Picking Up Where They Left Off

It may feel like a while since the final balls of the 2014 tennis season were hit, but it sure looks like a couple players kept busy during their time off. In just the first few days of action in the New Year, we've already been treated to thrilling matches and major upsets. But if we were really paying attention the last few months, maybe we shouldn't be so surprised to see who's shining as bright as they are -- and who may still need to dust off the cobwebs a little.

It might not be too shocking to see Victoria Azarenka struggling a bit on her return to tournament play. The former world #1 has played just a handful of events over the past year and was defending runner-up points in Brisbane -- she was under a lot of pressure this week. And though she held match points against Karolina Pliskova in their opener Monday, she wasn't able to convert and ultimately lost the three-plus hour marathon. Slightly more troublesome was the performance of last year's finalist in Melbourne -- Dominika Cibulkova lost to Madison Keys in her first round in Brisbane, notching her thirteenth event in twelve months without a win. One-time Roland Garros #2 Sara Errani didn't fare any better -- she's only won one match since the U.S. Open and this week in Auckland lost in straight sets to veteran Daniela Hantuchova. Fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova put up a bit more of a fight, but after taking the first set off qualifier Lucie Hradecka she ultimately couldn't hold off the underdog.

It wasn't all bad news for the ladies, though. Young Ana Konjuh who reached the quarters in Limoges and the semis in Istanbul last year pulled off an upset of eighth seeded Mona Barthel in Auckland before ultimately losing to Elena Vesnina. Over in Shenzhen Aleksandra Krunic, who very nearly defeated Victoria Azarenka in New York last year, is making the most of her qualifying ticket to the main draw, reaching the quarters with a win over Anna Schmiedlova today. And at the mixed-team, round-robin Hopman Cup, under-appreciated Lucie Safarova continued her success from last year -- the Czech was the only player to hold match point against Aussie champ Na Li in Melbourne, reached her first Slam semi at Wimbledon and scored wins over Sam Stosur, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki during the season. This week in Perth she's already stunned Genie Bouchard and notched an impressive win over Flavia Pennetta to help her team to a perfect 2-0 so far.

A couple guys have been able to carry over their strength into the new year too. Andy Murray, who fell briefly out of the top ten in 2014, cut his ranking in half with three titles to end the season. He hasn't had as tough a draw in Perth, but he did score his third straight win over Jerzy Janowicz, a man who stunned him two years back in Paris. And David Goffin, who won four Challenger and three ATP-level titles all in the back half of last year, hasn't slowed down either. The fourth seed in Chennai survived a challenge in his opener, but with the help of twelve aces ultimately dispatched Ricardas Berankis to make the quarters. Young Borna Coric on the other hand, a man who ended 2014 with one of the biggest wins of his nascent career, may not have been able to get the win over defending champ Stan Wawrinka today, but he did manage an upset over veteran Robin Haase in his first round. And wins like that could be just what he needs to make a real dent in his ranking.

It hasn't all been good news for the men though. American #1 John Isner hasn't done much of note for quite some time -- he'd only scored one win over a top twenty player since Roland Garros before making the trip to Perth. There he battled through three tight sets in his defeat of Fabio Fognini but then fell in straights to a still-uncertain Vasek Pospisil. And former U.S. Open semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny has struggled a bit over the years and started this season out of the top forty for the first time since 2009. He showed some promise of a comeback the last few months, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Cincinnati and Ernest Gulbis in Shanghai, but he also lost to Nick Kyrgios in New York and to #74 Mikhail Kukushkin in his hometown Moscow. This week in Doha he was stunned by little known Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in straight sets, his sixth loss to a sub-#100 player in the past year. But of course the big shocker came when Rafael Nadal took the court for his first ATP match since undergoing surgery this past fall. But even pre-appendectomy the Spanish star seemed out of form, losing to two teenagers in the past six months, and his troubles continued in the New Year. Against world #127, veteran qualifier Michael Berrer on Tuesday, Rafa squandered a 6-1 first set and couldn't convert any of five break points in the decider. After two hours on court the defending champ in Doha was sent packing, marking his earliest loss in a season since 2004.

Of course, not everyone started the season the way they ended the last. Peter Gojowczyk had become a virtual nonentity on Tour in the back half of 2014 -- after a stunning Cinderella run to the Doha semis last year and a defeat of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Davis Cup play, the twenty-five year old German couldn't qualify for the last three ATP events of the season and only managed an 8-9 record on the year. He seems to have found his stride again though -- he only lost one game to Alejandro Falla this week in Chennai and could be about to turn his luck back around. And even more surprising was the groggy performance of world #1 Serena Williams in Perth. With a 31-3 record since Wimbledon and four titles to boot, you can understand why she'd be a little tired. But this week she actually called for a coffee during her three-setter against Pennetta and then was wholly drubbed by Eugenie Bouchard yesterday. Whether she can rally to get the U.S. into the Hopman Cup semis remains to be seen, but something tells me she'll figure things out once she hits the big leagues again.

Hopefully the players who've put themselves on the right track to start this year will keep things going deep into the season -- and the rest will take this as an opportunity to right themselves. With just over a week left before things get really serious on Tour there's not a lot of time of everyone to show us exactly what they're made of.

Separated at Birth: U.S. Open & Summer Stars

It's been a while since my last "Separated at Birth" post, and with the surge of new talent emerging on the tennis scene in recent months, and especially at the U.S. Open, I thought it might be time for an update.

After all, while these players may be rising to new heights in the sport, you can't help but feel like you've seen them somewhere before.

In Mirjana Lucic-Baroni's case, that time came over a decade ago. The 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist and 1998 Australian doubles champ had been out of the game for years, battling personal and financial problems and contending with an abusive father. She returned to WTA plan in the late 2000s, but only won a handful of Slam matches since then and had lost eight straight matches coming into the U.S. Open. She was ranked just #121 in the world, but managed to qualify for the main draw and took out two of the biggest stars of the year in early rounds. And it wasn't just her high quality of play that served as a callback to nineties -- hopefully her Comeback is just starting.

Aleksandra Krunic is a little newer on the scene, but the U.S. Open qualifier -- her only WTA-level win before New York came in Bucharest over then-#131 Alexandra Panova -- had an amazing run of her own over the past two weeks. She held tough against twenty-seventh seed Madison Keys in the second round and then stunned New Haven and Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova a match later. In her first ever Major fourth round, she came back from a big deficit against two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka and very nearly won the match. Her stealth performance was almost as impressive as certain girl with a dragon tattoo.

A couple other ladies who made a mark in Flushing Meadows bare resemblances less to Hollywood stars than to erstwhile tennis champions, some of whom are not at all far removed from the sport. Monica Puig, the highest ever ranked player from Puerto Rico, has certainly been making a name for herself this year, winning her first career title in Strasbourg last May and taking Andrea Petkovic to three tough sets at the Open. But even in the promo posters hanging all over the New York subways this week, I kept mistaking her for a recent Hall of Famer who actually made it all the way to this year's doubles final.

And former Junior #1 Belinda Bencic, the youngest teenager in the top hundred, made a big push into the women's circuit with a run to the quarters this fortnight. Wins over Angelique Kerber and Jelena Jankovic propelled her to #33 in the world, a stone's throw from being seeded during next year's Slam season. Perhaps the seventeen-year-old standout is well on her way to a career that rivals another young phenom, 2009's Newport inductee.

First time Slam semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova also put together the event of her career, first withstanding the blistering heat to take out seventh seed Genie Bouchard, the most consistent performer at the Majors this year, and then powering through former world #1 Victoria Azarenka in the quarters. Though she couldn't repeat her big upset of Serena in the final four, she did ride her momentum to a career-high #15 in the work and took home her second Slam doubles title to boot. Her performance isn't unlike another record-holding champion -- one who also excelled in both the singles and doubles games.

There were a couple almost-twins on the men's side as well. David Goffin had one of the best summers of his career, putting together a twenty-five match win streak after Wimbledon, picking up his maiden ATP trophy, and winning his first Major matches in over two years. He's probably more comfortable on the courts than on the red carpet, but he sure could pass for a younger version of a Parenthood and Six Feet Under star.

Nick Kyrgios has had a little more success at the Slams this year, stunning Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon and upsetting Mikhail Youzhny in his New York opener. He had a big lead on Tommy Robredo in the third round, too, ultimately falling short, but like another grass court specialist with a funky haircut, something tells me we've only just started to see what he can do.

Gael Monfils has really been mounting a comeback this season, winning his first title since 2011 in Montpellier and climbing to his highest ranking in two years after his U.S. Open run. He so very nearly reached the semifinals in Flushing Meadows, holding a two-set-to-love lead and match points against Roger Federer -- what would have been his best Slam showing since 2008. The question now is whether his look-alike will see a similar resurrection in his career.

While these guys all reached new highs in New York, 2011 champion Novak Djokovic fell a little short of expectations. Titleless since winning the Wimbledon crown to start the summer, the top seed got through the early rounds barely breaking a sweat, but was upset in the semis by an Energizer Bunny named Kei Nishikori. Still you can't ignore how much his game, and his look, has evolved since the first time he was featured here -- these days he reminds me much more of another newlywed.

Of course the big story at the U.S. Open was that of unlikely champion Marin Cilic, whose defeat of three favored players in a row -- including one five-time champion -- brought him his first career Major trophy. I've racked my brain for ages trying to figure out who he resembled -- I used to think it was contemporary ATP star Gilles Simon, then I kind of saw a likeness to his new coach Goran Ivanisevic. But it wasn't until I was watching an old episode of Jeopardy! that the true nerd in me came up with the answer -- or rather, the question.

If you want to share your favorite tennis look-alikes, send me a note, and be sure to check out my other "Separated at Birth" pairs here!

Diamonds in the Rough

Things sure got crazy over the weekend didn't they?

Only one of the top eight seeds on the women's side has made it to the quarterfinals and, though all the men who've won Majors over the last nine years -- at least those who were entered in the U.S. Open -- are still going strong, we nevertheless have some unfamiliar faces hanging around at the start of Week Two. And a couple players still standing have quite an opportunity to shine even brighter.

Serena Williams, not surprisingly, continues to dominate the top half of the ladies' draw, but she's joined by a couple players you might not have expected to see still hanging around. Two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka has been struggling with injury all year, and has only played in a handful of events this season. With early losses in Stanford and Montreal, and a withdrawal from Cincinnati, which she won last year, the sixteenth seed was a long shot at best. But she powered through early matches and last night, withstood a first set meltdown against Serbian Cinderella Aleksandra Krunic, sneaking out a win in over two-and-a-half hours of play. But perhaps the biggest story here is Ekaterina Makarova, a highly underrated Russian who quietly came to New York at her highest ever ranking -- she beat Aga Radwanska on her way to the Wimbledon quarters, beat Petra Kvitova in Montreal, and perhaps most importantly, is the only woman standing who's beaten Serena at a Slam. In yesterday's sweltering heat she outlasted a struggling Genie Bouchard, ending the Canadian's streak of three Major semis. She has a decent record against Vika, having won two of their five meetings, and with the relatively easier road so far, she might be able to even the score.

The bottom half of the bracket is a little more open with only two of the four remaining having ever even played in a Major final -- they both lost. Meanwhile, Shuai Peng is riding high after her second round upset of Aga Radwanska, taking out Roberta Vinci and Wimbledon semifinalist Lucie Safarova to make her first Slam quarter. She'll take on former Junior #1, seventeen-year old Belinda Bencic, who's playing her first year's worth of Major main draws. The youngest player in the top hundred, she's already beaten Angelique Kerber and my dark horse pick Jelena Jankovic -- there's no reason she can't pull off another upset today. But perhaps the player with the clearest path to the final is former world #1 Caroline Wozniacki, who's put together quite a successful summer -- she won her twenty-second career title in Istanbul and took sets off Serena in both Montreal and Cincinnati. Sunday she scored a huge upset over Maria Sharapova to reach her first Slam quarterfinal since 2012 -- she'll take on Sara Errani for a spot in the semis, avoiding potential match-ups with Simona Halep or Venus Williams, and could easily go on further.

On the men's side, the brackets are still stacked with three former Grand Slam champions occupying four of the spots in the top half of the draw. Novak Djokovic, despite a questionable performance during the summer, has yet to lose a set in New York, and Stan Wawrinka, the newest member of the Major Winners club, survived a bit of a scare against veteran Tommy Robredo last night, but is in good shape to make it back to the semis. Meanwhile 2012 champion Andy Murray, who shockingly hasn't won a title yet this year, seems to have finally found his game again and scored his first top-ten win of the season with a straight set win yesterday over Toronto champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. But of course the big story in this half is that of Kei Nishikori, whose five-set, four-plus hour marathon against fifth seeded Milos Raonic last night earned him his first U.S. Open quarterfinal. The man from Japan had already notched wins over Gael Monfils, David Ferrer and Roger Federer this year, and while he'll have a little more to recover from, he might just be able to add one more scalp to his trophy case.

Of course, the biggest question marks remain in the bottom half of the bracket, where three top ten seeds -- including one five-time champion -- are still standing, but it's the lower-ranked players that are making the biggest waves. Spain's Roberto-Bautista Agut continues his breakthrough year with a run to the fourth round -- he'll take on second seeded Roger Federer for a spot in his first Major quarterfinal in tonight's late match. Perhaps, though, France's Gilles Simon has a slightly better chance at advancing -- the former top ten player crushed David Ferrer in their third round on Sunday, and though he'll be the on-paper underdog against Marin Cilic today, he has a decisive 4-0 record against the Croat. But the biggest opportunity in this half lies with this year's ATP standout Dominic Thiem, who's climbed from a ranking of #139 to start the year to #45 now. The young Austrian beat Simon at Indian Wells, Wawrinka in Madrid, and got to the final in Kitzbühel. He's already taken out two seeds so far in New York, and with a fourth round date with a recently struggling Tomas Berdych today, he could add one more to that list. Thiem turns twenty-one tomorrow, after all, so he might as well give himself something to celebrate.

There's still a lot of play left to go at the U.S. Open, of course, and while the tried-and-true champions have stayed on top of their game so far this fortnight, it might just be dark horses that take the second week of the tournament by storm. Whether they're shaking off the cobwebs or just finding their footing on the big stage, these stars seem to have really tapped into their potential in New York. And it sure would be great to see them really shine.

A New World: Fed Cup Final Preview

Twenty years ago the two countries contesting this year's Fed Cup didn't even exist. Part of an Eastern Europe undergoing serious revolutions in the early nineties, they were making the biggest headlines far from the tennis court. But the defending champion Czechs and the barely initiated Serbs, playing for just the second time in the World Group, sure have come a long way in the past two decades, and the battle they put on this weekend could be one for the history books.

The Czech Singles

The singles rubbers could provide fireworks from the start -- both teams come with some top-grade talent, but there are questions over everyone's heads. Petra Kvitova is coming off her second trip to the WTA Championships, but the 2011 winner had to pull out after one round robin match in Istanbul with a viral illness. She had a somewhat slower start to this season -- at this time last year she was a stone's throw from the #1 ranking, these days she's just within the top ten. Still, with two titles this year and a greatly improved hardcourt record, she's easily the most accomplished of the bunch. She doesn't have a lot of history against her opponents, but she has won both matches she's played against the Serb stars in the past two years and might be the Czechs best chance to get on the board early.

Lucie Safarova has had a slightly more volatile year. She began 2012 with wins over Vera Zvonareva, Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur, and cracked the top twenty for the first time in her career back in August after reaching the Montreal semifinal. She's now at a career-high #17 ranking, but the twenty-five year old won only one match at her last three events and has notched eleven opening round losses this year. She also hasn't been the most clutch Fed Cup player for the Czechs, winning just six of ten rubbers she's played, and with a 4-7 record against her opponents it's going to be hard to turn that momentum around.

The Serbian Singles

The Serbs aren't without their own challenges, though, but Ana Ivanovic will be out to prove the comeback she's put together the last three year is worth some consideration. The former #1 hasn't won a title all year, but she did reach her first Major quarterfinal since 2008 and score victories over Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli in Indian Wells. Having almost halved her ranking in the past twelve months, she's starting to look like the player we know she can be -- she's only lost to three players out of the top fifty this year, and one of those was Venus Williams, so she's not putting up many "embarrassing" losses anymore. Still, it would be nice to see her perform more consistently against the top ten, and maybe score a victory or two against the biggest hitters.

Such consistency is exactly what Jelena Jankovic seems to be lacking these days. Another former top-ranked player, the twenty-seven year old has struggled to hold onto leads this year and squandered match points more than a few times during the season. She hasn't won a trophy in over two years and, while she made a couple finals this year, she lost both pretty handily and failed to make much of a dent at any of the Majors. Her only victory over a player ranked higher than her this year -- then-#5 Sam Stosur in Dubai -- came all the way back in February, and the vast majority of her losses since then have been to players ranked lower than her. On the plus side -- admittedly a small one -- she is 5-2 against the Czechs in singles and holds an impressive 27-7 career history in Fed Cup singles rubbers, so experience might give her and her team a lift. They might need it.

The Doubles Rubber

With the singles matches this weekend largely up for grabs, the doubles action takes on some added importance, and experience looks to be squarely on the side of the Czechs. Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka have both put in some solid singles performances this year, but together they've really shined. Runners-up at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championships this year, they've also won four Tour titles and Olympic Silver. Comparatively the likely pairing of Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic is hugely untested. If the championship comes down to this rubber, odds certainly favor a repeat of last year, so the Serbs will certainly want to make a statement early, and hope they can wrap things up before it gets too heated.

---

With so much depth on the Czech team, it seems like the defending champions have the slight advantage in this weekend's play. But if the leaders on the Serbian team play to their potential, they could easily tip the entire apple cart. And while such a revolution may be nothing compared to what these countries have endured in the past, it could set the stage for a new era in their tennis histories.