Eye on the Underdog

This is the first week since the Australian Open where many of the sport's top players are back in action, with six players in the ATP top ten taking the court one place or another. And while many of the favorites have survived and powered through their early opponents this week, it might be a couple of longshots who are scoring the more notable wins.

On the clay of Buenos Aires, David Ferrer made a winning return against qualifier Maximo Gonzalez while Viña Del Mar champion Fabio Fognini repeated Sunday's win over Leonardo Mayer to make the quarters. But perhaps the dark horse in this draw will be his next opponent Pablo Andujar, who really hasn't put up many big results over the last several months. But this week, back on his most successful surface -- his two career titles have come on the dirt -- he delivered a one-sided loss to fifth seed Marcel Granollers in their second round and could be poised to go farther. He lost his only Tour-level meeting with Fognini, though, on these courts in fact, but that was five years ago, and if he can take advantage of the Italian, who went over three hours against Mayer on Wednesday, he might be able to change that record.

There have been some surprises in Memphis too, even as world #17 Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarters with little drama. Still struggling Sam Querrey, champion here in 2010, lost his opener after winning a decisive first set and fifth seeded Marinko Matosevic dropped to 2013 Newcomer of the Year Jiri Vesely in straight sets. But the standouts in Tennessee might be a couple of old dogs with new tricks. Alex Bogomolov, one of the big comeback stories of 2011, but fell back down the rankings over the next several months. Now barely in the top hundred, he's come out on top of two three-set matches, beating Querrey in the first round and then taking down American Ryan Harrison yesterday. And Michael Russell, approaching thirty-five years of age, rallied past seventh seed Michael Przysiezny before handling Tim Smyczek to make the quarters. In his long career -- sixteen years as a pro -- he's never even made a singles final, but it sure would be nice to see him continue his fight this week.

But even more spoilers have emerged in Rotterdam, in a draw where top tier players like defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro and two-time Grand Slam titleist Andy Murray loom large as threats. Marin Cilic continued his comeback with a win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday and Jerzy Janowicz managed an upset of Zagreb finalist Tommy Haas earlier today. But maybe more threatening are barely unseeded Ernests Gulbis and Phillipp Kohlschreiber, neither of whom have lost a set on their way to the quarters. At #24 and #27 in the world, they promised to be spoilers from the start -- Gulbis has the tougher task ahead, facing DelPo next, while Kohlscreiber, who just wrapped up a fairly routine 4&4 win over Richard Gasquet will face either wildcard Igor Sijsling or qualifier Michael Berrer next, but either man could continue his streak.

With just a few weeks left before the next round of big tournaments, there might be no better time for all these guys to make these statements. And after their performances so far this week, you can't count any of them out, even against the most intimidating of foes.

Locked and Loaded

It's a tale of two draws in Sydney, with nine of the top ten women in the sport showing up for one more week of match play while the top seed on the men's side is ranked just out of single digits. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of talent all over the courts, and after their time off, it sure looks like everyone out there is primed to fire off a few shots before heading down to Melbourne.

Juan Martin Del Potro leads the men's field, his first match play since losing both his rubbers in the Davis Cup finals. Still, back at #11 in the world and looking once again like the champion we know he is, a couple wins here could be all he needs to prep for Melbourne. DelPo opens tomorrow against world #58 Lukasz Kubot, a man who has given top players some trouble here and there, but should be able to notch the win. And if he stays healthy, that momentum could go a long way further.

Fellow big-server John Isner is in the mix too. After his headline-driven 2010, he quietly worked himself to his current career-high ranking on the heels of a semifinal run last November in Paris. He'll have a bit of a tough run in Sydney though -- assuming he gets by compatriot qualifier Bobby Reynolds, he should face feisty Radek Stepanek in the quarters. The Czech leads their sparse head-to-head, and could deal Isner a tough match. But if he survives, I like the American's chances here.

But either favorite could face a challenge from Alex Bogomolov, who barely snuck his way into the seeds in Melbourne. He pulled out of his second round match last week in Doha, but fought his way to a win over Robin Haase earlier today. With wins over Feliciano Lopez, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray all in the last twelve months, he's proven he can outplay his ranking, and might just parlay his strengths into deep runs here and beyond.

The ladies' field is a little more stacked, and may have a little more on the line: if Petra Kvitova extends her win streak -- she hasn't lost a match since October -- and takes the title, she'll be the #1 player in the world when play starts next week. Both she and current #1 Caroline Wozniacki fought through their openers in Sydney, but they're not the only ones to watch this week -- and the spotlight's falling on more than just the favorites.

Daniela Hantuchova made her way to the Brisbane final, largely thanks to withdrawals by higher-ranked opponents. So it's nice to see her put up a fight here. She took out my most-improved player of 2011 in convincing style, and followed through by upsetting 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone on Tuesday. She'll next be the one trying to break Kvitova's momentum, so it's only getting tougher from here, but it's nice to see her proving she deserved that runner's-up trophy last week.

And Lucie Safarova, the other non-seed left in the women's bracket, has overcome two tough challenges herself. She held serve throughout her first round match against Ana Ivanovic -- a rare occurrence in the ladies' game these days -- and was leading Svetlana Kuznetsova by a wide margin before the Russian retired due to the heat. The young Czech can be spotty, but with a quarterfinal date against similarly suspect Na Li, it's not out of the question to see her advance further.

It's a little surprising to see so many top players -- and even the ones on the edge -- in action just days before the start of a Grand Slam. There's a lot at stake the next few weeks on the tennis courts, and this week's matches will set the stage for what could be a fortnight filled with fireworks.

Winding Down?

We're getting to that part of the men's season where much of the London field has been decided and the couple remaining contenders are fighting to rack up a couple extra points here and there before the last few Masters events of the year. But even those players who have no possibility of making a trip to the O2 have reason to keep fighting -- some are looking to follow through on recent successes, while others need to get their games back on track after losing the momentum that was once so clearly on their side.

It hasn't been all successful -- one-time world #3 Nikolay Davydenko continues to struggle post injury -- though he was able to reach the semis last week in Moscow, he got bagelled in his second set in Vienna yesterday, ultimately losing the first round to qualifier Steve Darcis. And surprise Australian Open quarterfinalist Alexandr Dolgopolov may be at a career high ranking, but after his drubbing by Dudi Sela on Monday in St. Petersburg he's now lost three opening matches in his last four events.

Big-serving Kevin Anderson is trying to turn his year around. Though he's just a shade off a career-high ranking, he hasn't won more than two matches at any event since March. Many of his losses have come at the hands of top-twenty players, or better -- Novak Djokovic, Mardy Fish, Gael Monfils are among the South African's vanquishers this year -- but it's still been hard for him to get traction since taking his maiden title in Johannesburg. So far in Vienna, though he seems to have found his game again. Already notching twenty-two aces this week, he had a straight forward win over Andreas Haider-Maurer on Monday and followed up by downing always-tricky Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets. This is where he can get into trouble, though, as his next opponent, either Jurgen Melzer or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, could present a challenge. But he'll have to power through if he's going to re-establish himself as a force next year.

More interesting, though, might be the re-emergence of veteran Tommy Haas. Once the #2 player in the world, he remained a force until hip surgery nearly two years ago cut his 2010 season way short. He started playing singles again at Roland Garros and won his first match of the year against Michael Berrer in Newport back in July. And though he made a surprising run to the third round at the U.S. Open, it wasn't until this week he managed to put together more than a few wins back-to-back. As a wildcard in the qualifiers, he took out Matthias Bachinger to make the main draw and immediately upset fifth seed Juan Ignacio Chela. Today he came back from a set down against fellow qualifier Aljaz Bedene to make the quarters, the first time he's gotten that far at a tournament in over two years.

Over in St. Petersburg Alex Bogomolov Jr. is having the year of his career. Though he first emerged on the scene at the start of the last decade, some personal troubles -- a divorce from fell tennis player Ashley Harkleroad and a suspension for doping in 2005 -- kept him from making a real impact on Tour. But already this year he's beaten Andy Murray in Miami and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Cincinnati. The seventh seed came to Russia, incidentally where he is a dual citizen, ranked #36 in the world, also just off his career high. After stomping down Igor Kunitsyn in his first match, he withstood a late surge by Philipp Kohlschreiber today to get the win earlier today. That gives him entry to his sixth quarterfinal of the year, proving his recent run was no flash in the pan.

Marin Cilic is trying to accomplish a similar feat, though his greatest successes are far less recent. A top-ten player last year, he hasn't won a title since February, 2010 and lost five opening round matches this year. But he's been trying to reverse that run recently and made the finals in Beijing earlier this month. He's fallen a bit in the rankings, but retained the fourth seed in St. Petersburg and today rebounded after losing his first set to Somdev Devvarman to get the win after two-plus hours of play. He also benefits from a lack of viable seeds in his section of the draw, so could make a very legitimate run for a title.

It's too late for any of these guys to hope their seasons will be extended this year, but it's still important for them to make a stand before they begin their 2012 campaigns. If they kick off next year like they're trying to end this one, there's no telling where the momentum will take them.