Guillermo Cañas

3.1. Early Career and Injuries

From 1995 to 1999, Cañas primarily competed in Challenger Series tournaments. In April 1998, he broke into the world's top 100 singles ranking for the first time, having secured three Challenger titles in the preceding 52 weeks. This achievement allowed him to qualify for more ATP-level tournaments, leading to his first ATP final appearance in 1999 at Orlando, United States. He also began regularly qualifying for Grand Slam tournaments.

In 2000, Cañas suffered a left wrist injury, which sidelined him for four months and caused his ranking to drop significantly to world No. 227. Despite this setback, he staged a strong recovery. In 2001, he climbed from 227th to 15th in the ATP rankings and was named the ATP Comeback Player of the Year. That season, he won his first ATP title in April at the Casablanca tournament, defeating Tommy Robredo in the final. He also reached the finals of three other tournaments. Additionally, he advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, achieving this at both the French Open and Wimbledon. After Wimbledon, Cañas secured his second doubles title at the Stuttgart Open, partnering with Rainer Schüttler.

In 2003, Cañas faced another significant injury, undergoing right hand surgery on March 14 to treat metacarpal ligament damage. He returned to the tour in September of that year.

3.2. Major Wins and Grand Slam Achievements

In 2002, an unseeded Cañas captured his first ATP Masters Series title at the Canada Masters in Toronto, defeating Andy Roddick 6-4, 7-5 in the final. His path to the title included victories over prominent players such as world No. 2 Marat Safin, top-ten ranked Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and Roger Federer. Cañas was the first Argentine to win the Canada Open since Guillermo Vilas in 1976 and the first Argentine to win a Masters Series title since the series' inception in 1990. He also won the Chennai Open that year and reached the finals in Casablanca and Stuttgart. Cañas further solidified his presence at Grand Slams by reaching his first quarterfinal at the French Open. In 2002, he earned over 1.10 M USD in prize money, becoming the first Argentine male tennis player to earn over 1.00 M USD in a single year.

In 2004, Cañas achieved three singles titles on the tour. He reached his second French Open quarterfinal in 2005 but was defeated by fellow Argentine Mariano Puerta in a five-set match.

3.3. Doping Controversy and Suspension

On February 21, 2005, during the Mexico Open in Acapulco, Guillermo Cañas tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a banned diuretic. Although no traces of any other forbidden substances were found in his sample, and Cañas maintained that the diuretic was present in medicine prescribed by ATP doctors for a cold, the ATP issued a two-year suspension on August 8, 2005. He was also forced to forfeit 276.07 K USD in prize money. This ban came just weeks after he had achieved his career-high ranking of world No. 8.

Cañas vowed to contest the ban, asserting his innocence. He appealed his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On May 23, 2006, the CAS acquitted him of deliberate performance enhancement, acknowledging that the substance was in a prescribed medicine. However, he was deemed careless for not verifying the medicine's contents before ingestion. His suspension was reduced from two years to 15 months, effective from June 11, 2005. This allowed him to return to professional play from September 11, 2006. The prize money he had acquired before the suspension was restored, but his ranking points, which had expired during the ban, were reset to nil.

3.4. Successful Return

Upon his return to the tour in September 2006, Cañas made a rapid and highly successful comeback. In the six months following his return, he won five Challenger titles and one ATP title, the Brasil Open in February 2007. His remarkable run included 42 wins in 47 matches, propelling him from being unranked to world No. 60. He won his first ATP-level match since his return on February 15, 2007, defeating Marcos Daniel 6-1, 6-4.

His comeback culminated in a series of victories over top-ranked players. On March 11, 2007, Cañas defeated world No. 1 Roger Federer 7-5, 6-2 at the Indian Wells Masters, ending Federer's remarkable 41-match winning streak, which was just five short of Guillermo Vilas's all-time ATP Tour record. Just 16 days later, he defeated Federer again (7-6, 2-6, 7-6) at the Miami Masters, becoming one of the few players (along with Rafael Nadal) to defeat Federer in consecutive tournaments since 2003. Cañas expressed his motivation to the New York Times, stating, "I came back very motivated, I came back with a lot of energy."

Cañas further demonstrated his prowess at the Miami Masters by becoming the first qualifier to reach the semifinals of the tournament. He advanced to the final by defeating seventh seed Ivan Ljubičić 7-5, 6-2, but ultimately lost to Novak Djokovic of Serbia in straight sets. His impressive run in Miami included victories over Tim Henman, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Tommy Robredo, and Ivan Ljubičić. By April 30, 2007, Cañas had climbed 121 positions to reach world No. 22, marking the largest ranking jump of the year.

Later in 2007, Cañas reached the final of the Torneo Godó in Barcelona, where he was defeated by Rafael Nadal. He expressed confidence in his prospects for the French Open, but his campaign ended in the quarterfinals for the third time, losing to Nikolay Davydenko. Having set a goal of finishing the year in the top 20, Cañas successfully concluded 2007 at world No. 15, matching his year-end rankings from 2001 and 2002.

3.5. Retirement from Professional Tennis

Guillermo Cañas announced his retirement from professional tennis in March 2010. Throughout his career, he held a Davis Cup record of five victories and two defeats, including a 3-1 record in singles matches.

6.1. ATP Tour Finals

Guillermo Cañas competed in 16 ATP Tour singles finals, winning 7 titles and finishing as runner-up 9 times. In doubles, he won both of his 2 ATP Tour finals appearances.

6.2. ATP Challenger Tour Finals

Guillermo Cañas had a successful record on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning 11 singles titles and 5 doubles titles.

6.3. Grand Slam Singles Performance Timeline

Cañas participated in Grand Slam tournaments for many years, reaching the quarterfinals at the French Open on three occasions and the fourth round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

6.4. Wins Over Top 10 Players

Guillermo Cañas recorded 20 victories against players ranked in the ATP Top 10 throughout his career, with notable wins in 2001, 2002, and during his comeback in 2007.