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2/28/08 3:08 PM | Cheryl Murray
In a match much closer than the scoreline suggests, Jose Acasuso took out the recently injured Guillermo Canas in three sets.
Guillermo Canas suffered left wrist tendinitis at the tail end of 2007 which sidelined him for more than four months. He spent three hours and eleven minutes beating Carlos Berlocq in round one; the effort took it's toll in the latter stages of this match. His loss was evidence of a lack of match toughness. He had a whopping seventeen break point opportunities for the match, and only managed to convert two of them, both in the first set. All credit to Jose Acasuso for remaining calm under pressure and pulling out the win. Acasuso has played a lot of tennis in the past month, and fatigue could easily have been a factor for him as well. He got to the final in Buenos Aires last week, losing to David Nalbandian in three sets, but he looked the much fresher of the two men.
Canas played well in the first set, though he was already struggling metally. He converted two of his eight break chances and while this was enough for him to take the set, it set the climate for the rest of the match. Acasuso had some difficulty on his own serve, and early on in the match, Canas still had enough left in the tank to take advantage.
The second set further exposed Canas' mental fragility. He went zero for six on break point conversions, and was visibly winded. The difference for Acasuso in this set was that he played the big points better than his Argentine countryman. He got a lead early in the set and never gave it up, though Canas had ample opportunity to level the match. Canas simply ran out of steam in the third set. Once again, Acasuso got the early break; after that, Canas seemed resigned to the fact that he was going to lose that match. Next up for Acasuso is Marel Granollers-Pujol.
The match was actually much closer than the scoreline suggests, and it was good tennis for the first two sets.
The match could have been more competitive if Canas had been more mentally tough.
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missing 15 break point opportunities IS a sign of mental fragility, no matter which way you cut it. Acasuso was not brilliant in this match - he was just solid. In a different tournament, Canas would have won this match. But he was match tough in neither the physical nor mental departments yesterday. He got tired mentally before he did so physically.
cherylmurray , 2/28/08 7:55 PM
OK. That's quite shocking and disturbing to hear about a fighter like Canas. I'll have to attribute it to lack of match play. I expect things to turn around for him in both departments on the U.S. hard courts.
RickyDimon , 2/28/08 8:23 PM
I think Canas is out. He had his run last year but now he's not coming back to the top again.
Theace , 2/29/08 9:45 AM
Did you know that... Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement fought during 6 hours and 33 minutes in the longest match ever played, in French Open 2004.
Avalaine, Dec 4, 2008 4:32 AM
ravikiran, Dec 4, 2008 3:49 AM
kaitepai, Dec 3, 2008 10:59 PM
kaitepai, Dec 3, 2008 10:02 PM
janhavi, Dec 3, 2008 2:51 PM
Avalaine, Dec 3, 2008 10:15 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:23 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:02 PM
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Tennistalk v1.3.0
Jose Acasuso 
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
too bad for Canas, still not a bad tournament in his first effort back from injury
I am not going to flat out disagree with you that Canas lost it mentally - because I did not watch the match - but Willy is one of the mentally toughest players on Tour and I find it near impossible to believe it was his mental fragility that lost this match. It was almost certainly physical fatigue from playing so much tennis is two matches after a four-month layoff. Just because he stunk on break points does not necessarily mean he was mentally out of it on those points.
I can believe he lost it a bit mentally in the 3rd in that he knew he was going to lose - but even then I\'m sure it was more of a physical aspect. Knowing he had nothing left in the tank caused him to be resigned to the fact that this was not going to be his day.
But again, I\'m not flat out denying it since I didn\'t see it. If you - or anyone else here - watched the matched I\'d love to hear more about his body language and all that, because as a fan of Willy, I always want to hear the specifics of how his comeback is going!
RickyDimon , 2/28/08 5:12 PM