Wednesday's lineup at the Rogers Cup in Toronto is a tennis fan's dream. Federer and Nadal will both be on court -- Nadal twice actually, for singles and doubles -- and Blake, Safin, Murray, Davydenko and Ferrer are among the several other top players to be in action, weather permitting.

Tennis offers something most other sports don't: At most tour events, you are watching the best players in the world, in a worldwide sport. Golf can't promise you that. If you're at a PGA Tour event, there are always some top European and Asian players playing elsewhere. NHL and NBA games provide most of the world's best players in hockey and basketball, but not all, and of course you're just watching two teams at a time. Almost no other country's people have even bothered to pick up football. Tennis tournaments like this one in Toronto are on par with golf majors in this respect. Or like all-star games in team sports. Including practice sessions yesterday, I saw everybody, and surely will again today.

Yesterday's play was right on par with the weather -- decent but not exceptional. Roddick and Djokovic were the best players on court, and both won tough matches. I hit as many matches as I could from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and came away with a few observations.

Watching Carlos Moya of Spain go down easily to Tommy Haas of Germany in the first match of the day on the stadium court, I thought about how I can't fully understand what it would be like to live the life of a mid-range tour player. Take Moya, for example. Imagine traveling to Toronto from Spain for this event. Your first match is Tuesday at 11 a.m. By 12:05, you're done. Then it's off to the next hard-court event, I suppose, or back to Spain, with a check for $8,750 in hand for the effort in Toronto. Was it worth it?

I sat in on Andy Roddick's interview session. Roddick is self-confident and smart, and he seems fairly high-strung, a combination of traits that sometimes has led to confrontations with reporters. But yesterday he was loose, laid-back and reflective, which made for an enjoyable session. Roddick discussed his place on the tennis landscape, his career, his shoulder, his early losses at the French Open and Wimbledon, and finally, his playing doubles this week. "Probably good for popcorn sales," is how Roddick put the fact that he, Federer, Nadal, Murray and others are entered in doubles. (What a coup for the fans.) It's nice to be able to hear an athlete articulate himself well, which tennis usually provides.

I watched some of Jonas Bjorkman's third-set whitewash of Arnaud Clement from the front row at Court 1. Bjorkman is a thinking man's pro, a journeyman best known for his doubles prowess. He uses all of the court, and his technique at the net is outstanding. He's in his final year on tour. He entered the qualifying here, made it through that, then dismantled Clement to advance to a second-round match today with enigmatic James Blake.

I also sat courtside for the first-set tiebreak between Igor Andreev and Gael Monfils. The power and quickness of these pros is extraordinary. All Monfils does is hit 230-kph serves, track down almost every ball, and at 6-4 appears to be able to reach from sideline to sideline while standing still. (Slight exaggeration.) And he lost.

I look forward to scoping Federer out today. He plays tonight. I heard a couple of guys talking yesterday about needing a "Federer pass" to photograph him in the media room. I'm taking my camera anyway. We'll see what happens.