Guillermo Canas

Guillermo Ignacio Canas, a retired Argentine tennis player, enjoyed several memorable moments during his playing career, including a career-high singles ranking of World No. 8 in June 2005. Canas had notably won the Canada Masters in 2002 and reached the French Open quarterfinals in 2002, 2005, and 2007. The Argentine returned to the circuit in September 2006 at the ATP Challenger level after being suspended in August 2005. Canas, who began playing at the age of seven, turned professional in 1995 and started playing on the junior tour. It is at the junior level where he had some success, including winning the doubles event at the Italian Junior Championships with Martin Garcia. Canas primarily competed in Challenger Series tournaments from 1995 to 1999, the level of competition immediately below that of the ATP Tour. After winning three Challenger tournaments in the previous 52 weeks, he broke into the top 100 for the first time in April 1998.

Canas famously jumped from 227th to 15th in the ATP rankings in 2001, earning him the title of ATP Comeback Player of the Year. That season, the Argentine won his first ATP level title in Casablanca and advanced to the finals of three more tournaments. Furthermore, he reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, doing it twice, at the French Open and Wimbledon.

An unseeded Canas surprisingly won his first ATP Masters Series in Toronto, 2002, defeating Andy Roddick 6-4, 7-5 in the final. His journey to the final included victories over world number two Marat Safin, top-ten ranked Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and Roger Federer. Canas also became the first Argentine to win the Canada Open since Guillermo Vilas in 1976, as well as the first to win a Masters Series shield (the Series was created in 1990). In 2002, he won the Chennai Open and advanced to the finals in Casablanca and Stuttgart. Establishing himself in the ATP Tour, he reached his first quarterfinal at the French Open that year.

On August 8, 2005, Canas was suspended for two years and was forced to forfeit a reported $276,070 in prizes by the ATP after testing positive for a diuretic called hydrochlorothiazide. Canas was at the top of his career at the time of his suspension, ranking eighth in the world. He appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. His efforts paid off on May 23, 2006, when he was acquitted of deliberate performance enhancement through illegal substances because the substances were in a prescription medicine. He was allowed to resume full professional activity on September 11, 2006, and the money prizes he had won prior to the suspension were restored.

Canas won five Challenger tournaments and one ATP title on his return to the tour, the 2007 Brasil Open. In the six months since his return, he had won 42 of 47 matches, climbing from unranked to number 60. Canas defeated World number one Roger Federer 7-5, 6-2 at the Indian Wells Masters in March 2007, ending Federer's 41-match winning streak. He defeated Federer again - 16 days later, at the Miami Masters, 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 - to follow up his victory at Indian Wells. Canas was also the first qualifier to reach the Miami Masters semifinals.

Canas, who used a double-handed backhand, played a defensive counter-punching game from the baseline. This approach helped him frustrate his opponents on the pitch. He retired from professional tennis in March 2010.

Grand Slam singles record:

Australian Open: 4R (2004, 2005)

French Open: QF (2002, 2005, 2007)

Wimbledon: 4R (2001)

US Open: 3R (2004)