It is getting close to show time for Eugène Lapierre and Karl Hale, the tournament directors of the Rogers Cup events in Montreal and Toronto, respectively.
The main draw of the men's event in Montreal will begin in 13 days with a new Sunday start (four first-round matches), while the women's main draw will kick off in three weeks in Toronto.
"We're going green," Lapierre said of another Montreal innovation, "in the sense that we're sending out free return tickets on the Metro or the bus to anyone buying a ticket.
"We want to do our part to reduce traffic, especially for the residents around the park [Jarry Park]. We also encourage people to come on their bicycles just like the tournament director [Lapierre himself] does."
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In both Montreal and Toronto, the events will take advantage of the Canadian junior national championships being held in the area to host the girls and boys finals on the Friday. In Montreal, it will be the under-18s and in Toronto the under-16s.
On the grounds, Montreal has added a bar and terrace observation area next to the Banque Nationale No. 2 show court, while in Toronto, the layout will also be tweaked. "We've moved some of the booths around so there will be more room and more of a central area," Hale said.
Nine fashion shows will take place in that area as part of this year's Victorious and Vogue theme. "We're working on Anna Kournikova opening the fashion shows on Monday," Hale said.
She will be part of that night's Legends of Tennis, featuring a match between John McEnroe and Jim Courier and an eight-game pro-set mixed doubles with Kournikova and McEnroe playing Courier and Carling Bassett-Seguso.
Both sites will again have the Hawk-Eye system for line-call reviews in the main stadiums, while outside there will be new electronic display boards to keep fans up to date with scores and results.
As for the player lineups, things are clearer in Montreal because the ATP makes entry mandatory for the top 45 at ATP Masters Series events such as the Rogers Cup.
"Ticket sales are phenomenal," Lapierre said. "We're already at 92 per cent of our goal and we're sold out the last weekend. People are really excited about [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer being here."
After a disastrous 2006, when Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo withdrew and Kim Clijsters got hurt in her opening match, Lapierre is encouraged by signs from Federer and Nadal. "It good to know Federer has reserved his hotel room and asked to play doubles [with Swiss compatriot Yves Allegro] and for them to start on Monday," he said.
"Nadal reserved his hotel room and called back to say he wanted to be at the same hotel as [fellow Spaniards] Carlos Moya and Feliciano Lopez."
As for Toronto, Hale said, "Venus Williams, Henin, Mauresmo [although recent reports suggest she is struggling with motivation problems], Nicole Vaidisova, Ana Ivanovic and Martina Hingis, those are some of the names confirmed and booked with us already.
"Serena [Williams] is not on the entry list and Sharapova is, but she's a creature of habit and last year she played San Diego, Los Angeles and the U.S. Open [winning it], so we kind of assume she'll follow the same schedule. If she comes, it'll be a bonus."
Ticket sales are good. "We're significantly ahead of 2005," Hale said, "and Sunday [the final] and Monday [Legends night] are almost sold out."
Lapierre, a Tennis Canada employee in his seventh year as the tournament director, claims the time for grand planning is over. "I'll spend the next two weeks putting out all the little fires that flare up," he said.
Hale, the head racquets professional at the Donalda Club in Toronto, is hired on a contract basis. He succeeds Grant Connell, who, feeling the constraints of his real-estate business in Vancouver and of raising five children under the age of 10, left after one year.
Blessed with ideal weather in his only year as tournament director, the quick-with-a-quip Connell spoke with Hale last week and offered him "good luck rookie" best wishes.
