Blogcast: 2015 French Open Preview

Rafael Nadal's dominance at Roland Garros could be at risk as Novak Djokovic goes for the career Grand Slam. Serena Williams looks to make a winning return in Paris, while Maria Sharapova hopes she can finally take out her long-time rival. There's sure to be a lot to talk about at this year's French Open.

Back from the Brink

Okay, I realize I'm late in posting again, but that shouldn't suggest that the results from this weekend are any less important than others. And for the couple winners who'd seemed to have been long missing from the podiums, in fact, their performances may herald something even more notable.

The favorites seemed totally in charge during the early rounds in Bucharest, with only one seed falling before the quarterfinals. But things got pretty interesting pretty quickly after that -- three-time champion Gilles Simon was stunned by a surging Daniel Gimeno Traver, while big-serving Ivo Karlovic was taken out by young Jiri Vesely in the semis. And red-hot Gael Monfils, fresh off a huge win over Roger Federer in Monte Carlo, fell in a squeaker that same round to veteran Guillermo Garcia Lopez. The thirty-one year old Spaniard, who's scored wins over the likes of Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka in the past, had fallen a bit off his game the past few years, only ending a four-year trophy-less streak last April in Casablanca. But even with a trophy this year in Zagreb he was flying well under the radar in Romania, and against Vesely in the final he was pushed to the limit. The pair went two very long sets, each going to a long tiebreak, before the elder Garcia-Lopez was able to finish off the match. It was only his fifth career title, but coming so late in his career, it might just suggest there are a few more to come.

Angelique Kerber hadn't fallen quite so far down the rankings, but the two-time Major semifinalist seemed to have a few cobwebs on her at the start of the year -- with four first round losses in the first three months of the year, she'd dropped well out of the top ten by the start of the month. She's turned it around since then, though, picking up a title in Charleston and drubbing former world #13 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during the Fed Cup semis. This past week in Stuttgart -- where favorites like Petra Kvitova, Ana Ivanovic, and Aga Radwanska all lost early -- the still unseeded German started off with an impressive win over top seeded Maria Sharapova and followed up with another upset of eighth-ranked Ekaterina Makarova. In the final against U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki she started off a little slow, dropping the first set, but rebounded quickly to force a decider and closing out her third top-ten win of the week. It was Kerber's second title of the year, but arguably the most significant of her career. And with a win streak now eleven matches long, you have to think she's making a pretty good case for herself to be a real force at the year's next Major.

This weekend's champions may have been clawing their way back into the spotlight for some time, but their titles on Sunday may have finally cemented their returns. And as the clay court season really gets into full swing over the next couple weeks, there may never have been a better time for them to make such strong statements.

3...2...1...

The ball may have already dropped to ring in the New Year, but we're still a couple days away from the official start of the 2015 tennis season. And with last year's champions looking to continue their momentum, former greats hoping for a successful return and a couple newbies seeking their big breaks, you know we're going to see some top-notch action from the start.

Of course it won't be full steam ahead for everyone -- Juan Martin Del Potro delayed his comeback and pulled out of Brisbane, while a couple players who entered exhibitions at International Premier League events ultimately withdrew from early tournaments too. And even those who did hit the court again struggled -- Rafael Nadal, playing his first match since an appendectomy in November, won just two games off Andy Murray at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships this week. Results like these could open the door to plenty others.

The only woman who's ever won the title in Shenzhen won't be back to defend, of course, and top tier champs like Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova will be eager to fill her spot. But they're not the only ones -- last year's runner-up Shaui Peng had a strong end to her 2014 season and could get a nice boost from homecourt advantage. And Zarina Diyas, who quietly climbed to #33 in the world, got to the final in Osaka in October and could take a couple in the field here by surprise. But I'm going to keep an eye on Vera Zvonareva, whose comeback last year was half-hearted at best. If she's fully recovered now, she might be ready to cause some of the damage we all know she's capable of.

The women's bracket in Brisbane is a little more intimidating with eight top twenty players hitting the courts in Australia. Singapore qualifiers Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic lead the pack but the biggest surprises could come from some unseeded spoilers. Hometown favorite Sam Stosur launched a late-season comeback last year, reaching the semis in Beijing and taking her third title in Osaka, and 2014 runner-up Victoria Azarenka, who's coming off her first trophy-less season since 2008, will look to make up points right off the bat. But perhaps the player with the greatest chance of shaking things up is Karolina Pliskova who won the Girls' title in Melbourne back in 2010 -- in September she made the final in Hong Kong and followed up that run with titles in Seoul and Linz. She was an alternate at the Tournament of Champions in Sofia and lost the only match she played, but with wins over players like Andrea Petkovic, Angelique Kerber and Ana Ivanovic over the last twelve months, she certainly has the talent to take out the big guns.

There's plenty star power in the men's draw too -- Roger Federer, my player of the year, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic all are coming off breakthrough seasons, but potential threats lurk even deeper in the draw. Alexandr Dolgopolov, whose own stellar 2014 was cut short by knee surgery in July, will be back in action -- he only won one match since his return in Tokyo last September, but it was over an always-tricky Gilles Simon, and he might finally be up for even bigger challenges now. And native son Lleyton Hewitt snatched this title from Fed last year -- he may be well off his career high ranking at #50 in the world, but he's one of those guys that never gives up. Perhaps the same can be said for compatriot Bernard Tomic, who briefly fell out of the top hundred last year after a second round loss at Wimbledon. He may not be at the top of his game these days, but he did manage a runner's-up finish in Sydney in 2014 -- admittedly one win short of his previous result -- and he shocked everyone with a title run in Bogota over the summer. Somehow, it seems, every time we write him off, he manages to pull off a big win.

Over in Chennai, Stan Wawrinka will look to reclaim the crown that launched him into the sport's elite, but players like 2014 standoutRoberto Bautista Agut and comeback kid David Goffin will be out to derail his plans. So will some of last year's most promising young guns -- Jiri Vesely had quite a strong start to last season, and Borna Coric who stunned Rafael Nadal last year in Basel, is just a hair out of the top hundred now and seems primed to climb much higher. But I'd like nothing more than to see Feliciano Lopez to make a big run here. The likely-second seed is coming off a banner 2014 season, reaching a career-high #14 ranking and notching wins over Nadal, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic -- he hasn't won a hardcourt title since 2010, but the thirty-three year old veteran has shown he has what it takes to put an end to that stretch.

More than a couple stars made their way out to Doha too -- defending champion Rafael Nadal and world #1 Novak Djokovic may headline, but a couple former top ten players could also make a stand. Fernando Verdasco finished 2014 at his lowest year-end ranking since 2006 and will look to turn things back around, and fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, playing his first event since pulling out of his French Open first round, could rack up a couple of much needed points to improve his #71 ranking before heading down to Melbourne. But also look out for Ernests Gulbis, whose shoulder injury kept him off the alternate list in London -- he really slowed down after his surprise semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, but he's got the kind of game that can really catch the favorites off guard, and it might just be the perfect time to show us exactly what he can do.

It's hard to say who'll ultimately come out on top this tennis season, but the good thing about each new year is that everyone starts off with a clean slate. Whether the old favorites continue their reigns or some upstarts make a push into the elite, we're certainly in for some great action over the coming months. And it all kicks off in just a few more days...

The Rising Class

Remember the days when we used to marvel at how young tennis champions were?

Well these days, they seem to get older and older -- Serena Williams has won four Majors since turning thirty, David Ferrer made his first Slam championship at thirty-one, last year's U.S. Open semifinalists had a combined age of a hundred and seven.

But this year we've finally started to see the next generation step up to the plate -- whether it was Grigor Dimitrov finally reaching the second week of a Major, Genie Bouchard shocking her way to two consecutive semis or Simona Halep finishing runner-up at the French, there have been more than a couple new faces hanging around the final rounds, and many of them are bringing down the average age of the field. And this week in particular, we've seen even more young players give us a taste of what the future of tennis will look like.

Andrey Kuznetsov is a little older than the rest of this bunch, but the 2009 Juniors champ at Wimbledon hasn't yet made a real splash on the big boys' Tour. Ranked well out of the top hundred, he hadn't qualified for an ATP-level event since Barcelona, but he did beat veteran star Radek Stepanek at a Czech Challenger event in April. And this week at the All England Club he notched his first career win over a top ten player, trading sets with David Ferrer before closing him out 6-2 in the fifth. He lost earlier today to Leonardo Mayer, though, but having now scored his best Slam performance to date, he might have the confidence he needs to do even better down the road.

Still alive is Jiri Vesely, who's been on my radar for a while this year. He won his first match at a Major last month in Paris, but the 2011 Juniors champion in Melbourne looks even better on the lawns of the London, despite having no pro record on the surface before this week. Just a shade off his highest career ranking at #68 in the world, the twenty year old Czech survived a five set battle with former top ten player Gael Monfils in his second round, by far the biggest win of his career. And if he recovers in time there's no reason he can't go further.

He'll actually face another young standout next -- Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios, who won the Boys' Aussie crown just last year. This past January he won just his third match on the ATP Tour, beating last week's Den Bosch finalist Benjamin Becker in his Melbourne opener, and then pushed twenty-seventh seed Benoit Paire to the limit in their late-night second round. He's been tested in London too -- the Wimbledon wildcard needed more than three tiebreaks against Stephane Robert on Tuesday and came back from two sets down to take out Eastbourne runner-up Richard Gasquet a match later. With almost six and a half hours on court already, he might not have much more gas this fortnight, but prospects sure look good for what he can do going forward.

A couple young ladies have also been rising to the occasion this week. Nineteen year old Madison Keys is riding a seven match win streak going into her third round, having defeated Jelena Jankovic and Angelique Kerber on the way to her maiden title in Eastbourne last week. So far at the All England Club, she avenged a loss to eventual Strasbourg champ Monica Puig in her opener and then took out low seed Klara Koukalova to match her performance here last year. And while there will be plenty of challenges ahead, the now #30 player in the world should stand a good chance against Yaroslava Shvedova in tomorrow's match and could very well ride that momentum even longer.

The same applies to last year's Wimbledon Girls' champion Belinda Bencic, who'd shown promise on the adult Tour before hitting the lawns this week. The seventeen year old, the youngest player in the top hundred, beat Kimiko Date-Krumm, the oldest, in her Australian Open first round and then notched wins over Maria Kirilenko and Sara Errani on her way to the Charleston semis. So far in London she survived a tough test from dark horse Magdalena Rybarikova and earlier today finished off her second round with a win over fellow young gun Victoria Duval. She's going to be challenged even more from here -- her next opponent, French Open runner-up Simona Halep, a rising star herself, is 15-2 at her last three Majors. But something tells me the young Swiss is going to put up a fight.

Perhaps, though, the biggest surprise of the tournament so far has been little-known Tereza Smitkova, ranked just #175 in the world. The young Czech qualified for her first Major main draw at Wimbledon and then beat doubles #1 Su-Wei Hsieh and 's-Hertogenbosch champ Coco Vandeweghe in quick succession. In a nearly three hour match today -- the decider took almost a hundred minutes -- she came back after losing the first set to Bojana Jovanovski, who'd already ousted two-time Slam titleist Victoria Azarenka Wednesday, to become the by far biggest Cinderella left in the bottom half of the draw. And though she'll only face her first seed in the fourth round, #22 Lucie Safarova, she might just be able to prove her luck's not about to run out.

Of course the trick for all these players will be to repeat their success not only in the later rounds, but later in the season and even after that. It's always a shame to see Cinderellas' momentum fizzle out as they fail to repeat past success. But most of these guys and gals have been building up some strong resumes all this year, and the others, hopefully they can do the same.

After all, it won't be long before it's their time to take over the reins in this sport. And they're going to want to lay the groundwork now.

The Young(-ish) Guns

The early rounds of a Grand Slam are often a great opportunity for young talent -- either in terms of age or experience -- to catch some of the favorites a bit off guard, and this year's French Open is no exception. But while many of the top seeds have so far fallen to tried-and-true veterans, plenty others have been taken completely by surprise. And the victors in those matches could last even deeper into the draws in Paris.

There was some early promise from a couple youngsters on the men's side. Jiri Vesely had a solid win over one-time giant-killer Lukas Rosol and even had a chance to serve out the first set versus Milos Raonic before falling in straights. And Madrid stand-out Dominic Thiem won his first match at Roland Garros over hometown favorite Paul-Henri Mathieu but was cursed with a second round against eight-time champion Rafael Nadal -- he lost today in a little over two hours.

But while both those guys ultimately fell to big, legitimate threats, a couple others have sneaked through. Twenty-three year old Dusan Lajovic, who started the year at #116 in the world, qualified for his first Major main draw in Australia and took sets off both Alexandr Dolgopolov and Stan Wawrinka this year. He began his French campaign with a win over Nice finalist Federico Delbonis -- a man who'd himself beaten both John Isner and Gilles Simon just last week -- and followed up today by taking out Jurgen Zopp in straight sets. He'll face another upstart next in American Jack Sock, once the surprised mixed doubles champion at the U.S. Open. He benefited from the retirement of Nicolas Almagro in his opening set but earlier today took out compatriot Steve Johnson, who'd barely survived his own first round. Sock is technically the favorite in this match, ranked seventy-fifth to Lajovic's #83, but something tells me not to trust the numbers. The Serb has won four Futures and two Challengers titles on the clay, and might just be the surprise Cinderella hanging around the second week.

On the women's side, a couple ladies with some impressive seasons have been continuing their success. Spain's Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor lost a bit of her momentum since picking up her first career title in Marrakech -- she'd won just one match after that. But she took out thirtieth seed Klara Koukalova in her opener and stayed tough against Magdalena Rybarikova to reach her first Slam third round. She'll face world #4 Simona Halep next, though, so it's tough to see her going much further. Countrywoman Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who broke back into the top hundred last week with a run to the Strasbourg final, might have a better shot at advancing. She started this week dispatching Chanelle Scheepers and earlier today handed a one-sided loss to former world #12 Yanina Wickmayer, known more these days for adding to the pain of Caroline Wozniacki. She's got a third round date with world #148 Kiki Bertens, certainly someone who can cause troubles, but an opponent that should be more than manageable.

And as impressive as all these performances have been, it's the young ladies in the top half of the draw who've really shone in the early rounds. Eighteen year old Taylor Townsend, the 2012 Juniors champion in Melbourne, made a successful debut in France's adult competition with an upset of homeland heroine Alize Cornet on Wednesday. And nineteen year old Anna Schmiedlova, who picked up a couple ITF titles in recent weeks and climbed to a career high of #56 in the world, improved on her second round showing last year. After taking out one-time Wimbledon and Aussie semifinalist Jie Zheng in her opener, she then stunned multiple-Major winner Venus Williams on Wednesday morning. That was followed quickly, of course, by the biggest shock of any Slam match this year, the loss of defending champion Serena Williams, who was coming off a title in Rome and an 8-0 clay court season. Garbine Muguruza, who'd cooled off some since her red hot start to the year, recorded the biggest win of her career, a straight set victory over the world #1 in just over an hour. And with no seeds in her way for at least two rounds, she's got a pretty good shot at turning around her underdog status.

The slew of upsets we've seen in the first few rounds of action in Paris may have made the draws a little less intimidating for the favorites, but wins by some players way below the radar prove they might just be in contention too. If their momentum continues into the coming rounds, the coming tournaments or the coming years, any one of them could establish themselves as forces way beyond just Roland Garros.

And the way they're playing, any one of them deserves it.

Back From the Brink

It sure came down to the wire this weekend at Davis Cup, with three of the four quarterfinal ties undecided until the last minute. It took some clutch performances when it counted most and featured some big upsets from unlikely stars, and in the end we're left with a talented group of teams that could very well make history.

It wasn't all edge-of-your-seat drama, of course. The two-time defending champion Czechs were the first to clinch their spot in the semis against an upstart Japanese team. Even without their star Tomas Berdych, a wily team helmed by -- go figure -- Lukas Rosol and veteran Radek Stepanek put together a 2-0 lead going into the weekend, and the two paired in the doubles rubber to give the Czechs an insurmountable lead. Rising star Jiri Vesely's win Sunday wasn't necessary, but sealing the victory with a 5-0 sure put an exclamation point on the dominating performance -- when the whole team shows up in the next tie, it'll be hard to beat them.

The French had a little tougher task after their Day One. Against an underdog German team -- they're top four players were missing this weekend -- Julien Benneteau dropped his opener to world #96 Tobias Kamke and headliner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was pushed in a long fifth set, ultimately losing to Peter Gojowczyk, who hadn't won a match since his stellar run in January. It was their doubles team that finally turned the tide in their favor -- Benneteau and Michael Llodra finally got the French on the board Saturday and Tsonga rallied Sunday to even the score with a win over Kamke. And in the final match for the weekend, Gael Monfils took the court against Gojowcyzk, built himself an early lead and never looked back. The French face off against the Czechs next -- their head-to-head record stands dead even at 7-7 -- so they'll need to up their game. But they've certainly shown they can never be counted out, and in a setting like Davis Cup, there's no reason they can't keep their streak going.

The Italians had slightly more breathing room going into the weekend, but not much. While recently strong Fabio Fognini scored the tie's first point against Britain's James Ward, formerly formidable Andreas Seppi wasn't able to keep the momentum going against two-time Grand Slam titleist Andy Murray. The Brits took the lead on Saturday too, with Murray teaming with doubles specialist Colin Flemings to grab a 2-1 lead in the tie. With Murray taking the court again against Fognini in the first reverse singles match, it seemed likely the Italians would be sent packing -- the pair had split their previous two meetings, but the last came almost five years ago, and while Andy had slipped slightly to #8 in the world, he was still the clear favorite. But Murray wasn't at his best on Sunday and Fognini scored the upset in straight sets. And Seppi regrouped for his final rubber, closing out Ward and sending Italy to the semis for the first time in over fifteen years.

Also reaching new ground this weekend -- somewhat surprising considering the individual success of their top star over the past decade -- were the Swiss, who reached their first semi since 2003, but not in the way you'd expect. Stanislas Wawrinka, the breakout star of this season, may have supplanted long-time top-five fixtures like Andy Murray and David Ferrer as the Next Big Thing with his 11-0 start to the year, but he hadn't reached even a quarterfinal since and he opened his campaign against the Kazakhs with a four-set loss to world #64 Andrey Golubev. Stalwart Roger Federer sent the Swiss into the weekend even, but they got behind again when Golubev teamed with even lesser-known Aleksandr Nedovyesov to take the doubles rubber. Like with the Italians, it all came down to Wawrinka in the first reverse singles match Sunday, and this time the favorite made it count. After losing the first set in a tiebreak to Mikhail Kukushkin, Stan pulled himself together and closed out the match. Roger did his part too, downing Golubev in straight sets and keeping the Swiss hopes for their first ever Davis Cup still alive. They get homecourt advantage against Italy too, and if they continue to play to their ability, they could just ride their streak all the way to the end.

The excitement and drama around Davis Cup is only going to intensify from here, but this weekend's winners sure proved they can deliver when times are toughest. There's still a lot of ball left to be played, of course, but it sure looks like we could be in for something completely different this year. And I can think of no better way to stir things up.

Their Big Break

With a couple days of play in the books in Indian Wells, it hasn't been all tea and roses for the sport's biggest stars. And while several seeds have run through their matches, many have struggled to eke out early wins and still others have fallen much sooner than they would have hoped. And that may have created a big opportunity for a couple underdogs.

The biggest upset on the women's side, of course, has been the loss of 2012 champion Victoria Azarenka who, contending with injury since the Australian Open, lost her opener to twenty-year-old American Lauren Davis who'd never before beaten a top ten player. The world #66 does have a nice section of the draw too -- the next seed she's slated to meet would be Roberta Vinci, but the Italian is so far only 1-5 on the year -- so she might not have to put up a big effort to get much farther. But perhaps the lady with the least to lose in this half is German teenager Annika Beck, who beat a recently unimpressive Elena Vesnina in her second round. She'll face off against Aga Radwanska, a semifinalist here a couple years back, so her path forward is a little less certain. Still, Beck's already beaten players like Genie Bouchard and Sam Stosur this year, so there's no reason she can't pull off another shocking win.

The upsets on the top half of the bracket haven't been quite as headline-worthy, but that doesn't make them inconsequential either. Aleksandra Wozniak, whose injury-riddled 2013 season pushed her ranking to nearly three hundred today, rallied against Sabine Lisicki to score her first win over a top twenty player in almost two years. And while she has an immediate challenge against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova next, there's no reason the veteran Canadian can't find the strength for another win. But we might just see the most fireworks in the very bottom of this section. Young Spaniard Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor just ended a three-set break-fest -- fifteen in total -- with fifth seeded Angelique Kerber, setting up a meeting with a true comeback story, Alisa Kleybanova. The young Russian was diagnosed with cancer back in 2011 and hasn't played much since returning to court a year later. But this week she's already handled a spunky Victoria Duval and earlier today took out red-hot Garbine Muguruza in straight sets. If she is healthy again -- and so far in the desert, it seems that she is -- she might just surprise us all.

Only half the seeded men have played their openers so far in Indian Wells, but those that have have already been tested. Jerzy Janowicz went three sets and lost to clay court specialist Alejandro Falla, while favorites Milos Raonic and even Andy Murray were pushed to deciders before closing out their wins. And that could give players like Jiri Vesely a chance to shine. The 2013 ATP Star of Tomorrow didn't get to play the Davis Cup matches I was so anticipating, but he did reach the semis in a Heilbronn Challenger event and today survived a challenge from world #35 Pablo Andujar. He has been through two tough three-setters, though, so he might be a little spent when he takes on Murray in a few days -- but if he can capitalize against a player who knows little about who he's facing, the young Czech could cause quite the upset.

In the bottom half of the men's draw the favorites have yet to show their stuff, but a couple players' performances in their first rounds might suggest they have an edge. Veteran Nikolay Davydenko was pushed to three sets by sputtering David Goffin, but with his next opponent John Isner dealing with injuries himself the last few weeks, the Russian might just be able to pounce. And Roberto Bautista Agut, the Cinderella fourth-rounder in Melbourne, delivered a one-sided loss to American Steve Johnson and could give Tomas Berdych a run for his money in his next round. But perhaps we should focus on Paolo Lorenzi, the veteran Italian coming off his first career championship match in Sao Paulo last week. Unfortunately for him, he's up against a sizzling Marin Cilic, who's made at least the final of the last three events he's played. Still, if Lorenzi is the more rested of the two, he could keep his own streak going.

Of course it's one thing for these players to pull off another win or two in Indian Wells -- it's quite another for any of them to make a real play for the title. But if they're able to take advantage of the opportunities they've created for themselves so far, there's no reason to believe they've each got a great chance to bring even more heat to the desert.

Into the Spotlight: Davis Cup 1st Round Preview

It's always nice to feel the team spirit that comes along with Davis Cup contests -- buoyed by their compatriots in a way you don't often see at a traditional tournament, some players find a way to pull out inconceivable wins against heavy favorites. And this year, perhaps more than others, the likelihood of some star-making performances is high as can be.

The two-time defending Czech champions are bringing their usual cadre of talent, with Australian Open semifinalist Tomas Berdych leading the pack. But also look out for Jiri Vesely, last year's ATP Star of Tomorrow -- the twenty-year old put together a two-set lead over big-serving Kevin Anderson in his Melbourne opener, his first appearance down under, and made the semis at last week's Heilbronn challenger. He'll likely only play doubles this weekend against the Dutchmen, but if his teammates put together a strong enough lead, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a bigger platform for success.

More likely to get top billing despite his low profile is Serbia's Dusan Lajovic, but he'll have a tough test. The 2010 champs were runners-up last year, but they're now missing captain Novak Djokovic and open against a team led by newly-minted Grand Slam titleist Stanislas Wawrinka. Lajovic hasn't had a lot of experience in Davis Cup -- he lost his two singles rubbers in last year's final -- but he did open 2014 by qualifying for his first Major main draw. He even won a match, taking out wildcard Lucas Pouille in his opener. Of course stakes will be high this weekend, but with Wawrinka the only man on the Swiss team ranked in the top hundred(-fifty!) there is more than a good chance this underdog comes out on top at some point.

Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios is hoping to do the same. Behind veteran Lleyton Hewitt he'll take on an intimidating French team comprised of two top-ten players and no one ranked lower than #40 in the world. At #162, he hasn't quite broken into that tier yet -- after all, he only played two Tour-level matches before this season started -- but he did put up a big fight in the Australian Open second round this month, winning the first two sets in tiebreaks over twenty-seventh seed Benoit Paire during the scorching early heatwave. He won't have home court advantage this time, though, so he'll have to raise his game even higher. But if his momentum continues, we might see his star start to shine just a little bit brighter.

But perhaps the man with the greatest opportunity to break through this weekend is Melbourne Cinderella Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard stunned an admittedly injured Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round and went on to beat an exhausted Paire -- a man he'd also taken out on his way to the Auckland semis -- to make his first Major fourth round. From a country with a plethora of talent to choose from -- and a full hand of Davis Cup trophies this century -- this will be Bautista's first tie, and it'll be a rough one against a strong German team. But a hair outside the top fifty now, he'll likely face no one more intimidating than what he endured in Australia and could cement his status as the next big force in an already forceful country.

There are plenty other players who might make a name for themselves this weekend too. Vasek Pospisil, suddenly in the top thirty, can prove he's not the only Canadian worthy of attention when he takes on a Japanese team led by world #18 Kei Nishikori. And David Goffin will look to show us he's no one-hit wonder when he leads a sparse Belgian team against a not-much-better set of Kazakhs. And while each of these guys' performances will only be a part of the whole of their Davis Cup results, any one of them could launch themselves into a new realm with some big successes here.

And what they do at that level could mean big things for the future of tennis.