![]() ![]() He hit the ball much flatter with more traditional groundstrokes. Agassi, years removed from his flamboyant outfits and wild hairstyles, was kitted out in simple solid colours. The pair provided such stark contrasts in both their look and game. The title match was a battle of generations, pitting the 19-year-old Nadal against the 35-year-old Andre Agassi.ĭespite his age, the eight-time major winner was still a force on the tour, ranked seventh in the world and one of the greatest hard-court players of all time (he would make the US Open final just a month later). The raging bull did not drop a set in his next four matches, including a 6-3, 6-1 victory in a rematch of the French Open final with Mariano Puerta, to reach his third hard court final and second at a Masters 1000 event. ![]() Nadal managed to grind past his childhood hero in three sets, which helped him find his top gear quickly. In Roger Federer’s absence, he was the top seed at a Masters 1000 event for the first time in Montreal but ran into trouble early in the tournament up against his fellow Majorcan and future coach Carlos Moya. All nine of his titles were on clay and he had lost both his previous hard-court finals. However, he had yet to prove himself on hard courts. ![]() When Rafael Nadal rolled up for his second appearance in Canada in August 2005 (he had lost in the first round of Toronto in the previous year) he was already a star on the ATP Tour, ranked second in the world and a nine-time titlist, including two Masters 1000s and his first major title at Roland-Garros earlier that year. On more than one occasion, matches he has played in Canada have dictated the course of the ATP Tour. He is the second-winningest man in the history of the National Bank Open and it is his most-successful event on a hard court. Many of those have come in Canada, where the Spaniard is a five-time champion. ![]()
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