Golden Opportunities

Well now we're really getting down to it -- one week of Wimbledon in the books and one more to go, and as expected we've had some standout play. But as we start to get really serious in the second week, maybe it's time to reassess where we stand -- after all plenty of favorites are out of the mix and a couple of surprise standouts have really got a chance to do something big.

A breakthrough moment for 🇭🇺 Marton Fucsovics 👏

He scores a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 win over No. 9 seed Schwartzman to make his first Week 2 appearance at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/kxDal2pR9m

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 2, 2021

The Men

Sure most of the favorites on the men's side are alive and well -- after dropping his first set to wildcard teen Jack Draper, defending champion Novak Djokovic has been unstoppable, Roger Federer rebounded from a pretty ugly opening round and has sailed through his next two, even Daniil Medvedev, who's never made it out of the third round here, came back from two sets down to former finalist Marin Cilic yesterday to reach the final 16. But there have been other standouts.

Seeded 14^th, Hubert Hurkacz has basically done what he's supposed to so far, but for a Miami champ who'd only won one match since that breakthrough performance, it's been a good reminder of what he's capable of. The 24-year-old Pole got to his first Major fourth round with surprisingly straightforward wins over teen phenom Lorenzo Musetti, resurging Marcos Giron, and underrated Alexander Bublik, becoming the only man who hasn't lost a set yet. That may change against second seed Medvedev tomorrow, but as stated the favorite was pushed to the limit in his third round and could be vulnerable now.

And Sebastian Korda, who was ranked outside the top two-hundred at this time last year, has so far been unintimidated by the grand stage of his first Wimbledon. After a four set win over Eastbourne champ Alex de Minaur, he went on to beat hometown favorite Dan Evans in the third round. And he's got a huge opportunity to make his first Major quarterfinal -- 25^th seed Karen Khachanov has been a little quiet lately, and thanks to a stunning win by Frances Tiafoe in the first round here, hasn't been an underdog in a match yet. Korda will still be the underdog tomorrow -- on his 21^st birthday no less -- at least on paper, but something tells me he might be able to get the better of even the more experienced Russian. It sure would be a pretty nice way to celebrate.

Meanwhile Marton Fucsovics has been quietly hacking away at his part of the draw too. A fourth-rounder at two Grand Slams last year -- he took out Denis Shapovalov in Australia and then stunned Daniil Medvedev back when he was winless in Paris -- he's been ranked as high as #31 in the world, but often plays well above that level. He opened his campaign at the All England Club with a big win over wünderkind Jannik Sinner and then dispatched ninth seed Diego Schwartzman in the third round. For a spot in the quarters he'll face Andrey Rublev, certainly a hard ask, but he has won the pair's only previous five-setter, though that was four years ago. Still the Hungarian has a strong game, and I wouldn't be surprised to see his run continue.

But the real surprise has been Ilya Ivashka who, at 27, is one of the oldest first-time main drawers in the field. The Belorussian comes to Wimbledon at a career high ranking of just 79^th in the world, thanks to a run to the quarters in Eastbourne, but he also has a win over Alexander Zverev and took a set off Rafael Nadal in Barcelona this year. He's had a pretty clear path so far, with his second round opponent having taken out Aslan Karatsev and his third having dismissed Casper Ruud for him, but that still got him what's already been his best Major performance by far. He'll next face Matteo Berrettini, whose run this year has honestly been so refreshing and will certainly be no easy challenge. Still, if there were ever a year for the late bloomer to shine, it might be this one.

The Women

The ladies' side has seen a similar dichotomy. Former Major champions Ashleigh Barty, Angelique Kerber, Iga Swiatek, and even the most newly-crowned Barbora Krejcikova, playing her first singles main draw here, advancing without too much drama. And much-lauded upstarts like Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur, Elena Rybakina, and Paula Badosa have all shown their recent successes were no fluke. But some others are making a run here and have a shot at really redefining their careers.

It may seem weird to start that conversation with a look at second seed Aryna Sabalenka, but when you realize the world #4 and ten-time WTA title holder has never made it out of the fourth round of a Major, you might see what I mean. After her stellar run on clay, I gave her a pretty good shot at taking the French Open title, but she fell in the third round. She also lost her opener in Berlin and was stunned by world #75 Camila Giorgi in Eastbourne. She's been decently strong so far, coming back from a set down to British wildcard Katie Boulter before taking out teen breakthrough Maria Camilia Osorio Serrano in her Wimbledon debut. Next up for Sabalenka is Rybakina, who's turning her year around in a big way. The favorite may have won both their previous matches, most recently in the Abu Dhabi quarters, but we'll see if she can steel her nerves enough to finally break her curse.

Meanwhile wildcard Liudmila Samsonova is quickly proving her Cinderella run in Berlin was legit. Ranked in triple digits just last month, her wins over five top-fifty players, including Victoria Azarenka and Belinda Bencic told everyone she's a force, and her wins this week over Sloane Stephens and seeded Jessica Pegula really drove it home. She'll face off Monday against eighth seed Karolina Pliskova, who's been admittedly strong in her first week of play here. Samsonova may be the underdog in this fight, but I have to say, it's as good a shot as any she might have to reach her maiden Major quarter.

Also with a shot at reaching a milestone is relative veteran Viktorija Golubic, who's been quietly having a pretty solid year. A finalist at two straight tournaments during the spring and a winner over Belinda Bencic in Eastbourne, she'd cut her ranking in half already this year and is primed to go even higher. After a marathon first round against Veronika Kudermetova which went 11-9 in the third, she had a surprisingly easy time against Danielle Collins one match later and dropped just three games to Madison Brengle on Friday. She's up against Madison Keys next, certainly a bigger threat and one who scored a big upset of her own against Elise Mertens. Still it's a winnable match for the Swiss and could really open things up for her.

Of course, the big surprise in the ladies draw comes in the top quarter of the draw. Veteran Ajla Tomljanovic, who's struggled with consistency over the years -- she beat Aga Radwanska at the French in 2014 then lost in eight straight first rounds that year, she broke the top 40 in 2019 but was 5-12 last year -- seems to have found her footing in London again. She held tough against Alizée Cornet, who'd scored a huge win over Bianca Andreescu in her opener, and came back against Eastbourne champ Jelena Ostapenko, someone I thought had the potential to go far. She'll face off against this event's clear Cinderella, British wildcard Emma Raducanu, an eighteen year old junior quarterfinalist here a few year's ago who's picked up a couple ITF trophies over her very short career. Her run in her Major debut, though, might suggest there's more to come -- she beat former French finalist Marketa Vondrousova and stunned an in-form Sorana Cirstea on Saturday. This match-up presents a huge opportunity for both women, neither of whom have even had a whiff of a quarterfinal before. Going forward, it'll only get harder of course -- the winner will meet one of the recent French Open champions -- but what a chance to put one of their names on the map.

A Strong Opening Statement

Well the first tournaments of 2021 are officially in the books, and we sure were treated to some striking performances as we get ready for the Australian Open. From the Middle East to Florida, we saw a slew of stars kick off the year on a positive note, and it wasn't just those who walked away with the trophies that made the strongest statements.

Christian Harrison:

✅ Defeats Gianluca Mager in quarterfinal
✅ Reaches first career ATP semifinal
✅ 7-0 at #DBOpen (qualies, singles, and doubles) pic.twitter.com/5qVN5iLxP9

— Delray Beach Open (@DelrayBeachOpen) January 11, 2021

That's not to take anything away from Aryna Sabalenka, who won her third straight tournament in Abu Dhabi. The often-streaky star has been on point for months, and made her way through a tough draw in the desert, with wins over Maria Sakkari -- who'd ousted top seed Sofia Kenin -- and 2020 standouts Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur on her way to the final. She was the clear favorite over Veronika Kudermetova, who stunned Elina Svitolina on the way to her first title match, and she didn't disappoint.

But young Marta Kostyuk also made a bit of a statement during the week. Barely ranked in double digits, the eighteen-year-old has spent most of her time on the ITF circuit, but she made the third round at the U.S. Open last year with wins over Daria Kasatkina and a seeded Anastasija Sevastova. She had her path cleared for her a bit in Abu Dhabi, with others taking care of threats like Jennifer Brady and Karolina Pliskova for her. But she held her ground well and if she keeps it up could be primed for more success to come.

Meanwhile in Antalya, Turkey, which for the past few years was held in the summer on grass just ahead of Wimbledon, we got to see a slew of Next Gen players take the hardcourts for a chance to wrack up some hardware before heading to Melbourne. But it wasn't top seeded Matteo Berrettini or former world #7 David Goffin making the headlines -- though the latter, at least, did make the semis, notching his first match wins since the U.S. Open. Instead the final saw his vanquisher, twenty-year-old Alex de Minaur, score a win over Alexander Bublik, winning the fourth title of his career and reminding us why he's the top ranked Australian on tour.

It's worth keeping an eye on Bublik this year too, though. While he injured his ankle in his semifinal match and had to retire after the first two games of the championship, he's the kind of guy who knows how to get under the top players' skin -- and not just because of his controversial serve style. Last year he pulled off wins over Denis Shapovalov and Gael Monfils and he was the one who ousted Berrettini in the quarters. He hasn't won a title yet, but if he'd been healthy I wouldn't have put an upset past him this time around.

Perhaps the biggest surprises, though, happened in Delray Beach. Not that we shouldn't have expected Poland's Hubert Hurkacz to find the success he did -- the fourth seed scored wins over Andrey Rublev and Dominic Thiem last year -- but he had to fight through a couple of true stand-outs to do it. Most obviously in the final against rising star Sebastian Korda, who only cracked the top two hundred after a Cinderella run at Roland Garros last fall. He notched wins over fifth seed Tommy Paul and former top-tenner John Isner -- his second straight victory over the big man -- to make his first tour final. While he ran out of steam in Wednesday's match, he continues to be one high on the radar.

And then, of course, is the true wonder of the week -- Christian Harrison, the 26-year-old ranked #789 in the world who'd only won two tour-level main draw matches in his entire caree before this trip to Florida. After eight surgeries from 2009 to 2018, though he finally seemed to get his footing, powering through qualifying rounds and stunning top-seeded Cristian Garin early in his campaign. He put up a fight versus Hurkacz in the semis, though, and even teamed with his brother Ryan to make the doubles final. And while this one result should give him a nice boost back up the rankings, the real takeaway is the feel-good story he's left in our cores.

Of course these were only the opening salvos of the 2021 tennis season, and it will be a few weeks before play picks back up in Australia. But it certainly seems like we've gotten off to a good start. And hopefully there's a lot more of what we've seen still to come.

The 2020 Tennis Spin Awards: Ones to Watch

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

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

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

So let's get to them!

---

The Women

The Winner: Leylah Fernandez

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— leylahfernandez (@leylahfernandez) February 29, 2020

Honorable Mentions:

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

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

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

---

The Men

The Winner: Thiago Seyboth Wild

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

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

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

No words pic.twitter.com/zT66z64BvT

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

Honorable Mentions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

One Round Down

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

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

— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) September 28, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

But then there are the stories no one saw coming.

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

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

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