Guillermo Cañas

Guillermo "Willy" Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977) is an Argentine former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 8 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in June 2005. Cañas won seven singles titles on the ATP Tour, including the 2002 Canada Masters, and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open three times. He was suspended in August 2005 for a doping violation, returning to the circuit in September 2006.

Career

Early years Cañas was born in Buenos Aires and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. He started playing at age 7. He turned professional in 1995, and began playing on the juniors circuit, enjoying some successes; these included a runner-up appearance at Surbiton, United Kingdom, and a win in the doubles event at the Italian Junior Championships, partnering Martín García.

From 1995 to 1999, Cañas played mainly Challenger Series tournaments. In April 1998, he broke into the top 100 for the first time, having won three Challenger tournaments in the previous 52 weeks. This allowed him to qualify for more ATP level tournaments, and he reached his first final in 1999 at Orlando, Florida. He also began to regularly qualify for Grand Slam tournaments, the most prestigious events in tennis.

In 2001, after a right wrist injury the previous year, he climbed from 227th place in the ATP rankings to the 15th, and was named ATP Comeback Player of Year. Cañas had won the first ATP level title of his career that season, in Casablanca, and reached the final of three other tournaments. In addition to this, he reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, achieving this result on two occasions, at the French Open and Wimbledon.

In the 2002 ATP Masters Series of Canada, an unseeded Cañas won his first ATP Masters Series title in Toronto, defeating Andy Roddick 6–4, 7–5 in the final. Cañas's path to the final saw him defeat a renowned set of players, including world number two Marat Safin, and top-ten ranked Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Roger Federer. Cañas was also the first Argentine to win the Canada Open since Guillermo Vilas in 1976 and the first to win a Masters Series shield (the Series was created in 1990). Cañas won one other tournament in 2002, the Chennai Open, and reached in the finals in Casablanca and Stuttgart. He also emerged as a more potent force at the Grand Slams as he reached his first quarterfinal at the French. Just a few weeks before his ban started, Cañas had been at the highest ranking of his career, world number eight.

Return Upon his return to the tour, Cañas won five Challenger titles and one ATP title (2007 Brasil Open). He defeated Federer again (7–6, 2–6, 7–6) 16 days later at the Miami Masters to back-up his victory at Indian Wells. This double victory made him the only player (besides Rafael Nadal) to have defeated Federer in consecutive tournaments since 2003. Cañas told the New York Times that "I came back very motivated, I came back with a lot of energy."

Cañas reached the final of one more tournament in 2007, the Torneo Godó in Barcelona, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. Cañas commented afterwards that he believed he would be a strong contender at the French Open. However, his bid was thwarted for a third time at the quarter-final stage when he lost to Nikolay Davydenko. Having set himself a goal of finishing in the top 20, Cañas finished the year in 15th, equalling his finishes from 2001 and 2002. He announced his retirement from professional tennis in March 2010. Cañas held a record of five victories and two defeats (3–1 in singles) in Davis Cup matches across his career.

Post-retirement Cañas was the coach of Ernests Gulbis from July 2011 until May 2012 and became the coach of Teymuraz Gabashvili in 2015. He coached Jelena Janković from January 2017 until her retirement. He now runs his own tennis academy in Aventura, Florida along with former tour pros Martín García and Gustavo Oribe. He is the current coach of Bernarda Pera.

Playing style Cañas played a defensive counter-punching game from the baseline, using his retrieving skills in order to frustrate opponents. He used a two-handed backhand.

Significant finals Masters 1000 finals

Singles: 2 (1 titles, 1 runner-ups)

Career finals Singles: 16 (7 titles, 9 runner-ups) Legend Grand Slam (0–0) Tennis Masters Cup / ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (1–1) ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–4) ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (5–4)

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Aug 1999 Boston, US Hard Martín García Marius Barnard T. J. Middleton 5–7, 7–6(7–2), 6–4Win 2–0 Jul 2001 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Rainer Schüttler Michael Hill Jeff Tarango 4–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–4

Career ATP Challenger finals

Singles: 15 (11–4) Wins (11) No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score 1. December 2, 1996 Santiago, Chile Clay Franco Squillari 7–6, 6–1 2. August 25, 1997 Santa Cruz, Bolivia Clay Márcio Carlsson 6–2, 4–6, 6–2 3. September 29, 1997 Santiago, Chile Clay Dennis van Scheppingen 4–6, 7–5, 6–3 4. April 20, 1998 Espinho, Portugal Clay Mariano Puerta 6–1, 2–6, 6–2 5. September 14, 1998 Florianópolis, Brazil Clay Márcio Carlsson 6–2, 7–5 6. December 29, 2003 Nouméa, New Caledonia Hard Todd Reid 6–4, 6–3 7. September 11, 2006 Belém, Brazil Clay Carlos Berlocq 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(10–8) 8. October 23, 2006 Montevideo, Uruguay Clay Nicolás Lapentti 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3) 9. November 6, 2006 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Martín Vassallo 6–3, 6–4 10. November 13, 2006 Asunción, Paraguay Clay Flávio Saretta 6–4, 6–1 11. January 1, 2007 São Paulo, Brazil Clay Diego Hartfield 6–3, 6–4

Runner-ups (4) No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score 1. March 9, 1998 Salinas, Ecuador Hard André Sá 7–5, 5–7, 6–4 2. March 29, 1999 Barletta, Italy Clay Jacobo Díaz 6–7(6–8), 6–0, 6–3 3. April 12, 1999 Bermuda, Bermuda Clay Hernán Gumy 6–3, 7–6(7–3) 4. October 2, 2006 Quito, Ecuador Clay Chris Guccione 6–3, 7–6(7–4)

Doubles Wins (5)

Performance timeline

Singles

Top 10 wins