Waiting in the Wings

VICTORIOU5.@AlexZverev wins a 5th Masters 1000 title, defeating Rublev 6-2 6-3 in the #CincyTennis final 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/plFmkk5E8C

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 22, 2021

I admit I've been somewhat actively ignoring the steady ascent of Alexander Zverev over the last year or so for various reasons, but while I've been trying to focus my attention elsewhere, it's becoming increasingly hard to deny the fifth-ranked German's emergence as one of the top contenders for the last Major title of the year.

He, of course, made a pretty strong case for himself last year -- back when his biggest offense was his rather cavalier attitude to COVID protocols. Playing in his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open, he ran off to a two-set-to-love lead against Dominic Thiem and seemed poised to upset the Austrian's fourth attempt at capturing that big trophy. He came up short that time of course, but continued to plough through in the new season, so nearly getting to the final in Paris, somehow battling from two sets down to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis to force a decider.

But it's been on the hard courts where he's really shined. At the Tokyo Olympics last month, he thwarted Novak Djokovic's attempt to win the rare Golden Slam, beating the world #1 in the semis on his way to capturing the gold medal. And this week in Cincinnati, he captured his fifth Masters title with wins over a red-hot Casper Ruud, a back-on-track Tsitsipas, and a surging Andrey Rublev, who was coming off his first ever win over Toronto champ and second-ranked Daniil Medvedev.

That gives Zverev his fourth title of the year and an impressive 11-match win streak heading into the U.S. Open, where he'll try to go one better after that disappointment from last year. And there may be no better chance for him to do it -- within the past week Thiem, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal have all said they won't be playing in New York, which gives the next generation a real chance to show us what they've got.

Of course Djokovic will be there, too, looking for the "consolation" prize of "just" a regular old calendar year Slam, as will Medvedev, who's been one of the most dominant players on tour this year. But Zverev will certainly be a threat, and he's certainly shown he's got what it takes to step into the spotlight.

And For the Ladies...

On the ladies side in Cincinnati, Ashleigh Barty further solidified her spot at the top of the women's game, rolling to her fifth title of the year -- at least one each on every surface -- without dropping a set.

And as impressive as her accomplishment was, it's certainly worth highlighting the run by her final challenger Jil Teichmann, a wildcard at the Western & Southern who followed up a monster upset of Naomi Osaka with wins over Olympic champion Belinda Bencic and Montreal runner-up Karolina Pliskova. Then again, maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that he found success on the American hardcourts -- the 24-year-old Swiss did make the final last year in Lexington and beat Danielle Collins when this event was played in New York a week later. Her success may not be enough to get her a seeding at the Open, but it sure should make her a dangerous spoiler in any section of the draw.

Oh, and, by the way, there was a WTA 125 going on in Chicago and, if you weren't paying attention, you might have missed the fact that Wimbledon Cinderella Emma Raducanu hopefully silenced that British dope with a runner-up finish that began with a big upset of top seed Alison Van Uytvanck in the opening round. She did ultimately lose the trophy to fellow teen sensation Clara Tauson, who picked up her first career title this past March in Lyon, but the wins prove she was no flash in the pan and that she might just have what it take to stick around awhile -- regardless of what that guy says.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other Ones...

Okay, I know we're all anxiously awaiting the return of Roger Federer, and we are getting really, really close. But as much as we all want to see the great one on court again for the first time in over a year, we can't the other top-tier talent that pulled off some big wins at tournaments around the world over the last week. And while a couple of top ten stars were able to add another trophy to their shelves, there was one newly minted champion that may have stood out from all the rest.

1️⃣8️⃣ years of age
0️⃣ sets dropped all week
🏆 First WTA title
💯 Breaks into the top 100

A memorable day in Lyon for Clara Tauson 🇩🇰#Open6emeSensML pic.twitter.com/MNvBoBTtQD

— wta (@WTA) March 7, 2021

I'll start in Rotterdam, where one man further established himself as a real force of the new genereration. Andrey Rublev, who won more titles last year than even Novak Djokovic, was actually only the fourth seed here, but with three straight Major quarterfinal showings and a series of wins over top-ten players, it shouldn't be surprising that he outplayed that. He got a little bit of a break with soon-to-be world #2 Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev both losing early in the top half of the draw, but he was nevertheless clinical in his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis. And while he played a tight first set against an under-rated Marton Fucsovics in Sunday's final, he stayed strong in the second to secure the win. It was his eighth career title -- impressive for a 23-year-old -- and brings him to a 13-1 record for the year -- Medvedev, with ten wins this season, comes in second on that stat. And there's no reason to believe Rublev won't be adding a lot more Ws to that column in the weeks to come.

The story in Doha was less about the next gen and more about the veteran class. Still, with the eight seeds all ranked in the top fifteen, there was plenty of opportunity for the on-paper favorites to face some really challenges. And they did: Australian Open runner-up Jen Brady won just three games in her first round against Anett Kontaveit, while Melbourne Cinderella Jessica Pegula, bizarrely having to qualify for this event, dismissed second seed Karolina Pliskova handily in the quarters. Ultimately, though, it was unseeded Garbiñe Muguruza, a former world #1, facing fellow two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova in the final. And while Muguruza has had some brilliant moments this year -- she took out recently-unstoppable Aryna Sabalenka in the second round and had match point against Naomi Osaka at the Open -- the much-decorated Kvitova was too much to handle. After just over an hour of play, the 30-year-old Czech returned to the winner's circle, lifting her 28^th career trophy and first since 2019. And to do it amid such an illustrious field sure adds icing to the cake.

Diego Schwartzman may have come into his own a little later than these two champions -- he only cracked the top ten for the first time last year, at 28 years old, but as a long-time workhorse on tour, he's certainly put in the work to have earned it. The ATP Challenger Tour champion way back in 2014, he slogged it out in the middle tiers, picking ups smaller titles in Istanbul, Rio, and Los Cabos along the way, before his breakthrough last season. And after a disappointing early exit last week in Córdoba, he was eager to make good on his top seed this time around. But he'd have a big roadblock -- qualifier Francisco Cerundolo, whose younger brother shocked the world with a title last week at his first tour event, was hoping to keep the family win streak going, first dismissing inexplicably seeded Benoit Paire -- he's 2-10 since the lockdown -- and then repeating Juan Manuel's win over Albert Ramos-Viñolas in the semis. But Schwartzman was just too tough for him in the championship match, dropping just three games in the course of 80 minutes to win his firt title on home soil. And while he has a ways to go to catch up to those other two champs this week, I'm shown he's got the work ethic to at least try.

Of course, as I alluded to above, it wasn't just players adding to their trophy count this week -- in Lyon, we got a brand new champion thanks to a final contested by not one but two qualifiers, both playing for their first title. Of course, at 28 years old, Viktorija Golubic has a little more experience, having made the final in Linz back in 2016, where she beat both Madison Keys and Garbiñe Muguruza, and reaching a high just out of the top fifty in the world. But she's since dropped into triple digits and has spent most of the year on the ITF circuit. This week, though, she seemed to get back on track, stunning Caroline Garcia in the second round and then coming back for a win over second seed Fiona Ferro in the semis. Meanwhile, eighteen-year-old Dane Clara Tauson, who'd beaten Jen Brady in the Roland Garros first round last year, followed up her upset of top-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova here with three more straight set wins to make the final. She didn't let up in on Sunday, either, staying tough against an oppenent a decade her senior to win that maiden crown. The win should put her into the top hundred for the first time in her young career, and while she might be far from the accomplishment of this week's other champions, Tauson might just have shown she belongs among their ranks too.

Unqualified Successes

The heat is turning up on the tennis courts this week as top-tier players get back to work in full force now that the Australian Open is well behind them. But it hasn't been just the big stars bringing out their A-games -- more than a few qualifiers have pulled off some of the biggest wins, leaving no doubt what they're capable of.

A first WTA 500 semifinal for @JLPegula 🤩🇺🇸

The qualifier beats Pliskova 6-3, 6-1 to set up a final-four clash with Kvitova!#QatarTotalOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/QaI4bkprYC

— wta (@WTA) March 4, 2021

I'll start in Doha where, for some reason, Melbourne standout Jessica Pegula was not an automatic entry. Of course, this is a high-level event with the lowest seed still carrying a #14 ranking, but it's nevertheless a bit of a slight. But Pegula powered through anyway, trouncing Qiang Wang in her main draw opener and following up with a win over one-time French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko. Her biggest win, though, came earlier today what she blasted through third seed and former world #1 Karolina Pliskova in just an hour to reach her first WTA 500 semi. She'll next face Petra Kvitova, who bested her last year at the U.S. Open, but she sure feels like a much different player than she did last fall and might just be able to get the win this time around.

Jeremy Chardy is another one I'm surprised had to prove himself before hitting the main stage in Rotterdam. Sure the veteran Frenchman is well off his career high, but with runs to the semis in Antalya and at the Murray River Classic, he's certainly been back on the rise. He opened his campaign in the Netherlands with a solid win over a very tricky Ugo Humbert and then ended the run of recently-resurgent Montpellier champ David Goffin earlier today. For a spot in the semis, Chardy will take on ultra-talented Andrey Rublev -- one of just two seeds remaining at the event -- but bigger upsets have happened, and he might just have what it takes.

Some of the big wins, though, have come from more even more unexpected places. Eighteen-year-old Clara Tauson, who defeated Jen Brady in the Roland Garros first round, was one of my players to watch this year. She's had some successes on the ITF circuit in recent weeks, but may be ready to break into the big leagues now. Currently at a career-high of #139 in the world, she stunned top seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in her Lyon first round and backed it up with a win over doubles star Timea Babos. She'll face an often-spotty Camila Giorgi in the quarters, and there's no reason to think she'll be entirely outmatched there, and I imagine this could be just the beginning for her.

Another rising star may be making himself known on the clay of Buenos Aires. Sumit Nagal, who'd only won three tour-level matches before this week, wasn't even seeded in the qualifying draw, but managed to make his way into the event anyway. The world #150 started with a decisive win over veteran Joao Sousa, but his bigger victory came a round later. Against second seed Cristian Garin, who simply dominated the Golden Swing this time last year, Nagal broke his opponent seven times and got the win in straight sets. He's got another challenge next -- Córdoba finalist Albert Ramos-Viñolas, arguably a bigger threat, even if a lower rank, but the twenty-three year old is spry and certainly has shown he's got a couple tricks up his sleeve.

Of course, it's not just the qualifiers who are notching big wins this week. Kei Nishikori, after a months-long recovery post his latest injury, has scored two impressive wins in Rotterdam, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur already. And Tommy Paul successfully brought Alexander Bublik down off the high of his biggest win yet. Lyon wildcard Clara Burel, meanwhile, opened with a win over Aliz´ Cornet and, with her next round against second seed Fiona Ferro, might be in position to continue her run farther.

Still the performance of the players who had to fight just for a spot in the main draw has been more than encouraging so far. And hopefully bodes well for what we'll see from them down the road.

The 2020 Tennis Spin Awards: Ones to Watch

We've been saying this for sometime, but for some reason it feels more immediate this year. On the men's side, the wall of the Big Three finally seemed to show some signs of cracking as Dominic Thiem broke the seal for Grand Slam glory. And for the women, yet another teenager made her mark on the clay of Paris.

So with the door to the next era of tennis superstars getting pushed even farther open, it's only natural we look at some of the young talent ready to walk through.

Now for this award, I was at no loss of potential candidates, and as you'll soon see, I actually had trouble narrowing down the list. There is happily no shortage of rising stars out there, and we got to see more than a few in action this year.

So let's get to them!

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The Women

The Winner: Leylah Fernandez

The young Canadian first caught my attention early in the year when, in her Fed Cup -- now Billie Jean King Cup -- debut she stunned then-world #5 Belinda Bencic in straight sets. But Leylah Fernandez had been a mainstay on the Junior circuit for a while, playing the Australian Open Girls' final in 2019 and winning the title in Roland Garros a few months later.

She made some nice headway on the big girl's tour straight away -- as a qualifier in Acapulco, Fernandez beat eighth seeded Nao Hibino and didn't drop her set until the final, which she lost to a rejuvenated Heather Watson. She went on to beat Sloane Stephens in Monterrey a week later and then again on the other side of lockdown in Lexington.

She wasn't intimidated at the bigger events either -- just days before her eighteenth birthday she won her first main draw match at a Major, defeating veteran Vera Zvonareva in New York, and made her way to the third round at the French Open too. Now ranked #88 in the world, she'll hit the new season at her career high.

She may not be as in the spotlight as younger players like Coco Gauff, or even as accomplished -- the 16-year-old did, after all, win a title last year in Linz. But we, of course, shouldn't necessarily hold everyone up to that standard.

And while people like compatriot Bianca Andreescu and even Iga Swiatek may have had their breakthroughs at ages not much older than hers, I wouldn't be surprised if Fernandez isn't following closely behind.

Last night was magical! 💫 I’m grateful for all of your support this week. Focused and ready for finals tonight! SEMIFINALS ✅

¡Anoche fue mágico! 💫 Estoy agradecida por todo su apoyo esta semana. ¡Centrada y lista para la final esta noche! SEMIFINALES #amt2020 @AbiertoTelcel pic.twitter.com/5yLP1Fvkdo

— leylahfernandez (@leylahfernandez) February 29, 2020

Honorable Mentions:

Denmark's Clara Tauson, who beat Fernandez in the Australian Open Girls' final last year when she was only sixteen, stunned Jennifer Brady in the first round of the French Open this year. That after making the fourth round at the Prague 125K event, where she beat former Roland Garros runner-up Sara Errani in the process. To close out the year, she scored a win over U.S. Open and Lexington Cinderella Shelby Rogers at an ITF tournament in Tyler, Texas. And at just a hair under eighteen, something tells me we've only just started to see what she can do.

A few ranking points below Tauson, and about a year older, Leonie Kung also had a solid Junior career, reaching the Wimbledon Girls' final in 2018, where she lost to Iga Swiatek. Since graduating to the big leagues, she's spent most of her time on the ITF circuit and playing qualifiers and has yet to reach the main draw of a Major. But she had a nice run at the start of the year in Hua Hin, beating Qiang Wang -- the vanquisher of Serena Williams in Australia -- and Nao Hibino -- who'd taken out Elina Svitolina a round earlier. Though she hasn't done too much since losing that final, I'd like to see her hit the ground running in 2021.

Probably the most accomplished of this group, though, is 23-year-old Paula Badosa, who snuck in a run to the fourth round of Roland Garros this year, beating former runner-up Sloane Stephens and former champion Jelena Ostapenko in the process. She currently sits at a ranking of #70, but clearly has the potential to go higher. Let's see if she can do it right off the bat.

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The Men

The Winner: Thiago Seyboth Wild

There was a lot of young talent that presented itself at the end of the year, but I'll get to those. But I'm choosing to give this award to a man who really shined at the start of the season.

Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild was ranked out of the top two hundred at the start of the year, but during the Golden Swing put up a nice fight against Borna Coric in Rio and stunned his way to his first ATP title in Santiago just before his twentieth birthday. He beat Cristian Garin and Casper Ruud, two others who made appearances in this year's awards, to do it.

Diagnosed early on with COVID, the first tennis player we know of to say so, he was fully recovered by the time lockdown ended, but the second half of the year was a lot less productive. Seyboth Wild had a nice run at a Challenger event in Aix en Provence, making his way to the final, but lost six matches in a row after that. Hopefully he'll regroup over the next few months. It would be great to see him make a move during the South American circuit.

No words pic.twitter.com/zT66z64BvT

— Thiago Seyboth Wild (@thiagoswild) March 2, 2020

Honorable Mentions:

Get ready, there are a lot of 'em. But there was just so much focus on these young stars who really scored some big wins in the late summer and fall that I couldn't really leave anyone out. I'll try to make this quick.

Sebastian Korda took out John Isner at the French Open on his way to a fourth round meeting against his idol Rafael Nadal. He finished off his year with his first title at a Challenger event in Eckental, Germany. He's still ranked well in the triple digits, but the former Junior #1 and son of 1998 Australian Open champ Petr, could have an opportunity to add a lot more ranking points in the new year.

Hugo Gaston also had a breakthrough at Roland Garros, coming out on the winning end of a marathon against former champ Stan Wawrinka in the third round, then pushing recent U.S. Open winner Dominic Thiem to a decider after dropping the first two sets. The run helped the 20-year-old wildcard climb from the 200s to just outside the 150s. It'll be fun to see what he can do when the spotlight turns to him.

Lorenzo Musetti didn't make it to the French Open, but he still had a nice clay court season in 2020. The eighteen-year-old qualified for Rome and then also beat Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori before losing to that event's Cinderella Dominik Koepfer. He went on to his first Challenger title in Forli, Italy, with wins over Frances Tiafoe and veteran Andreas Seppi. His successes got him to a year-end ranking of #128, and something tells me he's heading higher soon.

Then there's Brandon Nakashima, the 19-year-old who left UVA last December to turn pro. Hopefully it was a good decision -- he scored his first Grand Slam win in New York with a defeat of veteran Paolo Lorenzi and capped off the year with a Challenger title in Orlando. He's still outside the top 150, but maybe heading higher.

And the youngest on this list, Carlos Alcaraz, at just 17 years of age. He won 14 straight ITF matches at the start of the season while ranked in the 400s, losing in the final in Antalya, Turkey, before winning his first and so far only tour-level match in Rio. He graduated to the Challengers' tour in the back half of the year, with titles in Trieste, Italy, and Barcelona and Alicante, Spain. At #141 now, he's the youngest man in the top 200, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him set even more bars next year.

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Well, that was a lot, but hopefully you agree that all these guys and gals deserve some attention. And even more hopefully, they live up to my expectaions.

Be sure to come back for more Tennis Spin Awards. Up next: the greatest letdowns of 2020. In a year so strange, there were bound to be a couple players who weren't able to get on the good side of the tennis gods.

And to see all of the winners this year and in years past, click here.

One Round Down

In a French Open that we knew was going to be strange even before it got started, it should be expected that we'd be treated to more than a couple surprises in the first few days of action. From colder than normal conditions to questionable calls, from breakthrough performances to amazing flameouts, we've aleady gotten our fair share of drama, and we've only just completed the first round!

Giustino #RG20 (🎥@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/cRbu8KcQIP

— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) September 28, 2020

Twelve of the women's seeds and eleven of the men's have already been kicked out of the draws -- and while I'm not sure where that ranks on the list of records, it sure feels high up there -- and even those who survived were pushed to their limits. And a couple of players have already proven themselves to be ones to watch.

Of course, there are the ones you might have expected would shine in early rounds. Coco Gauff, the 2018 Girls' champion here, refound the magic that seemed to be flagging in "Cincy" and New York, ousting ninth seed and 2019 semifinalist Johanna Konta in her opener, while nineteen-year-old Jannik Sinner, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in Rome, got his second straight win over David Goffin, having previously bested him in Rotterdam at the start of the year. But they weren't the only ones.

Young Iga Swiatek, a surprise fourth rounder last year, is trying to prove that run was no fluke. After an upset of Donna Vekic in Melbourne and a tough fight against Victoria Azarenka in New York, she started her run here with a straight-set, hour long drubbing of last year's runner-up Marketa Vondrousova. She is now the highest ranked player in her immediate section of the draw and could very well get back to the second week.

And don't forget about Kaja Juvan, still trying to crack the top hundred in the rankings, but playing well above her position. She got a win over Vondrousova in Palermo -- not to mention one over Venus Williams in Acapulco, and took a set off Serena last year at Wimbledon. But her biggest win by far came in her first round here, when she beat three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in about an hour. She'll face wildcard Clara Burel next and potentially Alizé Cornet after that -- and I kind of like her chances.

It's not just the ladies getting things done -- Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka is trying to make his first big statement at a Major. The 25-year-old has only made the third round once before, this year in Melbourne, but a win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in his first round may give him the confidence to go a little better. Clay's never been his best surface -- he's barely won one in five matches on these courts -- but with a second round against wildcard Hugo Gaston, he's got a chances to improve.

In the same half of the draw, qualifier Sebastian Korda -- son of former world #2 Petr -- was able to go at least one better than his only other Major main draw. Still ranked outside the top two-hundred, the 20-year-old, who took a set off Denis Shapovalov in New York, was able to get the best of Andreas Seppi in a pretty straightforward four sets. He'll take on big-serving John Isner in an all-American final next, but as I've opined before, he's an imminently beatable foe.

But then there are the stories no one saw coming.

Let's start with 17-year-old Clara Tauson, who battled through qualifiers for the right to meet U.S. Open standout Jennifer Brady. The young Dane faced match points in the decider but pushed her opponent into extra innings and finally closed the deal after nearly three hours. She next meets Danielle Collins, a semifinalist in Australia last year but not one who can't be overcome. And then there's Russia's Kamilla Rakhimova, who beat top-seeded qualifier Ann Li to make the main draw here. She went on to easily dismiss another summer breakout, Shelby Rogers, a quarterfinalist here in 2016, in a match that lasted barely over an hour. Next up is Maria Sakkari, who'll be a much tougher opponent, but this could just be the start of her successes.

On the men's side, there's veteran Lorenzo Giustino, seen above collapsing after winning a six hour epic against Corentin Moutet, 18-16 in the fifth -- the first tour-level win of his career. I don't know that I give him too much of a chance against Diego Schwartzman in his next round, but it sure will be fun to watch him try. But perhaps we could see better results from lucky loser Marc Polmans, who is somewhat unusually the only Australian left in the men's draw -- surprising given the recent successes of Alex de Minaur, John Millman, and others. The 22-year-old ousted my dark horse pick Ugo Humbert in his opener and might actually stand a chance against Cristian Garin in the next round.

Whether any of these guys can last well into the second week of this crazy French Open still remains to be seen, but at the very least, they've all given us something to talk about. Some might really be setting themselves up for big things down the road -- others might just prove to be flashes in the pan. But at a Major where we've already seen crazy things, they may never have had as big an opportunity as they do right now.