It’s Masters 1000 time, which means the big guns are out to play. Excluding Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin Del Potro, who miss with wrist injuries, Toronto is stacked full of talent, featuring eight of the top ten players. For the majority of them, it is a chance to blow out some cobwebs and get in some quality match practice before the U.S Open, which is a mere three weeks away.

Toronto hosts one half of the Rogers Cup, with Montreal hosting the women’s event this year, before they alternate again in 2015. The event has a rich history, with Wimbledon and the U.S Open the only two tournaments to have been running longer. The Canadian Open or Canadian Masters, as it is also known, first appeared on the calendar way back in 1881, and was held on the grass courts of Toronto. These days, as part of the U.S Open Series, the players exhibit their game on hard courts. The best players in the world have always flocked to ply their trade in Canada, and just a few of the note-worthy past winners include: Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Andre Agassi. Lendl dominated the Open, reaching the final 9 times from 1980-1992, raising the champion’s trophy 6 times. In recent times the event has been dominated by the ‘Big 4’, with Roger Federer (2 titles), Nadal (3), Novak Djokovic (3) and Andy Murray (2) the only players to win the tournament in the past decade. Nadal won the title in 2013 as he cut down everyone who opposed him on the North American hard court swing, however a wrist complaint has him unable to defend his title both here and at Cincinnati next week, and also has him questionable to compete at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic, Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych each command their own quarter of the draw, with the top seed arguably having the toughest route to the semis. The recently crowned world no. 1 receives a first round bye, and awaits either Radek Stepanek or Gael Monfils, who are drawn to meet first-up. Both players would provide a challenge to the Serb, especially considering it would be Novak’s first match since winning Wimbledon.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the seed likely waiting for Djokovic in the third round, and then Andy Murray looms as a potential quarter-final opponent. The Brit will have to get past a tricky quarter first though, with young Aussies, Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic eager to impress, while Richard Gasquet, a two-time finalist in Toronto, will pose a challenge.

Should Nole reach the final four, he is projected to play Wawrinka, who has been a thorn in his side the last 18 months. The Swiss man is out of match practice himself, and hasn’t gone near his Australian Open form since winning that tournament. Kevin Anderson, Fabio Fognini, Tommy Robredo, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Grigor Dimitrov all pose a serious threat to Wawrinka on their day and have to be part of the conversation. However if his ability on the table tennis court is anything to go by, Wawrinka will be in contention to win his first title here.

Upon examination, the bottom half of the draw appears to be more straightforward than the top half. Tomas Berdych is the top seed in the third quarter and opens against either Marcel Granollers or Yen-Hsun Lu. Roberto Bautista-Agut or Feliciano Lopez would likely be next up, before a quarter-final clash with Washington champion Milos Raonic or the enigmatic Ernests Gulbis. Berdych got his hard court swing off to a poor start, being completely outplayed by Vasek Pospisil of Canada, at the Citi Open in Washington last week. He will look to channel his “flower power” and build up a head of steam coming into the final Slam of the season.

Having tried his hand at some hockey with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Roger Federer now turns his attention towards winning a third Rogers Cup.

He will kick things off in the second round with a clash against a Pole – Jerzy Janowicz - or Peter Polansky, a Canadian wildcard. Marin Cilic is the seed looming in the third round, and then either David Ferrer or John Isner in the quarters. Isner in particular is a formidable opponent during this stretch of the year, and already has a title under his belt after winning Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Roger didn’t play at Montreal last year, and has a big opportunity to make up ground on Nadal and Djokovic, giving him some extra motivation. He will be debuting the newly branded “RF 97” racquet this week also.

The locals will be focusing on their five Canadians in the main draw, with Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil carrying great expectation. The pair faced each other in the Washington final yesterday – the first all-Canadian final in ATP history - with Raonic emerging victorious 6-1 6-4. Pospisil made a splash here last year in what was a breakout tournament, defeating Isner, Stepanek, Berdych and Davydenko en route to the semis, where he met his countryman, Raonic. Milos won that match 6-4 1-6 7-6(4), going on to lose to Nadal 2-6 2-6 in the final. That gives both players a lot of points to defend here, with Pospisil in particular attempting to protect more than a quarter of his ranking points. Frank Dancevic and Peter Polansky were the Canadian wildcard recipients, with Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock also receiving wildcards. Qualifier Brayden Schnur is the fifth and final Canadian in the main draw – which came as a big shock to all. The 19 year old, who has played just three times in the main draw of a Challenger event, defeated Matthew Ebden and Yuichi Sugita in qualifying to reach the main draw here, guaranteeing him 35 points and shooting him into the top 500. He has drawn Andreas Seppi in the first round, which is winnable considering the Italian’s 15-21 season.

The doubles draw, aside from the usual suspects, features some interesting pairings. Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play Wimbledon champs, Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock; Ernests Gulbis and Mikhail Youzhny will form one of the more temperamental pairings; Djokovic and Wawrinka will join forces in a bid for more court time before the U.S Open; and David Ferrer pairs up with fellow Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Predictions:

Roger Federer is one to look here given the relative ease of his draw compared to the favourite, Djokovic, who faces many difficult challenges. While Djokovic may have the edge over Federer currently, the Serb may well be cut down before the final, leaving Federer as the frontrunner. He is my pick here.

Despite not having a great lead-up, Kevin Anderson is a great dark horse selection. The South African faces a qualifier, Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, in the first round, and then has one of two head cases – Mikhail Youzhny or Fabio Fognini – in the second round, a match he would favour himself in. Wawrinka would likely be his third round opponent, however Anderson is at his best on hard courts and defeated the world no. 4 at Indian Wells already this year. Anderson holds a 17-8 hard court record in 2014 after going 23-13 in 2013 and could certainly be a danger if he gets his serve going.

With big ranking points on the line this week, competitors will be giving it their all on the hard courts of Toronto. There is a great line-up of players to look, and we are set for a cracking 7 days of Masters 1000 tennis; enjoy!