first qualifier to reach the semifinals of this tournament. In the semifinal, he beat Ivan Ljubičić, the seventh seed, 7–5, 6–2 to make it to the final. However, 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, in respective order, before losing to Đoković. 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. [citeweb|url=http://www.atptennis.com/es/newsandscores/news/2007/canas_movers.asp|title=http://www.atptennis.com/es/newsandscores/news/2007/canas_movers.asp|title=Guillermo Cañas logra el mayor ascenso del 2007|publisher=ATP|date=2008-04-05|accessdate=2007-04-28|language=Spanish]

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.citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6606019.stm|title=Nadal seals Barcelona hat-trick|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2007-04-29|accessdate=2008-08-25] However, his bid was thwarted for a third time at the quarter-final stage, as Nikolay Davydenko denied him and opportunity to play Federer for a third time in the next round. [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6723995.stm|title=Federer hits back to beat Robredo|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2007-06-05|accessdate=2008-08-25] Having set himself a goal of finishing in the top 20, Cañas finished the year in 15th, equalling his best finishes from 2002 and 2003.

Masters Series singles finals

Wins (1)

ingles 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 2008 Wimbledon.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.

ee also

* List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References

External links

*ATP|id=C433
*ITF male profile|number=10011926
*DavisCupplayerlink|id=10011926
* [http://steveghelper.com/MatchResults.php?players=Canas&weeks=12 Canas Recent Match Results]
* [http://steveghelper.com/RankingHistory.php?player=Canas Canas World Ranking History]
* [http://www.canas-online.de/ Unofficial Site]
* [http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/perfiles/guillermocanas.html ESPN profile] es icon