It's back to the grind time. After a six-week retreat together on All England Club grass, the pros go their separate ways on the hard courts of North America. The men are already underway in Toronto, minus a few prominent names, and with a few that seem uncertain how much they want to be there. Jamming the Olympics, the equivalent of a dual-gender Masters event in which everyone plays singles and doubles, into the middle of the summer was always going to spell trouble for the North American events. Toronto, which will be missing the two biggest ATP draws, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, as well as world No. 5 David Ferrer and injured former champ Andy Roddick, has taken a hit. To start, all 16 seeds have been given byes into the second round. We'll see what that does to the upset count, which could otherwise be high.
Still, if the other three Olympic semifinalists, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, and Novak Djokovic, can get themselves across the Atlantic in one piece and get off to a good start, the Rogers Cup should be fine. Contrary to what the results of every big tournament of the last five years may tell you, the ATP is still about more than just the Big 4. Here’s a belated look at the draw. How the London semifinalists will bounce back here is anybody’s guess. Murray, despite making the flight, hasn’t even committed to playing yet.