Montreal Masters Quick Preview

The Canadian Masters gets underway in Montreal on August 8th with Novak Djokovic top seed in a Masters Series event for the first time in his career.

The bad news for the rest of the tennis world is that Djokovic is at his best on outdoor hard courts, as he proved earlier this year, sweeping up the back-to-back Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami. The Serb could also become the first player to win more than four Masters titles in a season this week. He's virtually cleaned the board this year having already picked up the Rome and Madrid titles too and there are still four left to go. However, slightly oddly, Djokovic has only ever won one title before at this time of the year. He beat Roddick, Nadal and Federer back-to-back to win Montreal in 2007 but recently he's often been eclipsed by Federer and Murray in these events.

Murray is of course the two-time defending champion here. He won a classic final against Juan Martin Del Potro in 2009 and enjoyed the best week of his 2010 season in Toronto last year. He produced two sparkling performances to see off Nadal and Federer in successive days and while that first Grand Slam title may continue to elude him, he's as serious a contender as the top three when it comes to these events.

The Brit has consistently picked up two Masters titles a season since 2008 and while he's yet to break his duck this year, it can only be a matter of time.

One of the most fascinating questions over the next fortnight will be how Rafa Nadal responds to Djokovic's hold over him. Nadal has never been dominated by a player before but Djokovic simply seems to have worked him out even on Nadal's favourite surface. The Spaniard will be desperate to somehow plant some doubt in his mind ahead of the US Open.

There are plenty of dark horses, none more so than Juan Martin Del Potro. Can the Argentine build on the promise he showed in Paris and London ? Robin Soderling is also due a good performance at this event and Mardy Fish will be trying to finally show he can mix it with the best on the big occasions.