Barry Cowan looks forward to the return of tennis' biggest names in the Montreal Masters.
Montreal will offer insight into US Open preparations
Radek Stepanek's victory in Washington came out of nowhere.
Unseeded and without a title in two years, I was under the impression his career was winding down. That is certainly what his body language and game seemed to suggest.
But this week he stepped it up and took the attack to his opponents, including semi-finalist Donald Young (whose progress was one of the stories of the week), with renewed vigour.
He definitely benefitted in the final from the fact that rain delays prevented Gael Monfils from wrapping up victory over John Isner until 1:15am Washington time.
The Frenchman looked lacklustre as a result but given the aggressive way that Stepanek played, there's a fair chance he would have won the match anyway.
Stepanek remains a confident player and when he isn't on his game the forehand can spray all over the place; but at his best, he takes time away from his opponent and even Monfils, who is a great athlete, wasn't able to chase down a lot of the shots.
It was definitely a case of ball travelling faster than man!
Insight
There's absolutely no chance of an unseeded player winning in Montreal this week, though. Since 2004, the champion of this tournament has come from the top four in the draw.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the best players in the world start again after their mid-season break and getting an insight into how they are developing ahead of the US Open.
It's a shame that Robin Soderling and Andy Roddick have pulled out, but their absence is not going to detract from the main event - the rivalries renewed between the top four.
All eyes will be on world No 1 Novak Djokovic to see if he can pick up from where he left off.
He's only lost once so far this season because he's the one who has been able to play his best tennis under pressure.
Having had a break, each of the top four will come in with renewed enthusiasm and motivation; they will be fresh and craving competition but also a little rusty, which raises the chance of an upset ever so slightly.
Priority
It's extremely tough to call which of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray - plus Juan Martin del Potro - will come out on top.
I am expecting really good things from del Potro even though he didn't perform particularly well in LA.
This is the stage of the year when we should see him at his best; I think he is ahead of schedule, in terms of the way he has been playing, but he is in Djokovic's section; that will be a cracking match if it comes to fruition.
The priority for each player is to get as many matches under their belt as they can but, of course, their focus will change when they get to the quarter-finals.
Then it's all about being the winner this week and laying down a marker for the remainder of the season.
