First Time Charm

All eyes may be on Tokyo these days, and understandably so. In just the first two days of play there've been a ton of headlines -- from the singles withdrawal of two-time defending champion Andy Murray to the first round upset of world #1 and reigning Wimbledon champ Ash Barty.

But the Olympics aren't the only game in town, and at a handful of tournaments around the world this weekend a handful of players were able to accomplish something that eluded them so far in their careers. And whether they've been long toiling on tour or are still fresh to the top tiers of competition, you can bet their accomplishments are something they'll remember a long time.

Collins showing off her new hardware 😎#PLO21 pic.twitter.com/biY6KanEOj

— wta (@WTA) July 25, 2021

Palermo Ladies Open, Palermo, Italy

I'll start in Italy, where 27-year-old Danielle Collins was making up for lost time in a big way. After a strong start to the year, she'd missed the entire pre-French Open clay court season due to endometriosis surgery, but hit the courts hard when she returned. She played four straight weeks since the start of Wimbledon, reaching the quarters in Hamburg and the semis in Budapest before making the trip to Palermo. And though she was tested -- and conquered -- by much lower ranked players at both those events, this week she made it to the final -- surprisingly her first at this level -- without dropping a set.

In Sunday's match she faced off against qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse, the 23-year-old Romanian who was coming off her own maiden WTA final in Hamburg, where, also as a qualifier, she'd stunned veteran Andrea Petkovic to win the crown. She kept her momentum going with the help of a walkover from third seed Jil Teichmann, but scored a solid win over Oceane Dodin to reach her second straight chapionship match.

Her impressive run would end eventually at Collins' hands, though, and it seems a fitting time for the relative veteran to have her breakthrough. We know, after all, how powerful Collins' game can be -- she stunned then-#2 Angelique Kerber on her way to the Australian Open semis in 2019, and last year scored wins over Garbiñe Muguruza and Ons Jabeur on her way to the Roland Garros quarters. This year, before her surgery interrupted her season, she'd taken out Karolina Pliskova and Ash Barty during the Australian swing and, happily, seems to have picked up right where she left off. She might not have had to pull off any huge upsets on her way to that all-important first trophy, but having now broken the seal and with her condition hopefully behind her, there's no telling what other big wins might be in her future.

BNP Paribas Poland Open, Gdynia, Poland

The stakes weren't quite so high in Poland, where changes of schedule for top seed Yulia Putintseva, who was hoping to ride momentum from her Budapest title to success at the Olympics, but retired in her first round, and second seed Tamara Zidansek, fresh off her first career trophy in Laussane, meant the highest ranked player in the field was world #71 Irina-Camelia Begu.

That left things wide open for everyone else, which helps explain how Belgium's Marynka Zanevska, ranked #165, and Slovakian Kristina Cucova, at #150, were able to make the final. The former, who lost to Zidansek last week in the Laussane semis, this week upset ninth seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz, while the later was a winner over tenth seed Irina Bara in the second round. Both were playing for their first WTA title.

And it was, ultimately Zanevska who walked away with the trophy, another 27-year-old making her breakthrough this week. Will it be just the start of big things for her? That's a little harder to tell, but after two of the best weeks of her career, it very well could be.

Croatia Open, Umag, Croatia

On the men's side, it was less a story of veterans finally getting their pay off and more one of next gen stars showing us what they got. In Umag, 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who scored his first tour-level win over veteran Albert Ramos last year in Rio, repeated the feat, but this time it was in the semis and after a year that had helped him rise to #73 in the world. He'd also scored a win over third seed Filip Krajinovic, the runner-up in Hamburg just a few weeks ago, in the quarters, so he was clearly in a much more accomplished frame of mind.

In the other half of the draw, veteran Richard Gasquet was working his way through the draw and ultimately reached his 38^th carreer final, but his first since 2018. The 35-year-old, who hit his career high ranking of #7 in the world when Alcaraz was just four years old, was going for his 16^th trophy and, maybe more impressively, his 561^st career win, the most of any active player outside the Big Four.

But this time youth would triumph over experience. In his first ATP final, Alcaraz saved all three break points he faced and won nearly 80 percent of his first serves to finish off the championship match in just under 80 minutes. The win makes the Spaniard the youngest champion on tour in over a decade, when then-18 year old Kei Nishikori claimed the trophy in Delray Beach. And it certainly seems Alcaraz is destined for even bigger things from here, and I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing that soon.

Mifel Open, Los Cabos, Mexico

Slightly older than Alcaraz but still, as yet, undecorated was Cameron Norrie, who has nevertheless climbed his way up the rankings thanks to final showings in Estoril, Lyon -- where he beat Dominic Thiem, and Queen's Club -- where he beat Denis Shapovalov. The top seed in Los Cabos, he was hoping to finally break the seal and after a tight opening set against Mikael Ymer, he didn't lose more than three games a set on his way to the final, beating a very talented Taylor Fritz three-and-one in the semis.

Meanwhile 19-year-old Brandon Nakashima was hoping to be the second teen champion of the weekend. Still ranked outside the top hundred, he had picked up a couple Challengers titles in his young career, but has mostly been an also-ran at the ATP level so far. If his performance in Mexico is any indication, that could be about to change, though -- after a straight set win over fourth seed Sam Querrey, he took out Jordan Thompson and then stunned John Isner in the semis, breaking his big-serving compatriot twice and dishing out twelve aces himself.

But it wasn't enough against Norrie. The 25-year-old Brit was finally the more experienced one in the championship round and was able to prevail in his fifth final appearance. In another straight set match, he was able to score his 35^th tour win of the season, tying him with none other than Novak Djokovic for the third most on tour. And with the consistency he's shown in this first half, there's no reason to believe he won't be adding more wins to the docket soon.

Swiss Open, Gstaad, Switzerland

The only place where we didn't see a first time champion this weekend was in Gstaad, where Casper Ruud, fresh off a win in the appropriately rhyming Bastad, picked up his third title of the year and his fourth overall. He's now running a seven match win streak since that surprise early exit and Wimbledon and could be making a play for the top ten before the year is out.

But that doesn't diminish the accomplishment of his final opponent, twenty-year-old Hugo Gaston, who'd been, up to this week, a little quiet after that resounding run to the fourth round last year at Roland Garros. So far at the Slams this year, he'd fallen to Richard Gasquet in his Paris opener and failed to qualify for Australia or Wimbledon, and he'd only won two matches elsewhere on tour.

But he found his footing this week, stunning clay court specialist Federico Delbonis in the second round and then going on to beat Cristian Garin and Laslo Djere to make his first ATP final. While three straight three-setter may have left him too little in the tank to put up a fight against Ruud on Sunday, his performance certainly gave us hope that we haven't seen the best of him yet.

And while the first time may not have been his charm, something tells me it won't be too long before he gets his.

Maybe Next Year

There are still a few spots left at the ATP Finals in London, but for the vast majority of men on Tour, their hopes of qualifying at this point are slim at best. Still a couple guys this week might just be making a case to put themselves in the conversation next season.

In Valencia some long shots were actually given a bit of a helping hand from the field's favorites. With Feliciano Lopez losing today to Vienna standout Steve Johnson and players like Bernard Tomic and even giant-killer Fabio Fognini getting upset early, the draw has been opened wide. That could present an opportunity for veteran Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who's quietly picked up two titles this year and actually climbed back to near his career-high ranking. He powered through a tough opener against Fernando Verdasco, and while he's actually lost his only previous meeting with Johnson, his quarterfinal opponent, he's been riding a pretty hot streak this fall and might just keep it up. Then there's Roberto Bautista Agut, who's been picking up steam himself in recent weeks -- he's had a tough draw, facing off against former top-ten player Nicolas Almagro in his first round and then battling talented teen Andrey Rublev earlier today. If he keeps up his level of play, not only could he walk away with the title, but he might just put himself back on track to do even more damage next year.

There's a little more on the line in Basel, where -- despite the noticeably more-stacked draw -- some of the contenders do still have an outside chance of making this year's cut. Marin Cilic, fresh off a successful title defense in Moscow, is currently eleventh on the London leaderboard and would need a lot of things to go his way if he wants to make his second trip to the ATP Championships -- still, straight set wins this week, including one today over an always-tough Teymuraz Gabashvili, could help him make a stronger case next year. And David Goffin, who took out Andreas Seppi and Adrian Mannarino already this week, seems to be building on the success made him one of the best comeback stories of 2014. But the real story in Switzerland might be Richard Gasquet, who could earn himself a ticket this year if he keeps his run going a little while longer -- the Wimbledon semifinalist has wins over Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka already this year, and has picked off two rising stars this week too. He'd have to win titles in Basel and Paris next week, what would be his first Masters trophy ever -- but he might be better off saving his energy to come out swinging when the new year starts.

After all, it won't be long before everyone wipes their slates clean and starts over -- and if any of these guys can bring their current momentum with them into 2016, there's no reason they can't really shake up the standings from the start.

The Long Shots

Maybe we shouldn't be that surprised by what's gone down so far at the U.S. Open. After all over the past two years we've seen a slew of first-time finalists and even a couple new champions at the Majors. So it seems only fitting that the underdogs continue to thrive in New York. Sure, there's a lot more game to be played before anyone's crowned a champion, but if their performances so far are any indication, there's no reason they can't keep going.

Richard Gasquet is probably the most decorated among the men in this group -- he made a solid run to the semis here two years ago and even reached the final four at Wimbledon this season. He's still ranked outside the top ten, but with two titles and wins over the likes of Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, he's playing much above his level. He's had a couple challenges so far in the Big Apple, being forced to five sets against upstart Thanasi Kokkinakis in his first round and dropping his opening set to Robin Haase a match later. But he's been on point in later rounds -- he needed less than ninety minutes to dispatch Bernard Tomic and late last night came back after losing the first set to Tomas Berdych to notch his seventh win over the sixth-seed. Next up for the Frenchman is Roger Federer, who he's only beaten twice in sixteen previous matches, but if he's feeling inspired he might just surprise us again.

Spain's Feliciano Lopez seems pretty inspired himself -- the eighteenth seed had been struggling a big ahead of the Open, failing to defend points during his traditionally strong grass court season, and falling a bit from his career-high #12 ranking in March. But he also notched his second straight win over compatriot Rafael Nadal and reached the quarters in Indian Wells. He was pushed to the limit early in New York, coming back against a retiring Mardy Fish in an emotional second round, but quickly proved himself against both Milos Raonic and, most recently, Fabio Fognini, who'd scored his own win over Nadal in the third round. Facing off against Novak Djokovic tonight, Feli's road forward certainly won't get any easier -- but the veteran likes the fight at these events and certainly won't give up now.

Of course the biggest -- recent -- surprise in the men's draw came last night when highly underrated Kevin Anderson took the court against Andy Murray. The South African has had trouble in the clutch throughout his career, picking up only two titles in ten finals before August. But he picked up his first trophy in over three years in Winston-Salem, climbing back to a #14 ranking. Despite an easy win over formerly red-hot Dominic Thiem, he was clearly the underdog versus Murray -- but that didn't seem to bother him. Anderson eked out the first set in a tiebreak and jumped out to an early lead before claiming the second. After he squandered a break in the third and the Scot rolled through the tiebreak, it seemed the 2012 champ was primed to pull off his second comeback of the tournament. But this time it was the fifteenth seed's turn to dominate a tiebreak -- blanking the heavy favorite in the fourth set, he claimed his first ever Major quarterfinal slot. And while his next opponent Stan Wawrinka is again the on-paper favorite, Anderson's won all of their last four meetings and might just have extra motivation to keep his streak going.

The ladies' draw also claims a couple surprising names among the quarterfinalists, but perhaps the best story is that of a woman who's actually claimed this title twice before. Venus Williams hasn't been much of a factor at the Majors in recent years, of course, ceding her claim to the big trophies to younger sister, but she's remained a dangerous force on Tour in spite of her lowered ranking. Now #23 in the world, she picked up a title to start the year in Auckland and notched top-ten victories over Aga Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki this season. Something of an elder statesman at the Open -- her wins here came at the turn of the century -- she's handled threats from the upcoming generation of stars with little problem. After being pushed to three sets by both Monica Puig and Irina Falconi early, she thumped Toronto champ Belinda Bencic, in a way avenging her sibling's loss to the Swiss in the Rogers Cup semis. Of course she'll meet Serena in tonight's spotlight match, which seems fitting given what her sister is trying to do in New York. The younger Williams has dominated Venus over the last five years, of course, but the top seed was upset last year in Montreal, so we could be in for another stunner here. Whatever the outcome, though, it seems appropriate that this would be the stage for their latest -- but maybe not last -- battle.

Flavia Pennetta may not have as much metal to show for her efforts in New York, but that doesn't mean she hasn't had any success here. She reached her first -- and so far only -- Slam semi in New York two years ago and has now made the quarters in six of her last seven tries. She's been a little up-and-down in 2015, though -- the defending champion in Indian Wells did beat Maria Sharapova there this year, but she also fell in the first round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. She got a little bit of a break during her early rounds this fortnight -- last year's runner-up Caroline Wozniacki was upset for her by Petra Cetkovska, and she didn't have to meet a seed until yesterday. But she held tough against a seemingly rejuvenated Sam Stosur, winner here in 2011, and scored an upset of her own. Next up for the feisty Italian is fifth seed Petra Kvitova, who's riding a nice win streak of her own after picking up a title in New Haven -- but with a 3-3 record against the two-time Wimbledon champ, Pennetta might just be the one to end it.

But perhaps the greatest opportunity at this year's U.S. Open lies with unseeded Kristina Mladenovic, who never before made it out of a Major third round -- at least not in singles. A mixed doubles champion at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, the Frenchwoman has had huge successes at the Slams -- at lesser tournaments too -- but has always seemed to have trouble following up one win with another, and without the follow through she's been relegated to a mediocre #40 ranking. But she's still a threat -- especially now that she's reached the quarterfinals. While she hasn't had to face a favorite quite as intimidating as she's had in the past, she did open with a win over 2004 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and she took out last year's semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova on Sunday night. She's up next against a recently strong Roberta Vinci, another doubles specialist, but one she's never faced on the solo Tour. Mladenovic has certainly taken out bigger and better opponents in the past, and hopefully she'll be able to keep her cool when the stakes are so high. But with a chance to finally make a dent at the Majors, you'd have to assume she'll come out swinging as hard as she ever has before.

Of course, there's a big difference between the success any of these guys has seen and what they'll still need to do to make a real play for the titles. And with the very favorites still out in full force, their greatest challenges are yet to come. But perhaps one or more of them could cause a little more damage before their runs in New York are over. And after so many have already broken through at the Slams, why not add a couple more names to that list

Wimbledon Wrap-Up: From Start to Finish

I'm back! And what a couple of weeks of tennis I missed, right? While the two champions at Wimbledon were just crowned over the weekend, plenty of others also showed us what they're made over over the past fortnight. We saw new stars emerge, a couple reaffirm their place in the elite, and -- not surprisingly -- a few stumble along the way. And while I can't hope to cover everything in this post, hopefully I'll be able to hit the highlights.

But since I've been gone a while, there's a lot to cover. So let's get right into it.

Early Upsets

Over the last couple years Wimbledon has become even more of a graveyard than Roland Garros, with even the super favorites being dealt amazing defeats way earlier than expected. And 2015 was no exception.

Now technically John Isner didn't suffer an upset at the All England Club -- ranked #17 in the world heading to London, his third round showing was just as well as he was expected to do -- still the top American may have squandered a big opportunity. After making a solid run to the quarterfinals at Queen's Club, he had a promising start to the event, winning his first two matches in straight sets -- breaks and everything. And though the first seed he faced was defending U.S. Open champ Marin Cilic, a man he'd lost to in all four of their previous meetings, he really had a chance to take advantage of the Croat's recent struggles. Clearly a fan of long matches, Isner fought back after losing the first and third sets and, in an eighty-three minute, twenty-two game decider, still managed to fire off fifteen aces and keep a seventy-plus first serve percentage. He did ultimately lose, of course, cutting short his hopes of reaching the second week of a Slam yet again, but perhaps he will be able to recover as he heads to home territory.

Feliciano Lopez's performance at Wimbledon may have been a bit more surprising. The traditionally strong grass court player was twice a quarterfinalist here and last year, on the heels of a final at the Aegon Championships and a title in Eastbourne, he managed to make his way to the fourth round and climb to a career-high ranking at thirty-two years of age. This year, though, he couldn't quite keep momentum going -- he only won two matches at lead-up lawn events and, despite pulling off a win over one-time giant-killer Steve Darcis in his opener, ran into a bit of trouble against unknown qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round. The eastern European Georgian, ranked #153 at the time and playing his first ever Major main draw, took the first set off the veteran Spaniard and kept his cool after being pushed to a fifth. Lopez, despite thirty-two aces, a blistering first serve percentage and, actually, more total points won, couldn't close out the match and put his chances of holing onto a spot in the sport's elite a little more at risk.

It might be a little too early to write off Rafael Nadal in the same way, but there can be no doubt the long-time world #1 has had some trouble playing at his best this season. Two times a champion at the All England Club, the Spaniard's showing here recently has been marked more by early exits than by big triumphs. And after losing his grip on the tournament he's owned for the past decade, you had to think -- even with a nice little title in Stuttgart to kick off the grass season -- it would be hard for him to make a big dent here. And the draw did not shake out in his favor -- while David Ferrer pulled out of the event with an elbow injury and third seed Andy Murray wouldn't loom until the quarterfinals, his biggest threat actually came much earlier than that. German qualifier Dustin Brown, who'd trounced Nadal last year in Halle, had little more trouble this time around, dropping a set, but still breaking four times for his second straight win. Heading into the summer hardcourt season, Rafa is just barely holding on to a top ten ranking, but if he doesn't get his game together soon, he may see an even bigger drop from here.

Maybe not too surprisingly the women's draw saw a few more higher-profile losses in the early days of the tournament. Simona Halep was one of my picks to take the whole event, and with five wins over top ten players in the last year it wasn't really a big ask for her do it. But the world #3 hasn't quite had the same momentum she did last summer -- after falling well short of last year's French Open performance, the 2015 Wimbledon semifinalist was stunned again in Birmingham by underrated Kristina Mladenovic. And she didn't seem to regroup in time for her next Slam campaign -- after taking a tight first set of Slovakia's Jana Cepelova, ranked in triple digits but certainly a capable, Halep couldn't quite hold on. In a match that consisted of fifteen service breaks, she made seven double faults, won just thirty percent of her second serves and committed thirty-four unforced errors. It was the young Romanian's first opening round loss at a Major in over two years, and while she certainly has plenty of time to recover over the coming weeks, pressure will certainly be on for her to repeat some of the stellar results we know she's capable of.

Genie Bouchard must be feeling even more pressure. The Canadian breakout star was riding high at this time last year, coming off her first Grand Slam final and a meteoric rise to #6 in the world. But she's struggled even more than Halep to keep her momentum going. A semifinalist at the first three Majors of 2014, she's gotten no more than one win at all but two of the events she's played this season. She came to Wimbledon on precarious ground, no doubt, but nevertheless few would have expected the showing we got. Against qualifier Ying-ying Duan, who'd never won a main draw match on a big stage before, Bouchard struggled on serve, barely getting half of her first attempts in and double faulting ten times. It was the ninth time this year she couldn't pull off a single win during a week, and at the tournament where she's seen her biggest successes, it might be a little more than problematic. Now out of the top twenty, she'll need to pull herself together quick if she's going to prove last season's results were no fluke.

Petra Kvitova's situation isn't quite so dire, but that doesn't make the exit of last year's ladies' champ any less surprising. The #2 seed is the only player all year to beat Serena Williams and, despite skipping the warm-up grass court season, had high hopes to win her third Wimbledon crown. And she looked good early too, losing just three games in her first two matches against tough players like Kurumi Nara and Kiki Bertens. Against a largely under-the-radar Jelena Jankovic in the third round, then, she should have had little problem -- the long-ago world #1 had gone three sets in both her matches so far at the All England Club, and without a single win over a top-ten player in over a year, should have posed little threat. But the Czech was caught a little off guard -- after rolling through the first set in under a half-hour, she started to falter. Jankovic cleaned up her game, making just two errors in the second and scoring the only break in the decisive third for her biggest win in quite some time. Kvitova's loss marked the third of last year's semifinalists to fall in the first week -- the only other one, French Open runner-up Lucie Safarfova, would go just one round later -- and while she's sure to come out swinging again on the hardcourts, you can't help but notice how much things have changed in the last year.

Week-Two Standouts

Of course it wasn't all bad news for the seeds at Wimbledon this year, and even those who didn't ultimately walk away with the trophies stirred things up pretty good after middle Sunday.

Kevin Anderson has long been part of the sport's upper tiers, but he's always seemed to struggle on the big stages. In the top forty for four years and possessing one of the biggest serves on Tour, it's been a couple years since his last title and has never made it out of a Major fourth round in twenty-five previous tries. But he's gotten some big wins in his career -- he's won his last four meetings against surprise Roland Garros champ Stan Wawrinka -- and certainly has the talent to get a few more. The South African had a relatively easy draw early at the All England Club, facing off against twenty-fourth seed Leonardo Mayer in the third round. But a match later was when he really was able to shine -- against world #1 Novak Djokovic to start the second week, he grabbed the first two sets in tiebreaks, but it wasn't until the heavy favorite pushed him to a decider that he finally scored his first and only break of the match. Like Isner, Anderson would not be able to pull off the upset, but getting as close as he's ever been to making a Slam quarter -- and facing off against the best player in the sport to do it -- he might just have set himself up for a few more surprises down the road.

Coco Vandeweghe took a little longer to realize her potential than I thought it would, but the twenty-three year old American may finally be ready for her breakthrough. Just a shade out of seeding territory at the French Open, she lost a bit of ground heading into Wimbledon after failing to defend title points from Den Bosch, but seemed unfazed when she hit the grass in 2015 -- she opened with a straight-set win over always tough Anna Schmiedlova and then stunned eleventh seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round. The upsets didn't stop there -- Coco lost just two games former Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur and then stopped last year's Cinderella Lucie Safarova a couple rounds short of her dream run from last year. In her first ever Major quarterfinal, Vandeweghe even took a set off Maria Sharapova before finally falling in the nearly three-hour match. The streak was enough to bring her back to her career high ranking of #32, but if she takes the momentum with her into the late summer season, there's no reason to believe she can't finish the year much higher still.

France's Richard Gasquet, on the other hand, was only trying to claw his way back into the sport's elite. The former world #7 has quietly been putting together a pretty successful season, picking up titles in Montpellier and Estoril and climbing back into the top twenty at the start of this tournament. Still it had been quite a while since his last deep run at the All England Club -- though he did make the semis at the U.S. Open a few years back, his last trip to the Final Four in London came way back in 2007. But he didn't let that get in the way of his performance this year -- after easily dismissing one-time wunderkind Grigor Dimitrov in the third round, he took out 2014 standout Nick Kyrgios and then pushed Roland Garros winner Stan Wawrinka to twenty games in their final set before eking out the win. After that battle he might not have had a lot of gas left against Novak Djokovic in the semis -- he lost in straight sets in a barely two hour match -- but with those couple upsets Gasquet certainly showed us he's still more than relevant at the Slams and might just be able to refuel in time for the next one.

But perhaps the player who gained the most these past two weeks was one who was nearly counted out entirely. Former Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska rose to a career-high #2 in the world after her performance here three years ago, but seemed to be struggling mightily in 2015. With early exits at Indian Wells and Roland Garros and a surprising defeat at the hands of young Belinda Bencic in the Eastbourne final just ahead of this tournament, she'd dropped out of the top ten for the first time in years. She did recover ground though -- with defending champion Petra Kvitova taken out of her section of the draw she didn't face a higher ranked player during her run. With a semifinal encounter against twentieth-seed Garbiñe Muguruza, she should have been the favorite to set a rematch of the 2012 final, but while she did notch her third straight loss to the talented Spaniard in three sets, she should take comfort in the fight she did display. Now back at #7, Aga will need to be careful not to lose her momentum -- but hopefully she was able to scrounge up a bit of confidence to pull her through the rest of the year.

The Finals

And while all of these athletes put on some impressive shows for us over the last fortnight, ultimately it all comes down to the two champions crowned this weekend. And while maybe we shouldn't be surprised by the results, what each of these titleists accomplished may be even more important than the new hardware they gained.

The top two men in the world both know what it's like to win at the All England Club, and in their fortieth career meeting both showed they were more than hungry to return to the Winner's Circle. Defending champ Novak Djokovic and seven-time titleist Roger Federer had both been challenged during the fortnight -- Nole coming back from a two-set deficit in his two-day fourth round against Kevin Anderson and Fed having a minor hiccup against a monstrous Sam Groth in his third -- but by the time they both made it to the final, you knew we were in for another great battle. The pair had traded wins over most of the last two years, but with wins in the Indian Wells and Rome Masters championships, the Serb had pulled within one victory of tying their all-time head-to-head record. And after a heartbreaking loss in the French Open final last month, he might have had a little extra motivation driving him on Sunday -- after getting down the first break in the opening set, Djokovic quickly regrouped and stormed through the tiebreak. He narrowly lost the second but seemed little perturbed, either by his opponent or by a crowd rooting loudly against him, and rebounded to take the next two sets in just about an hour. The win gave Novak his third Wimbledon trophy and his ninth Grand Slam, breaking the six-way tie he'd been in for eighth on the all-time list. He may still lag a couple of his contemporaries, but showing no signs of slowing down, the unquestioned #1 may have a lot more left in him.

The same might be said for Serena Williams, who made her own history at Wimbledon on Saturday. Coming straight off a surprisingly tricky win at Roland Garros, the top seed had a chance to win the first three Majors of a season for the first time in her storied career. And she was tested more than a few times during her campaign -- young Brit Heather Watson managed to push her to a decider and long-time rival Victoria Azarenka yet again took the opener before finally falling in three. Serena's opponent in the final was considerably less comfortable on the big stages -- twenty-two year old Garbiñe Muguruza, who'd shocked the world #1 last year at Roland Garros, was one of the breakthrough stars of 2014, but had only won one match before in her short Wimbledon career. Still she'd been more than impressive in her first final run at a Slam -- she took out Timea Bacsinszky, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, all ranked higher than her, before upsetting Aga Radwanska in the semis. She even got the first break on Serena in the championship match and rallied from a 1-5 deficit in the second. But experience won out in the end -- after two sets it was Serena holding the crown -- her twenty-first career Major, just one short of Steffi Graf's Open Era record. The win also makes her the current holder of all four Slams, and gives her the chance to capture all of them in one calendar year for the first time since Graf did it in 1988. That might mean even more pressure than usual when she heads to New York, but something tells me she might be able to handle it.

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Of course there was a lot more action over the past two weeks which I just couldn't get to here. But rest assured that, whether the current top dogs continue their reigns or some new talent breaks out on the scene, there will be more than enough to talk about in the coming months.

And if the show we got at Wimbledon is any indication, it's going to be an exciting end of the season.

The Big Fight

Okay, I realize that most eyes will be trained on one particular bout in Vegas tonight, but the face-off between Pacquiao and Mayweather isn't the only one worth mentioning these days. And for a couple players contesting this weekend's championships, the opportunity is just as great.

Tomorrow's final in Munich pits two players who've had very different seasons so far against each other. Top seeded Andy Murray, fresh off his second final of the year in Miami, is back at #3 in the world and finally seems in contention again at the big events. Veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber, on the other hand, was struggling to win many matches at all -- he's lost three opening round matches, all to players outside the top fifty, and before this week had a losing record on the year. He's been able to turn things around this week though, taking out Bucharest runner-up Jiri Vesely in his first round and then notching an upset over David Goffin in the quarters. He'll certainly be the underdog against the Scot on Sunday, with his only win coming more than five years ago -- but he does, surprisingly, have a chance. He took a set off Murray a few weeks ago in Indian Wells, and pushed him for four long hours at Roland Garros just last year, barely losing 12-10 in the fifth. If he can find that game again, he just might be able to capitalize on this chance to turn his season around.

The German's run in his homeland may have been unexpected, but the draw in Estoril shook out even less predictably, with both top seeds falling in their opening rounds. Instead Richard Gasquet, a little quiet this year despite a title in Montpellier, took out an on-the-rebound Nicolas Almagro and finally ended the impressive win streak of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the semis. And young Australian Nick Kyrgios, this year's Cinderella in Melbourne, managed his way to the first ATP final of his career. He hasn't had to face any real challenge though -- both Feliciano Lopez and Gilles Muller were eliminated before he had to meet them -- so tomorrow's match will be his be the first test he has all week. And with the specter of his maiden trophy looming over him the pressure will surely be on -- but I wouldn't be surprised to see him come out on top this time, and there's no telling what that could lead to for the rest of his season.

There's a little more experience on the court in Istanbul, though, where world #2 Roger Federer will be going for his awe-inspiring eighty-fifth career title. Having already picked up two crowns this year, he's rebounded nicely from an early loss in Monte Carlo and, despite challenges from Daniel Gimeno Traver and even Challenger heavyweight Diego Schwartzman, made good on his top spot in Turkey. The bigger surprise happened in the bottom half of the draw where wholly under-appreciated Pablo Cuevas stunned second seed Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday's semi. The Uruguayan my be flying way under the radar, but he has won the last three finals he's contested, and with an impressive 10-4 record on clay this year, he might be more at home on this surface than his opponent. It's always a tough ask to try to beat Roger, of course, but Cuevas has been slowly making a name for himself too and might just have the motivation to pull off what would easily be the biggest win of his career.

The ladies, meanwhile, have already crowned their champions, but even these favorites were given some unexpected challenges. At the reinstated Prague Open the upsets started early and kept going all week long -- second seed Lucie Safarova was eliminated by world #65 Tereza Smitkova in her opener while Svetlana Kuznetsova, Alizé Cornet and Belinda Bencic all fell quickly after. Only Karolina Pliskova was able to live up to expectations, surviving some early challenges to make her eighth final in eighteen months. The big surprise though was the performance of Lucie Hradecka, mostly known as a doubles star, but after stunning Ana Ivanovic in Melbourne, really making a name for herself on the singles circuit too. She ousted former stars like Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Klara Koukalova on her way to the final, and even took the opening set off Pliskova in the championship match. She did lose eventually, but may have given herself the confidence she needs to really break out in the solo game this year.

There were surprises too in Marrakech where top seed Garbiñe Muguruza and red-hot Timea Bacsinszky both lost earlier than they would have liked. Instead a different Timea -- Hungary's Babos, who made a stellar run to a title in Monterrey more than three year ago -- took out Mona Barthel, Flavia Pennetta and giant-killer Kristina Mladenovic, marking the first time all year she'd won more than one main draw match at a single event. She would ultimately face off against fourth seed Elina Svitolina -- the former French Open Girls' champion has been slogging through the WTA Tour, picking up a couple titles in Baku and even taking a set off Serena Williams Down Under. Babos put up a fight against the heavy favorite, too, dropping the first set in a squeaker and pushing the Ukranian to a tiebreak for the second. It may not have been the result she wanted, but after years spent languishing in the rankings, it might finally be the push she needs to make a real move into the elite.

Not all of this weekend's finalists will come out as winners, of course, but for the underdogs, especially, who were able to deliver a couple big blows to their opponents all week long, they might have just put themselves on the road to bigger and better things the rest of the season. And maybe sometime soon they'll be the ones handing out the knock out punches.

Up and at 'Em!

You may relish what seems like a short break after the Australian Open, but there's really no time to relax for the players, is there? And especially for those who didn't make it quite as far as they would have liked in Melbourne, this first week of action is a huge opportunity to redeem themselves. So it's no surprise so many got right back to work even after all the excitement we saw Down Under.

A slew of clay court specialists made their way to the inaugural Ecuador Open in Quito with Feliciano Lopez, who slunk his way through the early rounds at the Aussie, taking the top seed. But a couple others didn't have quite as much luck as the Spaniard the last few weeks and will want to rebound -- Martin Klizan fell one match short of his mini-Cinderella run from last year and retired in the fourth set of his second round. He'll open today against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, a man who's coming off a Challenger's title in Colombia. The Slovakian lost the pair's only previous meeting, but they've never faced off at the ATP level so things could be much different this time. And last year's young standout Dusan Lajovic came so close to a first round win in Melbourne this year but ultimately lost to one-time giant-killer Sergiy Stakhovsky in their three and a half hour match. The Serb opened his South American campaign with a win over little-known Italian Luca Vanni and gets a slight pass next facing qualifier Nicolas Jarry, #219 in the world. While his road will certainly get tougher after that, the twenty-four year old might just seize the chance to make a deep run here.

The field is a little more stacked over in Zagreb where so far Andreas Seppi has successfully followed up with his monster Melbourne upset, surviving a squeaker versus Robin Haase in his opener, and comeback kid Viktor Troicki, who fell short of my expectations for him in Australia, toughed out a challenge from qualifier Illya Marchenko in his first round. But perhaps a bit more interesting will be the fortunes of former world #8 Mikhail Youzhny, who didn't put up much of a fight at all against Rafael Nadal Down Under. But he's finally won his first two matches of the year this week, earlier today trouncing Stakhovsky in straight sets to make the quarters. And Marcos Baghdatis, who proved he's not out of the mix yet, getting to the final in Happy Valley and stunning David Goffin at the Open, took Grigor Dimitrov to five sets in their third round. He'll face off against one of my Aussie dark horses, Ivo Karlovic, this afternoon and if he can manage an upset over the top seed, there's no reason he can't go even farther.

The stars are shining even brighter in Montpellier where homegrown Gael Monfils, a shocker last year both in the Davis Cup final and the U.S. Open quarters, is looking to redeem himself from a second-round exit in Melbourne at the hands of Jerzy Janowicz. The Pole on the other hand, who lost immediately after beating the Frenchman, survived six match points in his opener this week, just eking out the win over a talented Dustin Brown. The fifth seed at the Open Sud sets up a meeting against another man looking for resurrection, Benoit Paire, but if he can pass the test he might be back on the right track. But the most intriguing match might just be a battle between the generations. Two-time Major semifinalist Richard Gasquet got two easy wins in Australia before receiving a similar drubbing from big-serving Kevin Anderson in the first round, while twenty-year-old Lucas Pouille lost a squeaker to Monfils in his opener. Still looking to crack the top hundred, he is the clear underdog, but if he puts up a fight we could see more than a few sparks fly here.

All of these guys got a pretty early wake up call at the Australian Open, and it didn't take them long to get right back to work. Hopefully a quick turnaround will keep them wide awake for the rest of the year -- after all, it's still so early in the season that anything can happen.

Net Non-Neutrality

Historically the Swiss have not taken sides in most world conflicts. But this year on the tennis courts the entire country was out to make a statement -- not only do they have some of the best individual soldiers in the world, but their whole team is capable of winning the war.

It had been a while since Switzerland and France have had a ton of success at Davis Cup -- though the latter got to the final in 2010, they haven't come away with the trophy since 2001. And the former, who've largely been left out of the World Group enitrely, had only made the last round once, losing pretty handily to the U.S. way back in 1992. But with two players in the top five, the long-time also-ran finally breaking through on the big stage, and the even-longer time Head of State storming back to the top of the game, the Swiss came to this weekend's championship tie on a mission.

In what started out as a predictably close showdown, Stan Wawrinka opened against an always-tough Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a man whose career has been remarkably similar to his own. The Australian Open champ slightly lagged in their head-to-head, but was just coming off his second semifinal run in London, reclaiming the momentum he'd had to start the year. For the first time in the pair's head-to-head, a decider wasn't needed to determine the winner -- Wawrinka lost serve just once in the two-and-a-half, four-set match and gave his country the early lead.

But in a rematch of one of the most exciting matches of the year, France's Gael Monfils was able to pull his homeland even -- against Roger Federer, taking the court again after pulling out of the year-end final a week ago, this time he didn't let a two-set lead slide from his grasp. The world #19 scored just his third win over the great Fed in a surprisingly quick, decidedly one-sided second rubber, giving the French a lot of hope going into the weekend.

Unfortunately for them, though, the Swiss turned the tables back in their favor on Saturday and never looked back. The 2008 Olympic Gold Medal team of Federer and Wawrinka subbed in for the doubles rubber against Richard Gasquet and London semifinalist Julien Benneteau and chugged through a tight three sets to retake the lead. Roger took the court again on Sunday, seemingly no longer affected at all by his back problems, and this time demolished Gasquet and clinched the win for the Swiss, putting their names in one of the only record books they hadn't occupied before.

For the stars on the Swiss team -- who delivered not just this weekend, but at ties all year long -- it was a historic victory that appropriately capped off an amazing season for not just individual players, but for each of then together. And with their momentum going so strong for so long, you can bet they'll be back in the new year, firing on all cylinders again.

Davis Cup Final Preview: Tensions Running High

A lot has been said about the little spat between Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka after their semifinal battle in London last weekend. But even as both players have put to rest rumors of any hard feelings that may have existed, there's plenty of pressure on everyone as we head into this weekend's Davis Cup championship tie. The Swiss are going for their first ever trophy while the homecourt-advantage French are looking for title #10, but their first since 2001. And we'll be treated to some banner match-ups from the start.

Wawrinka opens play Friday against former world #5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who declined an alternate spot to the World Tour Finals to focus on exactly this match. The Frenchman has a slight edge in their head-to-head, but every one of the pair's five meetings have gone the distance, including their two Roland Garros encounters which combined for ten sets, three tiebreaks and more than eight hours of play. Tsonga's been a little quiet since the U.S. Open and Wawrinka did somewhat redeem his late-season slump at the O2, but with these guys' history, I'd expect this to a be a battle too.

But the rubber everyone will be watching Friday will certainly be the rematch between Roger and Gael Monfils. Federer, you're remember, narrowly eked out a win over the big-time showman in New York, coming back from two sets and a break down in the quarterfinals before powering through for the win. LeMonf has only played a couple events since then, but he has conquered threats like Jerzy Janowicz and John Isner, so seems more than match ready. And Roger, despite a run to the final at the year-end championships, is still contending with the back injury that forced him out of the title match in London. It took a couple days before he was able to get back on court and, if he's not a hundred percent, Monfils is more than capable of exploiting any weakness.

Of course everything could get wrapped up by Saturday in the doubles rubber. Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet, both accomplished on the singles circuit themselves, will take on the much lesser-known Swiss team of Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer. But something tells me the matches on Day Two will both be crucial to this weekend's outcome. In the early rubber we'll get a rematch of the Toronto final in which Tsonga stunned Fed after already beating not one, not two, but three top ten players in a row. The pair have put on some classic displays in the past, and the Frenchman has walked away the winner on a couple big stages. He might still trail Roger in their overall history, but expect him to step up to the plate again when so much is on the line.

And the potential final rubber between Wawrinka and Monfils could be just as exciting. The two don't have a long history -- they've met every couple years, but not since 2011 and have split their four previous meetings. The Swiss might be the on-paper favorite in this one, but again he's notched some surprising losses in the final weeks of the regular season -- to Mikhael Kukushkin in Basel, Tatsumo Ito in Tokyo -- and could find himself a little vulnerable at the hands of his opponent. Gael may not have won a title since very early in the season, but he's got three top-ten wins on his résumé this year and might just be primed to add number four to that list.

The last couple Davis Cup championships have all gone down to the wire, and I wouldn't expect any less this weekend. With history on the line and so much talent on the courts, you know everyone's going to power through any obstacle they face. And whoever comes out the winner will have certainly earned their spoils.

A Sign of the Times

Davis Cup always seems a little strange to me -- so often top stars skip ties due to scheduling conflicts or training needs, leaving lower-ranked players to carry the mantle for their countries, or nations with just a few athletes in the elite ranks can't fill out the rest of their roster to guarantee reliable rubber wins. But more recently the tide has shifted to recognize both the strongest players and their homelands -- either Spain or Serbia, who've claimed the year-end #1 ranking in five of the last six seasons, has made the Davis Cup final every year since 2008. And while the Czechs beat them out the last two times, it was with a team led by top ten players like Tomas Berdych and doubles specialist Radek Stepanek.

And this year, maybe more than others in recent memory, the highest-flying players of the season have successfully shown they come from places where it's not just about one star player, but a deep cadre of top-notch talent.

The French had actually been flying a bit under the radar in 2014, picking up just two titles on the year. But they've really stepped up their game in recent months -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made his return to the top ten with a title in Toronto, while Gael Monfils, who picked up his first trophy in three years in February, very nearly defeated Roger Federer in New York, what would have been the biggest win of his career. And against the two-time defending Czech champions, even recently struggling Richard Gasquet, who couldn't defend semifinal points from his 2013 U.S. Open run, stepped up to the plate. The 2010 runners-up got off to an early lead and clinched the win with a doubles victory Saturday, adding some fresh blood to the finals -- but the real test is still to come.

The Swiss may have been playing in their first Davis Cup semifinal since 2003, but with a couple of individually dominant players leading the way, it's a little surprising it took so long to get there. Roger Federer picked up his twenty-second Masters crown in Cincinnati last month and fell just short of his eighteenth Major at Wimbledon earlier in the summer. And compatriot Stan Wawrinka stormed onto the scene with his first Slam in Melbourne, climbing to a career high #3 in the world after his win. While both fell short of expectations in New York, they rallied big time to create an early 2-0 lead over a strong Italian team this weekend and, though Wawrinka fell just short of securing the tie in a nearly four-hour doubles loss, Federer pulled off an east win over world #17 Fabio Fognini, granting his team entry to its first final since 1992.

From a ranking perspective the Swiss will certainly be at an advantage in November's tie, but this could be a tougher battle than we expect -- Federer, after all, lost to Tsonga in Canada and nearly, too, to Monfils in Flushing Meadows, while Wawrinka hasn't beaten a top ten player since April. But that's just the kind of drama we've come to expect on the tennis courts this year -- the world's best players being pushed to the limit from every angle imaginable. And whoever eventually goes home with this year's Davis Cup trophy will have cemented themselves -- and their entire team -- as the true force in this sport for the season.

Homecourt Disadvantage

It's a little surprising, given how successful Canadians have been on the tennis courts this year, that when they get to the biggest tournaments played in their own homeland, where presumably the crowd support would give them a nice boost, so many are having troubles.

Not everyone has fallen, of course, but even DC champion Milos Raonic had to fight back in Toronto after losing the first set to Jack Sock last night, and needed two tiebreaks to ultimately advance. He next faces Julien Benneteau, a thirty-two year old veteran who is still looking for that first career title, and while he has won two of the pair's three meetings, the fight for the quarterfinals could be quite a battle. The Frenchman dropped just three games against Newport champ Lleyton Hewitt in his opener and then took out eleventh seed Ernests Gulbis in straight sets. If he catches Raonic off guard, he might just pull off another upset.

Meanwhile Citi Open runner-up Vasek Pospisil, whose campaign there pushed him up nine ranking spots to #27 in the world, fell a bit short of last year's semifinal showing at the Rogers Cup. He drew a rematch of his DC semifinal in his opener, and this time fell to Richard Gasquet in straight sets. And the twelfth seed in Toronto kept that momentum with him -- after dropping his first set to Ivo Karlovic yesterday, he didn't allow another break opportunity and finally took out the big-serving Croat in about two hours. He faces Andy Murray next, certainly a big ask, but the Frenchman has gotten wins over the two-time Grand Slam winner in the past and could have the confidence to get it done again.

But by far the biggest upset for the Canadians this week was the opening round exit of 2014 standout Genie Bouchard. Fresh off a second-place finish at Wimbledon, her first Tour-level Grand Slam final, and a climb into single-digit rankings, the twenty-year old suffered a shocking defeat in her Montreal opener, dropping two bagel sets to qualifier Shelby Rogers on Tuesday night. The young American who's only won a handful of ITF titles during her career, stormed onto the scene last month, beating Carla Suarez Navarro and Sara Errani on her way to the Bad Gastein final. Last week she beat third seeded Alize Cornet in DC and, still ranked outside the top hundred, ousted Nanchang champ Shaui Peng to qualify for this event. Her win over Bouchard is her biggest victory to date, and while she'll certainly be tested by former world #1 Caroline Wozniacki in today's third round, there's no reason she can't add one more upset to her r&eacture;sumé.

Sure, it's a little disappointing to see the Canadians struggle this week, even as their stars shine bright on the broader tennis stage. Of course I don't think their performances signal an end to their rise, but those left standing at the Rogers Cup have a huge opportunity to capitalize now. After all, with wins over players who've really come to the forefront of the sport in recent weeks and months, they've shown they've got what it takes to keep on going.

And with just a few weeks left before the U.S. Open, there's no better time to do it.

On the Upswing

Tennis is a sport of ups and downs, one in which players can peak and fall quicker than cresting tides. But it's often how players bounce back from their stretches in the doldrums that can define their careers, and this weekend's champions proved they have what it takes to keep themselves at the top of the game for some time to come.

Fabio Fognini hadn't exactly fallen off the radar -- the third seed in Viña Del Mar came to the tournament at his then-highest ranking of #15 in the world. But since claiming his first two career titles last summer, he's gone a little radio silent since -- he retired from his opening round in Chennai and was drubbed by Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. Back on the Chilean clay, though, he seemed to find his footing. He stayed tough against always tricky Jeremy Chardy and withstood a comeback from dirt-specialist Nicolas Almagro, playing his first match since October, in the semis. Meanwhile Leonardo Mayer, barely ranked in the top hundred at the time, survived a tight second round against Tommy Robredo and came back again against Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the quarters to make his first career final. But Fognini was too strong in the end, dropping just four points on his first serve and breaking his opponent three times in thirteen chances. In under ninety minutes the Italian had claimed the title, establishing himself as a real threat once the clay season gets in full swing. Whether he has what it takes to unseat the greats is yet to be seen, but he sure has shown he can put up a fight.

The comeback in Zagreb was a little more obvious -- former top-ten player Marin Cilic had fallen deep into double digits after an anti-doping violation last year forced him into a six-month hiatus, and though he put up quite a fight in Melbourne, he hadn't scored any notable wins since his return. The three-time champion in Croatia was granted just a fifth seed in his homeland, and with second seeded Mikhail Youzhny dropping his opener he only faced one opponent ranked inside the top hundred on his road to the final. In the draw's top half, not-to-be-forgotten Tommy Haas, still skirting the top ten even though he's in his mid-thirties, came back twice against both Benjamin Becker and Daniel Evans to reach the championship match. The top seed, who'd come out the winner in the pair's long Wimbledon slug-fest five years ago, might have been spent by the time he got to Sunday's final, though -- the strong-serving Croat fired off ten aces to Tommy's two and capitalized on any opportunity he could on the German's parlay. Cilic was able to close out the match in straight sets, adding trophy #10 to his mantle, but maybe more importantly proving he was back with quite a vengeance.

Over in Montpellier Gael Monfils' return to the podium marked the end of an even longer drought. The 2010 champion at the Open Sud de France -- back when the even was held in the fall -- skipped much of the 2012 season with injury and made spotty returns to the fray last year. Though he won a Challenger event in wine country and made the final in Nice, he couldn't quite seal the deal -- and earlier this year in Doha he failed to keep his Qatar record against Rafael Nadal spotless. He did get things back on track this past week though -- as the fifty seed he survived a couple scares on his way to the final where he met countryman Richard Gasquet on Sunday. But the top seed had just eked out a win over big-serving Jerzy Janowicz and couldn't keep up in the championship match. Here too Monfils out-aced his opponent, lost just two points on first serve and allowed not a single break point. In another quick, straight-set, sub-ninety minute match, the underdog again came out on top, claiming his first crown in over two years.

Whether these guys can continue their momentum remains to be seen, of course, but each faced and overcame some big challenges over the last week -- and maybe over a much longer time frame than that. And if they can keep their confidence high, I wouldn't be surprised to see them claim even bigger prizes -- and scalps -- in the months to come. After all, there's still no telling when their tide might start to ebb, so they'd better strike while they've got the best opportunity.

Infographic: Men's Semifinalists By-the-Numbers

Novak Djokovic

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Rafael Nadal

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Richard Gasquet

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Stanislas Wawrinka