A Chance to Shine

Perhaps I don't cover the WTA 125K events as much as I should, but when you look at what's going on at this week's tournaments, you really get a glimpse of some of the players who could become big factors on the main Tour in the months and years to come.

Let's start in Taipei, where previous champions Kristina Mladenovic and Alison Van Uytvanck have certainly scored some big wins since. This year top seeds Anna-Lena Friedsam and Luksika Kumkhum have so far lived up to expectations, but there are a couple others also making a stand. Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko had picked up a couple ITF titles already this year before she stunned top Moscow seed Dominika Cibulkova in their Kremlin Cup opener. This week, a hair off a career high ranking of #105 which she achieved some five years ago, she's dropped just a handful of games to veteran Melinda Czink and China's Ying-Ying Duan. She'll face off against Kumkhum next,but might just have the momentum to pull off an upset. And Poland's Magda Linette, fresh off her biggest title at a 125K event in Ningbo last week, opened her week in Taipei with a straight set win over Tadeja Majeric. Next up she gets a rematch of Sunday's final against Qiang Wang, so she should have confidence on her side. If she pulls off the win she might be able to end the year with quite an impressive winning streak.

There's arguably a little more star power on the courts of the inaugural Open GDF Suez de Limoges, with former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and heavyweights like Monica Niculescu and Caroline Garcia all in the draw. But it's a couple lesser-known names that may have a bigger opportunity in France. Netherlands' Richel Hogenkamp just broke into the top hundred-fifty this week, but she's had some encouraging results earlier in the year -- she beat Yanina Wickmayer at an ITF event in May and picked up a trophy in Clermont-Ferrand in September. The twenty-two year old has yet to qualify for a Major, but with wins this week over veteran Lourdes Dominguez Lino and seventh-seed Stefanie Voegele she might be ready to change that. And Tereza Smitkova, who quietly sneaked her way into the fourth round at Wimbledon has cut her ranking from sub-#200 to start the year to #83 now. Unseeded in Limoges, she opened with a straight set win over on-the-mend Urzsula Radwanska and earlier today came back from a set down to upset Belgium's Van Uytvanck. With world #20 Alizé Cornet pulling out of the event and Niculescu losing her opener, the Czech won't meet another seed until at least the quarters, and that could be just the chance she needs.

The events on the WTA 125K circuit might not have the highest stakes, but for all the ladies involved, they sure are a great opportunity to pick up some always-appreciated match experience, a couple ranking points and, in some cases, perhaps a title or two. And these rising stars in particular might just use their wins in these weeks to springboard to a whole new level in their careers.

Even More Upsetting

There seems to be a strange new trend in tennis these days, where players, even the most favored ones, prove they're fallible time and again. We saw it happen throughout the fortnight at Wimbledon, and the phenomenon resumed posthaste once the trophies were presented.

Here's the thing, though: it's not enough to simply poke a hole or two in the draw -- you've got to follow through after that. That was less the case at the All England Club, with the vanquishers of both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both losing one round later. Things weren't much better on the ladies' side -- while Sabine Lisicki rode her upset of Serena Williams all the way to the final, Michelle Larcher de Brito couldn't do much more after defeating Maria Sharapova in the second round.

That same trend has also manifested itself in the current tournaments. Daniel Brands, having scored a huge upset over Federer in his Gstaad opener, subsequently lost to Victor Hanescu a day later, while Albert Montanes ousted top Umag seed Richard Gasquet and then lost a long battle Friday to Gael Monfils. And Ons Jabeur, who ousted defending Baku champion Bojana Jovanovski on Wednesday, suffered an ankle injury during her match today, allowing qualifier Magda Linette -- ranked #226 in the world -- into her first ever Tour semi. But hope is not lost for everyone, and a couple players still have a shot at proving their early successes this week were no fluke.

Nineteen year old Elina Svitolina won her first Tour title last year in Pune, beating Andrea Petkovic in the process, and in 2013 she's made the semis in both Cali and Bad Gastein. This week she took to the hard courts of Baku as the seventh seed and earlier today took out Birmingham finalist Donna Vekic in a quick two sets. In the semis she'll face Alexandra Cadantu, the only other seed left in the draw -- the Ukraine native lost the pair's only previous meeting, but that was some two years ago when she was ranked outside the top four hundred. A win on Saturday -- and, dare we speculate, maybe on Sunday too -- would not only underscore her performance so far, but might just push her into the higher tiers of the sport.

Meanwhile in Gstaad, Robin Haase is trying to make a similar move up the rankings. The Dutchman, who returns to Kitzbuhel next week to defend the title he's won the past two years, has yet to manage a sustained stay in the top forty. But after dominating third-seeded Janko Tipsarevic in Switzerland, the twenty-six year old survived a two-and-a-half hour battle against Marcel Granollers to make the semis. With world #29 Feliciano Lopez the highest seed remaining, the field is wide open for Haase to add a new trophy to his case and maybe give him the oomph he needs to really establish himself in the sport.

Of course upsets have been known to bring tears to the eye, but while both these players have caused their opponents woe this week, they'll want to make sure their own cheeks stay dry throughout the summer. It'll be a hard task, to be sure, but after the performances they've already put up there's no reason think it's impossible.

And with the way things are going this summer, there may be no better time to get stuff done.