Shaking Things Up

It's never fun when things go exactly as planned at a tennis tournament, and while the top men have certainly been less prone to big upsets than their counterparts on the women's Tour, even the favorites are certainly capable of surprising us from time to time. And this week, more than others it seems, the underdogs are capitalizing on any opportunity they get.

Dominic Thiem hasn't made it easy for the other guys in Kitzbühel, as last year's finalist has extended his win streak to ten straight matches with his win today over Albert Montanes. But his run has to end some time, and a couple hopefuls in Austria could make a case to be the one to do it. Thiem's next opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber, who started the year off kind of slow, reached the championship match in Munich and notched a nice upset over Hamburg runner-up Fabio Fognini in the quarter. He's never faced off against the rising star, but the veteran German might just have the experience to get the win. More of a threat, though, might be Nicolas Almagro, whose injury addled season has dropped him well out of the top hundred -- the clay court specialist hasn't done too much in his comeback, but so far this week has scored wins over 2014 breakout Jiri Vesely and hometown favorite Jurgen Melzer. He may have a less-than-encouraging 1-2 record against his next opponent, qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu, but if he's really back in form he should be able to make a play for not only the final, but maybe even the title.

Over on the hardcourts of Washington, D.C. there's been even more drama -- and even bigger surprises. American Steve Johnson, who's already given us a glimpse of his potential this year, notched his second straight win over world #26 Bernard Tomic, having beaten him earlier this summer in Halle. He'll face a bigger challenge against Grigor Dimitrov next, but the talented Bulgarian has struggled more than a little this year and could be more vulnerable than his sixth seed suggests. Then there's teenager Alexander Zverev who, despite a semifinal run in Bastad, is still just inside the top hundred. But on Wednesday he stunned big-serving Kevin Anderson to set up a third round against Alexandr Dolgopolov, a man who's had a hard time recapturing form since knee surgery last year -- there's no reason the young German can't take advantage of his opponent. But of course the biggest opportunity in D.C. comes courtesy of Teymuraz Gabashvili, who last night pulled off the biggest upset of his career so far, beating top seeded Andy Murray -- the first and only one of the Big Four to ever play in the U.S. capital -- in a nearly three-hour match. While there are more than a few seeds still in this half of the draw, the thirty year old Georgian by far cleared out the biggest threat. While anyone left could benefit from the big hole in the bracket, Gabashvili might just have established himself as the one to beat.

Of course it's one thing for any of these players to score one big win during a tournament -- what really makes a difference is if they can follow it up with another. But any one of them has the potential to make things even more interesting than they already have been this week -- and hopefully keep their momentum going even longer.

Don't Call This a Comeback...

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of players have taken the opportunity this week to put their names back on the tennis map?

Whether tried and true veterans or once-hot young guns, more than a few players had slowed down in recent months and years, some making more headlines for their lack of results than for any match wins. But someone seems to have lit a fire under these guys, one which hopefully won't flicker out any time soon.

Juan Monaco seems to have brought the momentum that took him all the way to the Gstaad final last week with him to Austria. Now ranked back in the top hundred dropped his opening set in Kitzbühel in a bagel, but came back strong to take out seventh seed Jarkko Nieminen and, earlier today, notched another upset over world #48 Andreas Seppi. He'll meet upstart Dominic Thiem in the second part of his double-header later today, but I like his chances to get back to a championship match. But the real story at the bet-at-home Cup is really David Goffin, a surprise fourth-rounder at the French Open two years ago. Since then he's lost in seven Major first rounds and this year has only won three ATP-level matches. He is, however, doing well on the Challenger circuit, claiming three clay court titles since Wimbledon and carried a 15-0 streak to Kitzbühel, where he took out top seed Phillipp Kohlschreiber early in his run. Earlier today he came back after losing his opening set to Maximo Gonzalez -- he'd been serving for it at 5-4 -- and will, against all expectations, be playing in his first career final tomorrow.

Over on the American hardcourts a couple more players are showing why they were once thought to have so much potential. Vasek Pospisil hit a career high of #25 in the world at the start of the year, but went on an eight-match losing streak during the spring and early summer. He did a little better in doubles, though, teaming with Jack Sock for a stunning victory at the All England Club and backing it up with a quick-and-easy title run in Atlanta. This week in DC, he scored his third win versus a top-ten player, repeating his win over Tomas Berdych from almost a year ago. He'll still be the on-paper underdog in today's quarterfinal against Santiago Giraldo, but he's shown he can pull off bigger wins than that. Donald Young too is having a bit of a resurgence -- after his famously unsuccessful 2012 season, he saw his ranking plummet from #38 to sub-200. But even with a few nice wins this year, he still has a losing record in 2014. He has managed wins over Julien Benneteau and Denis Istomin this week, though, so he might just be back on track.

The ladies in Washington haven't seen as many notable rebirths -- Kristina Mladenovic continued her stellar season by taking out top seed and Wimbledon semifinalist Lucie Safarova while consistently strong Ekaterina Makarova dominated two-time defending champion Magdalena Rybarikova in her opener. But she'll next meet 2012 finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who seems to have gotten her mojo back. Since claiming the title in Paris last February she's lost five matches to players ranked in triple digits, but hasn't dropped a set yet this week. And Svetlana Kuznetsova, who's been winning in fits and starts the last several years, had a surprisingly easy time against Kirsten Flipkens to make the quarters. She's the lowest seed still standing, but might just be able to re-harness the talent we know she has.

But perhaps the player we should be most focused on is Venus Williams who this week returns to Stanford for the first time since 2009. The former world #1 has understandably slowed down a bit since being diagnosed with Sjorgrëns disease three years ago, but she remains relevant, picking up title #45 in Dubai last February. And she's reached the final here seven times before, the first one way back in 1998, and though she's unseeded at the Bank of the West Classic she's clearly still a threat. Late last night she notched her first top ten victory of the year over Victoria Azarenka, herself struggling to come back from injury, and next faces Andrea Petkovic -- a woman she beat on her way to the 2012 Luxembourg title. She could easily set up a showdown against sister Serena for a spot in the championship match, and while she'll of course be the underdog there, I wouldn't expect anything other than fireworks.

All of these guys and girls have tasted big victories in the past, and though it may have been a while since they've been at the top of their game, they've all been around for years and know how to win when it counts. And this might be just the time to do that.

Out of the Spotlight

For the next two weeks most of the sporting world will have its eyes turned to a couple spots in London where the world's best athletes are competing for Olympic gold across a variety of sports. But there's action elsewhere in the tennis world, and this weekend a few players who haven't tasted victory in quite some time have a chance to change their luck while no one is looking.

A crop of under-the-radar ladies headed over to Baku, Azerbaijan where defending champion Vera Zvonareva was not in the mix. In fact with no one in the top fifty making the trip, the draw was wider open than the draws suggest -- top seed Ksenia Pervak had only won more than a match at one event since late March and the highest seed to survive the first round was Luxembourg's Mandy Minella, ranked #82 in the world. That opened the door for young American Julia Cohen who scored her first and only Tour-level win a few weeks back in Palermo. The twenty-two year old benefitted from Pervak's retirement in the first round, but then followed up with two solid three-set wins to make her first WTA final Saturday. There she met Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski, an up-and-comer who began 2011 with a bang. She hasn't had the same success this season, but by beating second seed Alexandra Panova in the semis, she earned her own championship debut. It wasn't much of a struggle for the fifth seed -- pouncing on her opponent's serve, she broke five times and in just over ninety minutes she was able to hoist her first ever tournament trophy.

The men in Kitzbuhel had a little more firepower in their ranks. Philipp Kohlschreiber, who defeated Rafael Nadal in Halle, made the Wimbledon quarters, and actually is in the Olympic draw, fended off fellow Rafa-crusher Lukas Rosol on the way to his second final of the year. But he ran into defending champion Robin Haase, who'd dropped just a set on his way back to the final. The Dutchman hasn't had the best year -- before making his way to Austria he sported a losing record for the season -- but with wins over Thomaz Bellucci and Xavier Malisse, he's shown signs of strength. Haase lost the first set of Saturday's final in a one-sided tiebreak, but rallied in the second and saved all six break points in the deciding set. With the win the world #42 -- who will open his own Olympic campaign against Richard Gasquet -- brings some good momentum with him to London. And having won the title so casually, he might be able to sneak up on some of the favorites.

The Los Angeles final won't be contested until later today, but the men who've thrived there may also be benefitting from a little less pressure. Former Junior #1 Ricardas Berankis had to survive qualifying rounds to make the main draw, but once he got there he turned on the juice. He opened by upsetting seventh seed Bjorn Phau and in the three matches that followed, he has only dropped serve once. Meanwhile two-time champion Sam Querrey, well off his career-high ranking after injury sidelined him about two years ago, made his own way quickly through the draw. His biggest challenge came in last night's semi when he fought back from a break down in the second versus fellow American Rajeev Ram. His eventual win secured Querrey his first final since he won here in 2010, and against the untested Lithuanian, you have to favor the experience of the hometown favorite.

Sure most of the world's best tennis players have been concentrating their efforts elsewhere, but it doesn't make these guys' efforts at some less heralded events this week any less important. If they can thrive while all the attention is being paid elsewhere, they might be in good shape once the pressure is back on. And as they get to the top of their games again, it could shape the rest of their seasons in a much better way.

A Long Time Coming

The last few years have been a long slog for a couple players on Tour. Whether they've had flashes of brilliance, fought to stay among the elite or battled back from injury, the trophy shelf remained fairly empty. But with some hard hitting performances over the last week, that all changed.

Robin Haase has really come a long way over the last year. He began 2010 ranked just inside the top five hundred, but put together some nice wins to rise into the double digits by December. In the course of twelve months, he took Nicolas Almagro to five sets at Roland Garros and built a two-to-one set lead on Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, but it wasn't until this year that the twenty-four year old began to really hit his stride. He made the third round at two Majors and was within a few spots of his career high ranking before he even came to Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Unseeded at the Bet-at-Home Cup, the Dutchman wasn't dealt the easiest draw, facing red-hot Feliciano Lopez in the second round and sixth-seeded Andreas Seppi a match later. Though he was spared the ordeal of meeting veteran champion Juan Ignacio Chela in his first ever final, he nevertheless got a challenge from former #22 Albert Montanes in the championship match. The Spaniard had won all five of his previous titles on clay and, though he'd struggled in recent months, was clearly the more experienced player on Saturday.

But it didn't faze Haase. After allowing his opponent to draw even and force a third set, the underdog came up with the goods in the decider to secure the win in just over two hours. Now in the top fifty, he'll start his summer hardcourt season on a high note, and if he harnesses his momentum well, we could see big things from him.

Radek Stepanek was a little more used to the limelight. Ranked in the top ten more than five years ago, he'd fallen into the low double digits when illness kept him out of play most of the year. He hadn't played a final since Brisbane last year and hadn't won one for almost a year before that. He'd showed some signs of getting back on track this year, beating Mardy Fish Down Under and taking a set from Nadal at Queen's Club, but he was still titleless until he came to Washington, DC.

Though he'd received first round byes in the U.S. capital the last three times he'd appeared, he'd never gotten out of the third round. This year, however, he was unseeded, and apparently it served him well. Most of his road was cleared for him -- would-be second round opponent Fish pulled out of the tournament with a heel injury and last year's runner-up Marcos Baghdatis was eliminated on Friday -- but he was impressive against Fernando Verdasco in the quarters and never faced a break point against Gael Monfils in the final. In just over ninety minutes he'd claimed his biggest title since 2006 and secured himself a spot back in the top thirty. Not bad for a week's work.

On the other side of the country, Aggie Radwanska was doing her best to get her name back on people's minds. Once a top-ten player, she's spent most of the last four years in the top twenty but hasn't won a Tour title since 2008. But she's one of the most consistent players on the circuit and is routinely still around the latter parts of tournaments. She came a stone's throw from taking the title in Carlsbad last year, and fought through foot surgery late in the fall to keep herself in the game in 2011.

Aggie dealt out bagel sets to both Elena Baltacha and Christina McHale -- to whom she only dropped one game -- early in her draw, but was challenged in her later rounds. Daniela Hantuchova scored a 6-0 lead in the quarters before eventually bowing to the twenty-two year old and feisty second seed Andrea Petkovic put up a heck of a fight against both Radwanska and her own illnesses before ceding the spot in the final. Against top-seeded Vera Zvonareva on Sunday she battled a nagging shoulder injury and held serve the entire match, earning her fourth win over a top-ten player this year and finally hoisting the winner's trophy again.

All these players have swung momentum back on their side, and whether they're capturing their first title or their first title in years they've at the very least captured the attention of their competition. It's great to see all their hard work and perseverance ultimately rewarded, and if they keep it up, there should be many more spoils to these winners.