Guillermo Canas happy to be back

Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 30 March 2007 / Leave a Comment

Canas believes the fact that he is now enjoying himself on court has helped him on his current good run of form.

The unseeded Argentine beat fifth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where he now faces seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

Canas, ranked 55 in the world after recently returning from a doping suspension, has become the first qualifier ever to reach the last four in Miami and is set to climb back into the world's top 40, whatever the result against Ljubicic.

Perhaps more amazingly is the fact that Canas, who was the world number eight two years ago, has knocked the undisputed world number one Roger Federer out of the last two tournaments he has played.

The 29-year-old feels that his game is pretty much the same as it has always been, but he is now enjoying tennis a lot more which is helping him to get the results.

He said: "I am the same player I was before, just more happy when I get onto the court, because I enjoy every day more and more."

Ljubicic, who beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3 7-5 to book his semi-final berth, is wary of the task ahead.

"I think I played Canas once, here, seven years ago, maybe," Ljubicic said. "It was a long time ago but that match doesn't mean anything.

"I saw him against Roger the other day. He is rock solid on the baseline. His short swings, he's not missing anything. You give him a short ball, he can go for it."

Canas is fancied at 1.76 to make it through to the final to face either Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic, with Ljubicic on offer at 2.3.

However, Djokovic heads the outright winner market and is trading at 3.15, with Canas available at 4, while both Murray and Ljubicic can be supported at 4.6.