If you have ever been to an ATP or Grand Slam qualifying tournament then you know that the appeal of the event isn't so much the players that are struggling to make it into the main draw. Rather tennis fans are often at the quallies searching for 'Easter eggs' around the tennis grounds. Amidst the matches involving the peripheral players in the world rankings, tennis fans often find top players on the practice courts and gravitate towards them. Roger Federer's practices certainly draw large crowds over the world and they did just that in montreal this weekend.
Federer is preparing for the 2017 Rogers Cup, a tournament that features him and Rafael Nadal as the brightest of the bright lights. Neither player has been active on tour since Wimbledon, an event that Federer won. Both players are in the thick of things when it comes to supplanting Andy Murray for the top spot with Nadal currently holding the edge from that point of view.
Hundreds or thousands watch Federer?
In a Youtube video (credited to SCAR19TT) posted on August 5th by Tennis HD, Federer could be seen in Montreal on the practice courts amidst a loud buzz of tennis fans. In the video, it appears as though Federer was practicing in front of Ivan Ljubicic, one of his coaches and a former top player on tour (pink shirt).
It's tough to estimate the crowd size from the video, but it appears as though hundreds if not small thousands took in the practice.
Federer is in Montreal with plenty of time ahead of his first match. The Swiss Maestro plays on Wednesday against either Vasek Pospisil or Peter Polansky, two Canadian nationals. The Wednesday start date could compact things for him at the back end of the tournament.
The event has a Sunday final and Federer, if he makes the final, would have to play all of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Compact schedule ahead
With the Cincinnati Masters to be played next week, he may face a similar schedule at that venue. There is a week off between Cincinnati and the start of the US Open and that should help Federer recover, if he does, in fact, play a ton of matches in the weeks ahead.
He may also suffer an upset that would limit his match total in the weeks ahead. Furthermore, there is always a chance that he might get through a round via retirement or via walkover. However, the Swiss Maestro is looking at the possibility of playing ten matches in the next two weeks, Montreal and Cincinnati combined. That could put the 36-year old (as of Tuesday) to the test physically with the World No. 1 ranking dangling in front of him.
