By Scoop Malinowski
Each Grand Slam certain players inch closer to fulfilling their dreams and their potentials, while others float away, farther and farther away from being contenders and challengers for the big titles.
Each tournament is a constant ebb and flow.
It’s not yet known what direction Ivo Karlovic, a month away from age 39, is heading. In the second round yesterday, the oldest man in the draw won a marathon 76 67 75 46 12-10 epic vs Yuichi Sugita. Karlovic, who saw his ATP ranking fall more than 50 spots last year, apparently is nowhere near ready to hang up his Head racquets or Mizuno gear.
Neither is Gilles Muller, who endured a wild roller coaster slugfest with Malik Jaziri. Muller was up two sets and deadlocked at 5-5 in the third set breaker but then lost that set and the fourth before finally prevailing 75 64 67 36 62. No. 23 seed Muller, who achieved his career high ranking last year at age 34, is another aging sharpshooter who could conceivably play for at least another two or three years if he remains healthy.
Ryan Harrison, who was on the verge of dropping out of the top 200 two summers ago, has resurrected his career and game with outstanding results. Reaching the finals of Brisbane last week, Harrison has sustained the fine play in Melbourne with wins over Dudi Sela and 31 seed Pablo Cuevas 64 76 64. Passionate, intense, fit and very confident, Harrison is back on track to fulfilling the potential that Mats Wilander predicted for the Louisianian, of reaching the top five in the world.
Andreas Seppi dropped all the way to 87 in the world last year and at 33 now, the Italian veteran who beat Federer in Australia a few years ago, has won two rounds against a pair of lefties, Corentin Moutet and Yoshihito Nishioka.
Daniel Nestor, 45 years old, lost again first round with Jonny Ehrlich 63 76 to Albot and Chung. Nestor has been stuck in a horrid slump since last summer and could be at the end of his Hall of Fame career.
Marcos Baghdatis, once a top ten player, is now ranked 103 in the world and at 32 years of age could be entering the stage of journeyman status. Bagdhatis lost in four sets yesterday to 20-year-old Andrey Rublev.
The biggest shock of the tournament so far has been Luksika Kumkum of Thailand. The 24-year-old ranked 125 in the world shocked Belinda Bencic 61 63 and will play her first ever Grand Slam third round match.
The second biggest surprise so far has been the fifteen year old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who has defeated 25 seed Peng Shuai and Olivia Rogowska to reserve her spot in the third round against pre-tournament favorite Elina Svitolina, age 23. If Kostyuk can manage to upset Svitolina, we could be looking at not only the youngest champion in history but also the possible heir apparent to Serena Williams.
Caro Wozniacki scored one of her best comebacks in her career yesterday, coming back from against 21-year-old Jana Fett 36 62 75. The 27-year-old ranked 3 in the world was down a seemingly impossible 1-5 and 15-40 in the final set yet still found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. You have to believe that a win like this could instill that unbeatable feeling inside Wozniacki who is still seeking her first major title.
Kyle Edmund keeps quietly progressing his status and knocking off marquee players. This week, the 23 year old ranked 50 in the world has sent US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and Denis Istomin home early. Could the low-key Brit win a major title?
You can’t count out any player mentioned in this article. Or any others, young or old. The ebbs and flows of pro tennis, like the weather, are sometimes predictable and not predictable.
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« Previous 1 2 3 Next »Duke Carnoustie · January 18, 2018 at 3:26 pm
Q. Kudla is ranked 180 but he’s been almost top 50. What’s the difference between players ranked 200 and someone top 50? Do you feel like it’s very close?
DOMINIC THIEM: It is very close, and it’s also different if somebody is ranked 180, and he was never up there. But Kudla it’s very different, of course. I think he had this disease, mono or something, before he dropped and before he was, yeah, close to top 50, fourth-round Wimbledon. So he’s a really good player. On his way back he play a great tournament, qualified and beat Johnson, which is a very good effort. I was not really surprised that he played well.
Duke Carnoustie · January 18, 2018 at 3:29 pm
Fed is 16-2 vs. Gasquet, with 10-0 on hard courts.
Chazz · January 18, 2018 at 3:31 pm
Looking at the weather, Friday looks bad again but after that a huge drop in temperature.
Duke Carnoustie · January 19, 2018 at 1:19 am
Here’s the video of Harrison-Sela but what the video alleges isn’t quite heard so I let you be the judge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18wPsEz9lWU
Duke Carnoustie · January 19, 2018 at 1:37 am
What’s the deal with the Pliskova-Safarova rivalry? Any fireworks or are they good friends?
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 2:41 am
You may be thinking of Pliskova/Strykova, where Pliskova swiped S’s coach recently.
Safarova is a bit older and I haven’t heard of any rivalry, they seem friends.
But what do we know ?
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 6:33 am
I had a look at that video and what gobsmacked me is the gnomelike camera man scuttling after Harrison and tracking him so close he’s almost down the poor guy’s throat.
If I’d been H I’d have turned around and given him a good kick.
Michael in UK · January 19, 2018 at 7:58 am
Very interesting comments Leif.
On the last couple of days in AO, I know it is Australia, but it seems a shame that soem matches are likely to have turned on the capacity of the players to cope with very extreme heat levels, rusted than skill, nerve, tactics, and non heat related fitness etc
scoopmalinowski · January 19, 2018 at 8:31 am
Jg you g o t me curious now about Yonex. I have felt the power of it from some opponents. Might need to try it.
jg · January 19, 2018 at 8:41 am
Kyrigos is feeling the Yonex, you see that drop shot come to the net play in the 4th set tie break when he was down?
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 11:13 am
Ostapenko and Muguruza. Yep. I’m very down on wta champs.
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 11:45 am
Andrew – there are other champs to cheer you up…..
Dan Markowitz · January 19, 2018 at 12:36 pm
Yes, Leif, the players are getting taller, but as Spadea pointed out, besides Delpo, Cilic and Safin, in the past 20 years, there hasn’t been a player taller than 6-2 to win a slam. Not a single one, and we’ll see if Kyrgios or Zverev ever win one, not that Kyrgios is so tall, maybe he’s 6-5. Raonic has seemingly crashed out and Kachanov I don’t think will ever win one. How tall is Thiem, maybe 6-1, and you’ve got Wawa who won 3 and he’s only 6-0 as is Shapovalov. I don’t think you’ll see the giant player ever dominate tennis. It’s more of a footwork game now than it is serve game.
Hartt · January 19, 2018 at 12:57 pm
Dan, you are forgetting Andy Murray, who is 6’3″ and of course has won 3 slams.
Dan Markowitz · January 19, 2018 at 1:45 pm
True, I guess I was saying players over 6-3. I was talking to Fritz Buehning yesterday who is 6-5 and he told me that for every inch you hit the ball higher on your serve, you gain 9 inches into the court. But if you look at the progression of tennis, yes you don’t have the Laver’s, Rosewall’s, Borg’s, Vilas’, Connors’ and McEnroe’s all less than 6 feet winning slams anymore, but you don’t see the taller players like Smith and Teacher, Mayotte from yesteryear doing as well either. 6-1-6-3 seems optimal height. That’s why I don’t like Opelka’s chances or even Fritz’s.
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 2:12 pm
I think Zverev is too tall.
Ashe and Stan Smith were tall, if I remember, from earlier times.
IMO 5-9 to 5-10 is the optimal height for a woman, although I know there are a few 6’+ around.
I’m curious to see how far Barty can go at 5-5.
Simona is 5-6 and Kerber 5-8.
Chazz · January 19, 2018 at 2:46 pm
I think the odds are pretty good that Zverev (6’6″) and Kyrgios (6’4″) win slams.
On that note, I heard the Kyrgios-Tsonga match was great and I’m really looking forward to Kyrgios-Dimitrov. Behaved Kyrgios is much better for tennis than bad Kyrgios.
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 3:31 pm
Sandgren worked hard for it. Props.
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 3:34 pm
Catherine, just surprised they are out so early. I’m used to champs making at least the quarters. Silly me.
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 3:36 pm
Saw Zverev a few years ago, the guy is pretty lean. I don’t question his talent. I don’t think he prepares for slams well.
Duke Carnoustie · January 19, 2018 at 3:40 pm
Catherine, ahh got it. You never know for people from the same country meeting in a Slam and what that dynamic is like since back home it’s a big deal.
I take it everyone on this site believes Lauren Davis will beat Halep?
Nobody thinks Carolina Garcia can win and everyone is probably right. But this could be her best Slam away from home and she is 8 in the world.
Duke Carnoustie · January 19, 2018 at 3:41 pm
This Goffin loss was pretty quiet. What happened? I haven’t seen or read anything about it.
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 8:04 pm
WTA wildly unpredictable. Carolina Garcia is as likely as any other player to win it.
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 8:07 pm
Men’s side holding up to form so far. Wawrinka has not been in champion form for a while, and Sandgren has been playing well for a while.
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 8:11 pm
Goffin is…I wouldn’t read too much into the result for his future slams. He has earned his keep at the top. To me the question is whether he’s able to create his own luck. He has the same job as other players, knock off Federer and Nadal and Djokovic and be the last player with the trophy. It’s been virtually impossible.
Andrew Miller · January 19, 2018 at 8:17 pm
What fascinates me, is that the wide open wta tournaments have inspired all the wta players to believe they have a chance. Halep prediction that with Serena Williams off tour it would be her chance has been completely wrong.
Makes me believe that just as Federer and Nadal showed Agassi the door, new players will have to show them the door.
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 10:44 pm
Yes I am up to see Halep and Garcia making a night of it.
Still going.
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 10:46 pm
Kerber will win it. Order restored 🙂
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 10:53 pm
Garcia through. Caroline does love long matches.
catherine · January 19, 2018 at 11:00 pm
Simona wins 15-13 FS. But if she’s in this much ntrouble to Lauren Davis…..
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 1:55 am
Epic match but from what I saw mostly attritional baseline hitting, stretches of just bashing back and forth. I didn’t know Davis was so small.
(I never did find what happened in her match v Petrovic – Andrea won first set and no games thereafter – saw no reports anywhere)
Simona wasn’t able to finish points where I thought she had the opportunity. So although incredibly long it wasn’t actually that interesting. Just long.
Garcia’s match had much more variety – both players attacking. Really like Caroline’s attitude.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 1:59 am
Duke – Pliskova v Safarova was pretty close and I watched with my eagle eye to see signs of friction but the match seemed to be played in good spirit and no great frost at the net.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 2:48 am
Chung bts Zverev 6-0 in fifth. Maybe injury ? Sascha hasn’t played well going back to Hopman Cup where Angie got Germany to the final.
Osaka bts Barty SS. I am beginning to think Ashleigh may have landed on player plateau.
Sharapova v Kerber next. Angie will do it in SS. I’ll be back to tell you how.
Michael in UK · January 20, 2018 at 3:49 am
Gosh Catherine did you stay up for all of Halep v Davis? Must have finished well after 3am UK time?
Re Zverev, ON UK sports BBC radio they were talking about Zverev’s forehand breaking down, and he wasn’t apparently stepping round to take some shots on his backhand.
Michael in UK · January 20, 2018 at 3:51 am
sorry, I meant he WAS stepping round to take shots on backhand.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 4:46 am
Michael – no, my neighbours woke me early in the morning so I followed the match until the end 🙂
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 4:49 am
Well – that was over real quick. Angie wins in just over an hour. I think she’s in a hurry to get somewhere.
Hartt · January 20, 2018 at 5:06 am
Good for Kerber to win in SS. Good to see her back playing good tennis.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 5:17 am
Overwhelming performance from Kerber who must be the favourite for the title.
OK – Maria isn’t much of an opponent now, but who in Melbourne will be ? No one I can see who can her hit off the court or has the skill maybe to slow her up,
She’s so hyped – she talks fast, runs fast, drives fast.
That’s the reason for her awful English – she wants to get the words out and doesn’t care if they aren’t perfect. She gabbles in German as well.
Last year was a long come down from the high of 2016 – she couldn’t handle that. Until the moment came when frustration made a change in team and attitude the only way past the brick wall, or through it.
Fisette is exactly the right coach for her.
A lesson for every player who’s thinking of giving up and that 30’s too late.
And a lesson for Maria – maybe it is too late.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 5:20 am
Hartt – good is an understatement I think 🙂
Angie crushed Maria.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 5:32 am
BTW – if Simona’s ankles are weak, why doesn’t she have them taped ? I can’t see that she has.
Hartt · January 20, 2018 at 6:21 am
Commies said that she does have her ankles taped.
Hartt · January 20, 2018 at 6:26 am
I woke up in time to see the final games of Angie’s match. It should be recorded, so will try to watch the match later, even if that means putting up with Sharapova’s shrieking. I was reading posts at another site, with the TV on when suddenly I had to turn the TV sound way down, without even looking. (Did not want to get in trouble with my neighbours, not to mention hurting my ears.) Yes, they had switched to Maria vs Angie.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 7:28 am
Hartt –
Thanks about Simona – I tried to see on the highlights but I just thought it was her socks.
Ha ha – As I noted above I was woken by my neighbours but not for the same reason 🙂
Angie’s playing well but she’s not unbeatable. As Andrew would say, some of the others just have to step up. Make a plan and execute it. Just keep her running and stifle her favourite shots.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 8:07 am
Radwanska gone, so Angie will play Hsieh and could go on to play Garcia, which will be a wipe-out or a good match. Never a dull moment with Caroline.
catherine · January 20, 2018 at 8:18 am
Note to Dan – you picked Osaka as one to follow. She looked very good beating Barty, has Sascha Bajin working with her now and some have seen echoes of Serena 🙂
Naomi served 12 aces v Ashleigh.
Scoop Malinowski · January 20, 2018 at 9:20 am
Chung (with Albot) defeated the 2 seed in doubles Kontinen and Peers. Watch out for Chung who is breaking out big time. Handling Zverev like that has to vault Chung to be a serious contender to win this title.
Scoop Malinowski · January 20, 2018 at 9:24 am
Davis vs Halep was like Ali vs Frazier for 45 rounds. One of the, if not THE best women’s match I’ve ever seen. Neither player would blink or give an inch. Thought Davis smiling after getting the 0-40 triple match point edge showed she got mentally careless and assumed Halep would give it to her. But Halep found another gear and fought to the death and won the game with five straight points. That was one of the most courageous efforts I’ve ever seen by a womens player. Halep is a true champion and she subdued a tremendous lil warrior in Davis. Wertheim should write a book about this match!
Scoop Malinowski · January 20, 2018 at 9:26 am
Andrew, Fed and Nadal are shoving all the new guys and veterans out the door. Like a bouncer getting rid of drunks at the bar at closing time.
Scoop Malinowski · January 20, 2018 at 9:27 am
Duke, good question. Goffin rarely plays a bad match and his elimination was a quiet surprise that was lost in the shuffle of all the other action.