You know that you’re in the elite of the tennis world when you decide the first hardcourt tournament that you will play, indeed the first tournament of any sort you will play is the Rogers Cup.

Although the hardcourt season got started in earnest a week after Wimbledon concluded in Indianapolis, none of the big 4 have played since Wimbledon.

For Nadal, this is his long-awaited return.  Ever since he lost for the first time ever on Roland Garros to unheralded Swede, Robin Soderling, which he partly blamed on knee tendinitis, Nadal has been allegedly resting and recovering, then recently training.  His coach, Uncle Toni, has deliberately set standards low.  He doesn’t expect Nadal to defend his title.

Meanwhile Roger Federer’s wife had timed the birth of their twins so precisely that it feel in the only break most pros get outside of December.  Most pros use December as a training month to work on fitness and their game.  No tournaments of note are held in December.  However, due to the long gap between Wimbledon and the US Open, one where only ATP 250 and ATP 500 events are played, most of the elite skip this period too.  Undoubtedly, Federer is with his children in their first few weeks of life, but undoubtedly, as a top pro, he trains ardently to prepare for the second half of the year.

Andy Murray has been training as well.  A finalist at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in 2006, Murray did not play at the Legg Mason this year, splitting his training time between UK and Miami as he prepares for the first major hardcourt tournament of the year.

The Rogers Cup used to be called the Canadian Open.  As Canada has a split personality, one English-speaking and one French-speaking, so the Rogers Cup is also split, holding the tournament in Toronto and Montreal in alternate years.  This year, it is held in Montreal.

In Nadal’s quarter of the draw is Juan Martin del Potro.  del Potro just defended his title in DC and prior to the clay season had a win over Nadal on hardcourts in Miami.  Djokovic and Roddick are in the same quarter.  Federer is in the same quarter as Tsonga.  Murray is in the same quarter as Davydenko.  Davydenko has been playing quite well as of late, but has primarily played on clay since Wimbledon wrapped up.  Murray and Federer are in the same half.

This will be the first serious tournament of the hardcourt season to see who is on form.  Last year, del Potro, Murray, and Simon were players that played well during the hardcourt season.  Simon seems to be fading.  Murray is unknown since he hasn’t played, and del Potro just won the Legg Mason.  These three players have quite a few points to defend.

Nadal’s presence creates an interesting problem.  Since Wimbledon, Roger Federer has reclaimed the number 1 seed.  Most people know that Nadal is therefore number 2.  If Nadal falters early and Murray does well, Murray could become number 2.  Complicating matters is the Olympics.  That’s right.  Last year’s Olympics.  Nadal is the defending champ, but since there is nothing to defend, his points drop off.  Murray, by luck, lost very early and has far fewer points to defend.  When his points drop off, he’ll gain on Nadal.

This is where the heat turns up in the US Open Series.  Stay tuned!