A Curse on the Big Courts

It's been two years since we last saw play at Wimbledon, and it seems like the goblins that lurk in the shadows of Wimbledon took it upon themselves to dole out punishments for that absense. In the first 48 hours of this year's event, we've already seen plenty of favorites get quite literally tripped up on the grass, some squeaking by the seat of their pants, and others not so lucky at all.

We're heartbroken for you, Serena.

Our seven-time singles champion is forced to retire from The Championships 2021 through injury#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/vpcW1UN78s

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2021

The big shocker, of course, came late today when seven-time champion Serena Williams was forced to retire in the seventh game of her first round match. She was playing well to start, but on a Centre Court that had already caused more slips and slides than we'd ever seen, she seemed to twist her knee while up an early break and never recovered. Though she returned from a medical time out, she was in tears trying to serve out her game and could barely move to the ball when returning. Within minutes she was at the net, ceding the win to world #100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Serena's exit means more than just another seed out of the Championships. While she may have only be seeded sixth, she was widely considered a favorite for the title. She had, after all, made at least the final here on her last four appearances, and with 98 match wins here, more than any woman other than Martina Navratilova, it seems clear she would add at least a little bit to her total. But instead she notched only her second first round loss at a Major and her first Slam retirement since 1998. And, of course, her four year pursuit of that record 24^th Big Title will continue at least a few more months. Did she just lose her best chance to get it? Well, it's probably too soon to say that, but you know chances are getting ever more remote these days.

As are the chances of Roger Federer, who survived his own set of trolls one match earlier on Centre Court. The eight-time champion was not playing his best against Adrian Mannarino in his opening round, getting out-served in the second and third set and finding himself in a deep hole early. But the Frenchman, who had only taken one set off the legend in their previous six meetings, also lost his footing deep in the fourth. He watched a couple balls whiz past him before retiring himself after losing the set, allowing Roger to book his ticket for the eighteenth straight time.

But the fact that he was tested suggests it's going to be a long road for the GOAT 🐐 contender to make it back to the final. Like Serena, he had good odds to win this title, but at a month away from 40, the window of opportunity to pick up Major #21 is closing quick. After a career where he saw thankfully few injuries for so long, he took more than a year off after losing in Australia in 2020 and hasn't been quite the force he traditionally was since his return. Hopefully, though, he'll be able to shake off the demons that plagued him in round one and make use of the opportunity that was given him.

Of course, for every favorite that was challenged, we have an underdog who got an opportunity. One-time U.S. Open champ Sloane Stephens, who's been mounting a nice comeback this summer, stunned two-time titleholder Petra Kvitova in straight sets on Monday. Andy Murray, playing at his first Wimbledon since 2017, shook off a seven-game losing streak in the third set to get the win over 24^th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili. And Frances Tiafoe dealt a massive blow to French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, his first win over a top five player ever.

But there's a lot of play left to go at Wimbledon, and there's no telling who the gremlins will go after next. But hopefully they've got the worst out of their system, and we'll be in store for only good surprises from now on.

Dropping Like Flies

It's been a dramatic start to the French Open this year, both on and off the court, and day after day it's seems we're hit with one more exit we weren't expecting. And whether it's because of physical or mental form, that's left some gaping holes in the women's draw.

Of course the big news was the withdrawal of Naomi Osaka on Monday -- after the bold decision not to participate in press conferences at the event, she pulled out of Roland Garros and said she was taking a break from competition entirely. The move brought into focus the mental health of athletes in a way that hasn't been done before, and whether or not you agree with the way everything was handled, here's hoping she comes back stronger and fitter in more ways than one.

But it wasn't just Osaka's early departure that rocked the brackets. Petra Kvitova, who ironically injured her ankle on the way to her own first round press conference, had to withdraw on Tuesday, and earlier today top seed Ashleigh Barty, one of two defending champs on the ladies' side, stopped her match short due to a nagging hip problem. Combine that with Simona Halep's pre-tournament bow out and losses by Bianca Andreescu, Karolina Pliskova, Belinda Bencic, and Garbiñe Muguruza and more than half of the WTA's top thirteen are missing from Round 3.

Feel better, Champ.

Just hours into play on Day 5 and there is plenty to catch up on. Get the latest on Barty's retirement and other action around the grounds.👇 #RolandGarros

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2021

So the question then becomes, of course, who benefits most from all this? The obvious answers are last year's French finalists, Iga Swiatek and Sofia Kenin, the latter of whom was desperately looking to turn around her year and has done so so far, with wins over 2017 champ Jelena Ostapenko and qualifier Hailey Baptiste. She'll face a challenge from fellow American Jessica Pegula in her third round, though, so any potential comeback could be stopped short soon.

But there are others, too.

Barty's exit makes Elina Svitolina the highest ranked player left in her quarter, and with an easy win over a talented Ann Li today, she's playing at a level that could help her go far. She will face a challenge in her next match though, as Strasbourg champ Barbora Krejcikova is now riding a seven match win streak she'll be loathe to give up. And Coco Gauff, who just reprised her Parma final win over Qiang Wang today, might be breathing easier now that she won't face Barty in the fourth round. She still has to get past Aussie runner-up Jen Brady, who beat her last year in Lexington, but on this surface I'm giving the teen the edge.

A little more under the radar is Sloane Stephens, the 2018 runner-up in Paris, who lost her first four matches to kick off the season. She seems to have gotten her footing back on clay, though, reaching the quarters in Charleston and the semis in Parma. In her early days here, she won an emotional first round against a retiring Carla Suarrez Navarro and earlier today pulled off that big upset over Karolina Pliskova. While Melbourne standout Karolina Muchova will be a much tougher challenge in the next round, despite the fact that she's still ranked lower than the former world #1, I'm encouraged by Stephens' return to form and wouldn't be too surprised by an upset.

In the bottom half of the draw, where things were wide open from the start -- Osaka, after all, may have been seeded second, but she had never gotten past the third round in Paris -- we have some more potential beneficiaries. One surprising one may be Elena Vesnina, who here won her first singles match since giving birth in 2018, dropping just one game in her first round. She was scheduled to face Kvitova yesterday, but instead will meet a struggling Elena Rybakina in the third round tomorrow, a wholly winnable match that could get her to her first ever fourth round at the French.

Less of a long shot to go far, though, is Paula Badosa, the barely-seeded but red-hot Spaniard who's made at least the semis of every clay event she's played this year. She's one of just two seeds left in her quarter -- 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova likely looms in the fourth round -- and while there are some big hitters still left -- Istanbul champ Sorana Cirstea, Serena's Parma vanquisher Katerina Siniakova, to name a few -- you have to like her chances to get at least to the semis.

And of course there's Aryna Sabalenka, trying to get past the fourth round at a Major for the inexplicably first time in her career. A final in Stuttgart and a title in Madrid have given her a solid foundation for this clay season. And while she's got potential match-ups against Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams in her future, it seems she is well on course to break the seal and make it to the next level.

So with two rounds in the books, there's certainly a lot of opportunity to make a big statement, and with the stakes so high, you know everyone's eager for it to be them. All that remains to be seen is who is willing and able to step up to the plate.

The Weeks That Were

With the Miami Open now officially cancelled, the ATP suspending play for six weeks, and the entire spring tennis season completely up in the air, everyone's got a lot of questions.

Currently looking for something to do for the next few months 😳

— CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) March 12, 2020

Of course this outbreak affects so many more people outside the tennis world, and in much more dire ways than a schedule thrown out of whack. And the response we're seeing, from the shutdown of Disneyland to the entire country of Italy going on lockdown, shows just how far-reaching an impact the coronavirus is having. But I'm not going to start expounding on the health, political, or economic ramifications of what's going on -- I get to do enough of that in my day job -- and since I can't write about the on court action at Indian Wells and Miami, I instead am going to take a look back at some of the champs we've seen at these events over the last few years and where they are now.

As you know, I've been a little out of the loop -- and fittingly got back in the mix just in time for the whole thing to shut down (#sarcasm) -- so some of these results were a surprise to me. And in hindsight they took on a deeper meaning than they might have at the time. I mean, check out the list of players who've been crowned recently:

	Indian Wells		Miami
Year	Men's Champ	Women's Champ	Men's Champ	Women's Champ
2016	Novak Djokovic	Victoria Azarenka	Novak Djokovic	Victoria Azarenka
2017	Roger Federer	Elena Vesnina	Roger Federer	Johanna Konta
2018	Juan Martin Del Potro	Naomi Osaka	John Isner	Sloane Stephens
2019	Dominic Thiem	Bianca Andreescu	Roger Federer	Ashleigh Barty

I was frankly shocked to realize it's been four years since Nole won at either of these events. It wasn't long ago that he'd been dominating them -- he'd swept the Sunshine Swing, historically difficult given the huge difference in climes between the California desert and the Florida tropics, first in 2011, and then from 2014-16. And given how much of a force he's been at the Majors and other Masters -- he's won a combined twelve since that last one in Miami -- it seems insane that he hasn't repeated. On the other hand Vika, who'd been similarly strong during this stretch, hasn't won a single singles title since then. Of course, she's had a baby, a grueling custody battle, and injuries that have kept her off court more than any of us would like. But seeing her name on the list certainly brought back memories. And it was great to see Fed not only doubled up in 2017 -- which came as he was reactivating his Grand Slam streak -- but took home his 28^th Masters in Miami just last year.

But it was some of the other names that caught my attention.

Elena Vesnina?! The Russian doubles star had a baby last year, so has been out of contention recently, but that 2017 trophy in Indian Wells was by far her biggest singles win. It came not long after her Major breakthrough -- after never really having any success on her own at the Slams, she somehow made her way to the semis at Wimbledon in 2016. The title in California, which came with wins over Angelique Kerber, Venus Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova, did a lot to prove that showing was no fluke.

And then of course, there's John Isner, who, as you know, has long confounded me. That performance in Miami earned him what's so far his only Masters title, and set him up for the unlikeliest of runs to the Wimbledon semis in 2018 -- I remember watching that 6:30 hour match against Kevin Anderson and thinking, "There's no way John Isner is going to make a Grand Slam final, is there?!" Well, he didn't, and he's never made it to another Major final four -- before or since. He has admittedly had some other decent showings, though, at least getting back to the Miami final last year. But as we've seen, it's been a struggle for him since.

It's been rough going for Juan Martin Del Potro too, but for different reasons. The one-time U.S. Open champion has been plagued by one injury after another and is currently recovering from a knee surgery that kept him out of the most recent Australian Open. But I was encouraged to be reminded that it wasn't so long ago that he was at the top of his game, and it gives me hope that he could be once more.

The wins by Sloane Stephens and Johanna Konta also came at interesting points in their careers. Stephens had just won the U.S. Open title a few months earlier but then went winless for months. Then after winning in Miami, she struggled on clay and then somehow reached the French Open final. More recently she's again in a funk, managing only one win this year, over a player barely ranked inside the top 500. Konta similarly hasn't won a title since her Miami run, but she's arguably been a little more consistent, reaching a Major semifinal and two quarters last year. Still for two players who seem to hold a lot of hope for their respective countries, we might have wanted to see a little more hardware to show for their efforts.

And finally are the women whose wins really set the stage for the biggest successes of their careers. Naomi Osaka had never won a title before Indian Wells, Barty had just a couple small trophies under her belt, and Andreescu was ranked #60 in the world ahead of her run. But all three went on to capture Grand Slam gold in a matter of months -- Osaka got two titles. She's struggled a bit this season, though, and Andreescu's been dealing with injury, but all three are young -- oh my God, so young -- and there's no reason to believe they don't have a lot of time left to make more splashes. And when they do they could be big ones.

It's a shame we won't be able to crown another set of winners this year in either Indian Wells or Miami and follow their stories over the years. But one day, hopefully soon, this pandemic will pass, and we'll all be back on the courts again, and there will be plenty of great champions to come. So until then, let's enjoy the memories of what we've had and take comfort in the fact that a whole lot more is still to come.

2015 U.S. Open: Ten to Watch

With just days to go before the start of this year's U.S. Open, we all know that we could be on the verge of making history. Serena Williams has the rare opportunity to complete a calendar year Grand Slam -- an achievement that even she, with all her career accomplishments and honors, has never even had a chance to claim.

But as much as that would mean for the world #1 -- and the sport itself -- there are certainly other story lines to follow in New York. And, more specifically, other players to keep an eye on too. Some have been a little quiet of late and are looking to launch a bit of a comeback, others are hoping to capitalize on a summer during which they were really able to shine.

And while most headlines will likely focus on just a couple of favorites, any one of these guys could make a splash of their own in Flushing Meadows.

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The Women

Caroline Wozniacki

Last year's Cinderella made a stunning run to her second Major final while ranked just #11 in the world and rode her success to one of the best comebacks of the year. It's not that she's done badly this season -- she was a runner-up in Auckland and Stuttgart and even picked up a title in Kuala Lumpur, which was enough to keep her in the top five on Tour. Still her summer's been a little less than spectacular -- she squandered her top seed in Stanford, fell in her Toronto opener to eventual champion Belinda Bencic, and lost in Cincinnati to Victoria Azarenka for the fourth time this year. This week she hit the courts among a crowded and talented field in New Haven -- a place where she's had a lot of success in the past. She started out strong, though, dropping just two games to Alison Riske in her opener, and if she can at least gather some momentum, she might just be able to keep her success going in Flushing Meadows.

Jelena Jankovic

JJ is another former top-ranked player who knows what it's like to come in second in New York, but her trip to the final came a long seven years ago and she's had more than a little trouble recapturing that glory. While she managed to stay in the top ten for a few years, even finishing 2013 at #8 in the world, it's been a while since she's been a relevant feature at the Majors -- in the last five years she's only made it to the quarterfinals once and she's fallen in the first round five times, twice this year alone. She's also put together long stretches without any kind of title -- after making a surprise run to the Indian Wells crown in 2010, it took more than three years before she picked up a trophy in Bogota, and since then she only scored a 125K championship in Nanchang last month, without facing a player in the top hundred to do it. Still, with all her struggles, the Serb has shown some signs of her old self this season -- she made it back to the final in the California desert and last week scored her first top ten win of the year, taking out Karolina Pliskova in Cincinnati. She did eventually lose in the semifinals, but her performance may have reminded us of the kind of damage she can do on a hard court if she's at her best.

Sloane Stephens

I don't think I was the only one who wrote off the former Australian Open semifinalist a few months ago -- after her stellar start to the 2013 season, she had a hard time following through. Last year she lost four matches to players ranked in the triple digits and with a 2-4 record to start 2015, she saw her own position fall out of the top forty. But she's been getting her game back together more recently, it seems -- in Indian Wells she scored upsets over Angelique Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and even took a set of Serena Williams in the fourth round. She rode her momentum to the quarters in Indian Wells later that month and went on to score upsets over Coco Vandeweghe in Strasbourg, Venus Williams at Roland Garros and Carla Suarez Navarro in Eastbourne. It wasn't until the start the summer hardcourt season, though, that she really hit her stride -- unseeded at the Citi Open in Washington, the American took out both Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Sam Stosur to claim her first Tour title without dropping a set. While she fell early in Toronto, she was able to put up a nice fight against Ana Ivanovic in Cincinnati, and might just have re-established herself as a contender on the big stages again.

Anna Schmiedlova

The young Slovakian will celebrate her twentieth birthday on the same day the women's champion is crowned, and while it might be a tall order to ask that she's still around at the end of the fortnight, it might not be so far out of the question. After all, we've seen two first time Major finalists already this year, so why not add Schmiedlova to the mix. The former French Open Girls' runner-up has already made a couple big statements at the Slams -- last year she picked up a couple ITF titles on clay and went on to stun Venus Williams in Paris. This year she's proven herself on the WTA Tour too -- after reaching the final in Rio, she picked up her maiden trophy on the hard courts of Katowice and, for good measure, added another crown in Bucharest. Ranked just outside the top forty to start the month, she still had to qualify for the main draw in Cincinnati, but she rode an upset of former world #2 Aga Radwanska all the way to the quarters and a #32 ranking. While she hasn't yet made it out of the third round at a Major, I wouldn't be surprised if this was her chance to change that.

Margarita Gasparyan

Don't worry, you're not the only one who's never heard of the twenty-year-old. The little-known Russian has spent most of her time on the ITF Tour and hasn't gotten much action at all against the sport's elite. But she has quietly picked up a trio of titles on that circuit and put together a 37-8 record so far this year, climbing from a sub-two hundred ranking to #71 now. She even managed to qualify for both the French Open and Wimbledon, playing the first two Major main draws of her career. Her big break, though, came this summer when she took to the courts of Baku -- a lower-tier tournament which has nevertheless boasted champions from Elina Svitolina to Vera Zvonareva. She opened with a solid win over one-time Grand Slam runner-up Dominika Cibulkova and then took out Karin Knapp, who was fresh off a solid showing in Bad Gastein. In her WTA-level final debut, she was challenged a bit by also-unknown Patricia Maria Tig, but came out on top to claim her maiden Big Girls' trophy which might give her the confidence she needs in the Big Apple. Gasparyan has a little work left to do to make the main draw, though -- the top seed in qualifying tournament, she rolled through her opening round opponent on Tuesday, but still could face plenty of challenges, including one-time New York darling Melanie Oudin. But maybe this time she's finally primed to get that all important win when it counts.

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The Men

Marin Cilic

It's not often that the defending champion is as far off the radar as this Croat is, but the man who unexpectedly ran off with his maiden Major title twelve months ago has had a hard time keeping the momentum going. Though he did manage to pick up another title at the end of the year in Moscow, he lost all three of his round robin matches at his first year-end championship and was forced to skip the first Grand Slam of this season with injury. Since he returned to action at Indian Wells he's lost in his opening round four times and racked up a barely break-even 18-13 record. There have been some glimpses of what he's capable of, though -- he reached the quarters at Wimbledon and put up a nice fight in a rematch against Kei Nishikori in the Citi Open semis. Still he's got a lot to lose in his return to New York, and if he's not truly back in form he could potentially fall well down the rankings by the time this fortnight is over. But if he can put together even a decent run -- which we know he can -- he might just be able to set the stage for an even bigger rebound down the road.

Nick Kyrgios

I haven't spent a lot of time writing about the scandal that overtook the young Australian -- and kind of the entire sport -- the last few weeks, and while I have absolutely no desire to get into the details here, I can't help but wonder what it will mean for his performance in New York. The twenty-year-old had been putting together a more-than-impressive season through the start of the summer -- he reached the quarters at his homeland's Major and reached his first career final in Estoril. More impressively, though, he took out 2014 semifinalist Milos Raonic at Wimbledon and two-time champion Roger Federer in Madrid. His early successes got him all the way to a career high #25 ranking in early June, but he's taken a bit of a tumble since then. After grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons in Montreal, he lost his next match in straight sets to John Isner, and a week later in Cincy, he only managed to take three games off Richard Gasquet in his opening round. He's now fallen out of seeding territory for the U.S. Open, which could make him vulnerable from the get go -- and while he only has third round points at stake in his return to New York, if he's not able to shake off the stink that's been cast over him this month, he might be an easier target this time than he would be under other circumstances.

Alexandr Dolgopolov

It was about this time last year that the Ukrainian star's season began to implode -- after a year in which he'd stunned Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells and took out recently crowned Grand Slam champ Stan Wawrinka in Miami, he'd re-established himself as a legitimate force on Tour. But knee surgery in July kept him out of the draw in New York and off the courts until late September, since when he only won one match the rest of the year. It took a while for him to get his footing back this season -- after failing to defend points during the spring hardcourt sweep he fell to #80 in the world and had to qualify for the Rome Masters event. Things got a little better in the summer though -- he took out four higher ranked players on his way to the semis in Nottingham, and after qualifying again for Cincinnati last week, was two points away from defeating Novak Djokovic for a spot in the final. He may have run out of steam a bit in Winston-Salem though -- still unseeded, despite his post-Ohio boost, Dolgo lost two tiebreaks to young Thanasi Kokkinakis -- but perhaps that will give him the time and rest he needs to make a real push in New York.

Marcos Baghdatis

As much as I always root for the veteran Cypriot, I can hardly believe myself that he's still alive and kicking these days. A finalist at the Australian Open nearly ten years ago, the former world #8 has dealt with one injury after another, falling out of the top hundred several times since hitting his peak. In fact at the start of 2014 he'd gone as low as #155 in the world. But he's nothing if not resilient -- after a second round loss at Wimbledon last year, he picked up a trio of Challengers' titles to end the season and this year pushed Grigor Dimitrov through a long five sets in their Melbourne third round. He continued his momentum with a semi run in Zagreb and even beat David Ferrer in Nottingham. Back in the top fifty again after a trip to the All England Club, he made his way to the final in Atlanta, his first Tour-level championship since 2011. He too had a bit of a hiccup this week in Winston-Salem, losing to qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert in his opener, but given how he's pulled his game together this year, there's no reason to believe he won't be able to rebound again.

Denis Kudla

As we Americans wait (and wait) for the next big star to take over the reins from Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and even Andy Roddick, there have been a couple names that have come up as potential contenders -- John Isner, Sam Querrey, and, what now seems like a long time ago, James Blake. And while a couple of the young guns surely still have an opportunity to make a splash, this year it could be someone way farther down the radar that causes a stir. The twenty-three year old Kudla put up a huge fight against Feliciano Lopez at the Australian Open and then endured a couple more five-set marathons on his way to the fourth round at Wimbledon, the only man from the U.S. to get that far. He kept up his success at the start of the summer, too, qualifying for the main draw in Atlanta and beating compatriot Jack Sock on his way to the semis -- where he, incidentally, took a set off eventual champion Isner. He qualified for Montreal and Cincy too, and managed to climb to a career high ranking of #74 in the world at the start of this week. While he may be a little older than his contemporaries were when they made their first impact in New York, he might just have the experience and maturity now to make a more lasting impression.

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Bonus Round
Okay, I know I've been limiting these lists to five men and five women all year long, but with the U.S. Open being the final Major of 2015, this is the last chance players have to make any sort of real statement this season. So I'm expanding the field this one time to include a couple athletes who might not be quite on the radar in New York, but nevertheless could prove to be big spoilers.

Roberta Vinci

The two-time quarterfinalist in the Big Apple has fallen well off the radar in the last several months -- both on the singles circuit and on the doubles Tour, which she and former partner Sara Errani dominated for years. After a disappointing 2014, she began this year barely ranked inside the top fifty and notched surprising losses to players like world #113 Tatjana Maria and #168 Veronica Cepede Royg. Though she made a somewhat surprising run to the final in Nürnberg, she lost four straight matches after that, even going 0-3 during her traditionally strong grass court run. But something seemed to click one the seasons turned -- she took out a strong Daria Gavrilova to make the elite eight in Toronto, and earlier this week as a qualifier in New Haven, trounced former Wimbledon finalist Genie Bouchard in a barely hour-long opening match. Though she'll now face off against three-time champion Caroline Wozniacki, she's certainly shown she still has the capability of pulling off big upsets and could keep proving that for a few more matches to come.

Mardy Fish

Now I realize the veteran American hasn't made as big an impact at the Majors as others, but as the one-time world #7 gets ready for his last U.S. Open run, you can't help but appreciate all he's accomplished. Long a middle-of-the-road player, he had a breakthrough in 2010 -- dropping some thirty pounds, a fact many commentators seemingly could not get over, he soared to new levels in the game, stunning Andy Murray three times in a row, in Miami, Queen's Club, and Cincinnati and racking up a slew of other top-ten wins. He cracked the single digit rankings himself less than a year later, rode his momentum to a quarterfinal showing at Wimbledon and surpassed Andy Roddick as the top-ranked player in the U.S. But just as he was peaking, Fish was dealt an unfortunate blow -- diagnosed with severe anxiety and a heart condition that required surgery, Fish skipped the entire 2014 season and has only played three singles matches since his return at Indian Wells -- winning just one last week in Cincinnati -- but that might not be the worst harbinger. Remember how well a struggling Andy Roddick did after announced his retirement a few years back? Of course, it'll be much tougher for Fish to put together a big run, but with the crowd certainly behind him in the Big Apple, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a little splash.

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Well there you go -- ten or so players who may not be super high on the radar this year at the U.S. Open, but nonetheless could stir things up a bit. And while we're all so focused on the favorites, any of these guys could surprise us while our eyes are trained elsewhere.

Of course, with a few days left before the draws are released, who knows yet how challenging any of their roads in New York will be -- but there's no reason one or more of them can't rise to the occasion.

After all, with this being their last big opportunity to make a name for themselves in the 2015 season, expect all of them to put up their biggest fight now.

Stealing the Spotlight

As the summer hardcourt season kicks into full gear, it's no surprise we saw so many of the sport's top women in action last week -- even with Serena Williams still recovering from an elbow injury and unable to defend her title in Stanford, nearly half of the players in the top twenty hit the courts. But ultimately it wasn't the top favorites who walked away with the titles -- and in one case, a first-timer make have just scored the breakthrough we've been waiting for.

The upsets at the Bank of the West Classic started pretty early. Top seeded Caroline Wozniacki, struggling a bit to keep the momentum from a successful 2014 season, lost her opening round to Varvara Lepchenko. And Carla Suarez Navarro, who broke into the top ten after an unexpected final run in Miami, lost her fourth match in a row in Stanford, this time dropping to world #59 Alison Riske. By the time we got to Sunday's final it was this year's breakout Karolina Pliskova facing off against under-the-radar Angelique Kerber. The more experienced German was the on-paper underdog in this fight, seeded fifth to her opponent's #4 spot -- but she had the advantage of a 3-2 record head-to-head, and after already beating two seeds during the week, was arguably more battle tested. In a break-filled match, Kerber eventually got the edge in the opening set, and even after the Czech pushed her to a third, stayed strong enough to score the win. It was, you may be surprised to hear, Angie's fourth trophy this year, making this her most prolific season despite the fact that she's still off her best ranking at #11. But with what's traditionally been her strongest stretch still ahead of her, she might make a play to climb even higher.

Over in Washington a couple ladies even further off the grid were able to shine. But even with defending champ Svetlana Kuznetsova pulling out with injury early, the eventual finalists had to stage some big wins during their runs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, out of the top thirty for most of this year, was looking to end a slump which saw her lose to world #154 Patricia Maria Tig a week earlier in Baku and win only one Major match in 2015. In the second round she scored a solid win over Belinda Bencic, who'd won their only previous meeting, and came back after losing the opening set to Ekaterina Makarova before the top seed retired in the semis. The win earned the Russian her first final of the year, and a shot at picking up her eighth career title -- but she'd be foiled by an unlikely foe. American Sloane Stephens, once just a hair outside the top ten, with high-profile wins over the likes of Maria Sharapova, Venus, and of course Serena Williams, had a tough time keeping up her performance last year and for a couple weeks in 2015 had fallen out of the top forty. She did score some big wins -- over Kerber in Indian Wells, Jelena Jankovic in Strasbourg -- but nevertheless came to DC without a seed. She's working to change that though -- after getting the walkover from Kuznetsova she stunned Sam Stosur in the semis and dropped just three games to Pavlyuchenkova in Sunday's final. The win gave her a nice boost in the rankings, but more importantly awarded her that long-awaited maiden trophy. And perhaps it's just the first of many.

Neither of this weekend's champions were expected to walk away with the titles, but with both scoring some big wins during the week, they each reminded us all of the damage they can do. And as we get closer to the final Grand Slam of the year, it might be time we see them up their games even more. After all now that they're back in our sights, pressure will be really on for them to deliver.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

We really shouldn't be that surprised when top players are caught off guard at the French Open -- after all, the clay doesn't suit everyone, and just last year we saw plenty of players who usually thrive on the surface stumble right out of the blocks in Paris. And with one round of play in the books so far at Roland Garros, that trend seems more than alive and well in 2015.

In my preview pieces leading up to the year's second Grand Slam, I almost regretted omitting Venus Williams as a potential dark horse. The former world #1 has been staging quite a comeback over the last several months, kicking off the season with a title in Auckland and climbing to her highest ranking since 2011. But the American champion has never really fared that well on the French clay --since finishing runner-up to her sister in 2002, she's only made it past the fourth round twice. And this go-round she struggled again -- against an unseeded Sloane Stephens yesterday, she put up a fight in the first set, narrowly losing the tiebreak after more than an hour of play, but then crumbled in the second, winning just fifteen points. For Sloane, it could be a huge opportunity -- she's reached the Round of Sixteen the last three years -- but she'll likely face big threats from the likes of Victoria Azarenka and Venus's younger sister, who she hasn't beaten since that amazing campaign in Melbourne two years ago. Still after taking down another giant, she might just have a little more confidence for the rest of her run.

Feliciano Lopez never rose quite as high as Venus, of course, but after a stellar 2014 season, he was still holding close to his highest career ranking. He reached the quarters in Indian Wells with a win over Kei Nishikori and took out an on-point Nick Kyrgios a few weeks back in Rome. And though he's got plenty of first and second round losses at the French Open, with a #11 seed, you might have thought he was ready to change that. But he was stunned yesterday by fellow veteran Teymuraz Gabashvili, a Russian he'd only met once before, way back in 2006. The world #76 has lost his opening round at sixteen Majors, but didn't seem intimidated by the heavy favorite -- on the heels of two clay Challengers titles, he kept his momentum going, earning the only two breaks of the match and setting up a second round against dirt specialist Juan Monaco. It won't be an easy task -- Gabashvili has lost their two previous matches -- but he did put up a fight in their last one at Indian Wells and after the tight match the Argentine endured in his opener, could be the more rested and ready for this battle.

Aga Radwanska has been a little more of her game recently than these guys, but the one-time Wimbledon finalist has had a rough couple months -- she failed spectacularly to defend runner-up points at Indian Wells and lost early at lead-up events in Madrid and Rome. She came to Roland Garros at a #14 ranking, her lowest in four years, looking to reclaim the momentum that saw her through to the quarters in 2013 -- she was upset last year, you may remember, by then-#72 Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round, but to no avail. Against an often spotty Annika Beck -- the twenty year old picked up her first career title last fall in Luxembourg but had won just three matches this year before coming to Paris -- Aga had a shot. After dropping the opening set she fought back to force a decider, but with a pathetic eleven winners to the German's forty-one, she stood little chance of clinching the comeback. It was her first first-round loss at a Slam since 2009, but perhaps during her traditionally lackluster clay season, it wasn't such a big deal. For Beck, on the other hand, who's never made it out of a Major second round, the opportunity could be huge -- she'll meet qualifier Paula Kania in the next round and there's no reason she won't be able to go even farther after that.

And as surprising as these upsets were, things got even more interesting today. Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, who'd established himself as a threat at most of the big events last year, has had a slightly less impressive season in 2015. Though he's still just a hair outside the top ten and has notched a couple wins over former Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka, he's also been upset by the likes of Pablo Cuevas, Gilles Muller and triple-digit ranked Ryan Harrison. He didn't have a lot on the line in Paris -- he got beat in last year's opener by then-unseeded Ivo Karlovic -- but he surely wanted to set things right. But in an ugly match against American Jack Sock, he couldn't seem to find his groove. After a tight first set, he let loose twenty errors and dropped serve three times, handing the U.S. men their first win over a top ten seed since 2000. The barely unseeded Sock has a good chance at staying alive a bit longer -- he next faces world #61 Pablo Carreño Busta and then either young Borna Coric or veteran Tommy Robredo. But the Houston champion's shown he can hit hard on this surface too and could establish himself as a real force this fortnight.

But as surprising as Dimitrov's early exit might have been, perhaps we should be a little more shocked at what we saw from a 2014 semifinalist. Genie Bouchard was riding high at this time last year, having just picked up her first career title in Nürnberg and riding her momentum all the way to a second straight final four at a Major. But the world #6 has struggled mightily in the last few months, winning just one of her last seven matches heading into Paris, and notching embarrassing losses to little-known Andreea Mitu and on-the-rebound Alexandra Dulgheru at Fed Cup. To be fair, she was dealt a pretty tough draw at Roland Garros, opening against Strasbourg finalist Kristina Mladenovic, one of my sleeper picks for the event. The Frenchwoman had already established herself as a giant killer at this event before, and on Tuesday she was even more impressive -- taking advantage of weak serving from her opponent, she won more than half her return points and broke the Canadian five times. Pressure will be on Kiki to keep her momentum going from here, of course, but she won't face another high seed for a few more rounds, and after her performance the last few weeks she looks well-poised to make a real splash now on the singles circuit.

Of course these won't be the only upsets we see over the next two weeks -- nor will they likely be the biggest -- but it sure seems like a lot of the recent heavy hitters took a couple of real blows in the early days of the Open. They'll need to regroup quickly to make sure their slides don't go much further, though.

And as for those who vanquished them, they'll have to celebrate their victories quickly and get straight back to work. After all, there's a lot more ball left to be played.

The Slump-Buster

The couple months leading up to Miami haven't been great for everyone. Perennial stars have fallen before they should and recent risers have struggled to find their footing as breakthrough players have come into their own. But over the last couple days we've seen some players find their games again, and it could be just what they need to turn their seasons back around.

After several months of struggling, John Isner had started to claw his way back in Indian Wells, scoring a solid win over Kevin Anderson in his third match. But with a marathon loss to world #111 James Ward in Davis Cup and upsets at the hands of Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey already this year, he's still well off his career high ranking in the top ten and only carried a #22 seed to the Miami Open. But last night he held tough against Grigor Dimitrov -- after taking the first set in a tiebreak, already his fourteenth of the year, he did what he so rarely does and broke his opponent twice to take the match in straight sets. It was his biggest win in almost two years, when he made a stellar run to the Cincinnati final, and could give him a little boost for his next test -- he'll face off against world #6 Milos Raonic tonight. Somewhat surprisingly the big serving American actually has won both of their previous matches, also both at Masters events. But a win this time might be slightly more meaningful.

Veteran Juan Monaco has seen some of his biggest successes on these courts, breaking the top ten after a semifinal run in Miami three years ago. But the thirty-one year old Argentine has given up a little of his momentum and has lost in the first round of seven Majors since. He did make the final in Buenos Aires a few weeks ago, though, and has come back from a triple digit ranking to #46 in the world now. And over the last few days he's dispatched three seeds, starting with a struggling Ernests Gulbis and culminating with an easy win over Fernando Verdasco this afternoon -- he broke the Spaniard, fresh off his second straight win over Rafael Nadal, four times and kept him well under fifty-percent on his second serves. The win earns him a quarterfinal match-up against eighth seed Tomas Berdych, a man he hasn't beaten in any of his six previous tries, but he's pulled off bigger wins before and with some of the shots he's been making this week it doesn't look like he's in any rush to slow down.

On the women's side we're also seeing a couple ladies come back from the brink. Former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki has always seemed destined for great things. But with yet another injury-marred season last year and losses this season to players like Kristina Mladenovic and then-#94 Alexandra Dulgheru, the powerful German had seen her ranking fall almost out of the top thirty. She made up some ground in Indian Wells, scoring wins over Sara Errani and defending champion Flavia Pennetta on her way to the semis. She might have been even more impressive this week, though, repeating a win over over Errani on Monday and taking out fifth seed Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. She's up against Serena Williams next, no easy task to be sure, but we all remember that stunning win over the world #1 at the All England Club two years ago. If she is back in form there's no reason to expect she won't put up a fight again this time.

Young Sloane Stephens has fallen a little farther since the days of her big win over her compatriot. After peaking at #11 in the world a little more than a year ago, she's had a rough time on Tour, losing eight first round matches last year and falling out of the top forty earlier this month. Like some of the others I've mentioned, she had a bit of a resurgence in Indian Wells, beating Angelique Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova before taking a set of Serena in the fourth round. And this week in Miami she hasn't dropped a set yet, scoring a nice win over seventeenth seed Madison Keys before taking out Belinda Bencic on Monday. Her road, like everyone else's, also gets tougher from here -- she'll meet third seed and BNP Paribas Open champ Simona Halep next, but the twenty-two year old certainly seems to have her groove back and could give the favorite a run for her money.

It seems like it's been a long couple months for all these players, but sometimes you only need one good run to boost your confidence and get back on track. And for these guys, hopefully that's exactly what Miami will be.

The Pressure's On

We're counting down the days to the start of the first Grand Slam of the year, and while a couple players are taking every chance they get to make a case for themselves at the Australian Open, a few others haven't quite put up the numbers they'd hoped for. And with so much at stake in Melbourne, they may need to take the next couple days to regroup and get themselves on a better track for the New Year.

The top couple seeds haven't yet seen action in Hobart, but they're going to want top hope for better results than the other favorites have seen so far. Former Aussie semifinalist Sloane Stephens has had some of her best results Down Under, but after a disappointing 2014 season, she's fallen a bit down the rankings. She lost her second round last week in Auckland after a battle with fellow American Lauren Davis, and this week fell just as early, this time to Heather Watson in straight sets. And Klara Koukalova, who at this time last year was having a bit of a career resurgence -- she was defending runner-up points in Hobart this week -- has yet to win a match in 2015. After marking a first set bagel against Kurumi Nara, she only won three more games. She doesn't have too much on the line in Melbourne -- she lost to Sam Stosur in her opener -- but if she wants to reassert herself again this season, she'll want to turn things around pretty quickly.

Over in Auckland, where more than a couple favorites pulled out just before the event started, second seeded Ernests Gulbis took the courts for the first time since October and things got off to a rough start. Last year's semifinalist in Roland Garros has never made it past the second round of the Australian Open broke into the top ten on the heels of his performance, but an injury-hampered summer and fall kept him from accepting an alternate's ticket to the year end finals. And he wasn't dealt a very easy draw at the Heineken Open either -- starting off against 2014 breakout star Jiri Vesely, he managed to force a third set, but ultimately fell 6-1 in the third. And Roberto Bautista-Agut, who had a promising run to the semis last week in Chennai, retired down a set and a break to Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday, becoming the sixth seed to lose in Auckland before the quarterfinals. Hopefully he'll be able to manage whatever's ailing him in time for his Major campaign next week.

Stakes were even higher in Sydney this week where six top ten women were originally entered in the draw, but not everyone lived up to expectations. Ekaterina Makarova, who's traditionally done well Down Under, struggled with injury at the end of last season and had to withdraw from the season-ending Tournament of Champions in Sofia. She had a tough road in her comeback, though -- her first two opponents will both be seeded in Melbourne -- and after taking the first set from Carla Suarez Navarro eventually lost her two-plus hour second round. Far more disappointing, though, was the performance of Dominika Cibulkova, last year's runner-up at the Australian Open. After losing twelve first round matches in 2014, she kicked off the new season with yet another, dropping her opening round in Brisbane to teenager Madison Keys. This week she managed one win before losing to wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova on Tuesday, but she's going to want to do a lot better than that when she heads back to the site of her greatest success.

The men in Sydney may have a little less star power in their ranks, but there are plenty who were still hoping to make a point this week. Nick Kyrgios, another young standout from last season, is often talked about as Australia's next best hope to bring home a Major, and after making the quarters in Wimbledon last year it looked like there was something behind that. He put up a good fight against slightly higher-ranked Jerzy Janowicz in his opener this week, too, rebounding to take the second set after losing the first handily, but ultimately lost, bringing his record since the All England Club to a less-than-stellar 4-5. And top seed Fabio Fognini has been just as mediocre, losing in successively earlier rounds at each of last year's Grand Slams. He finished 2014 with only one win after the U.S. Open, and went oh-for-three in round robin matches in Perth. This week at the Apia International he took the first set off comeback kid Juan Martin Del Porto before finally falling to the one-time U.S. Open champ. It's not a loss he should be ashamed of, to be sure, but it surely isn't the argument he wants to make so close to a Major.

Hopefully all these guys and girls will be able to turn things around in the coming days and weeks -- after all so many other players will be waiting in the wings ready to take advantage of any weaknesses on their parts. And if they're not careful, there's no reason some of the underdogs won't be able to capitalize.

A Few Familiar Faces

This year, really, has been about the next generation of tennis greats. With players like Genie Bouchard, Simona Halep and Nick Kyrgios making such big strides, it's been easy to lose track of some long trudging champions.

But this week in Cincinnati, we've seen the vets come back into the spotlight after some seemingly long absences. And they might just have what it takes to keep on going.

Sloane Stephens was long heralded as the Next Big Thing in American women's tennis, and she seemed destined to live up to that reputation when she stunned Serena Williams at the Australian Open last year. But she fell a few rounds short of the semis this time around and had only managed one top-twenty win all season, beating Ana Ivanovic in Indian Wells, while she lost to a handful of players ranked outside the top hundred. This week at the Western & Southern Open, though, she seems to have gotten her stride back -- she kicked off her campaign with a straight-set win over French Cinderella Andrea Petkovic and then took out Wimbledon standout Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. She next faces a rematch with Jelena Jankovic, the woman who beat her in Montreal just days ago, but she went three long sets in that battle and could turn the tables in her favor now that she's playing on her own homecourt.

Sabine Lisicki has also struggled since her career high last July. Consistently a threat at Wimbledon, she final reached the championship match in 2013, but didn't win more than one match at an event until Madrid this season. Even when she was breaking service records in Stanford, she was still losing matches she should have won. She also may be back on track in Cincinnati, though, taking out both Roberta Vinci and her co-#1 doubles partner Sara Errani to start the week. And like Sloane again, she'll meet her Rogers Cup vanquisher in tonight's late match -- she was the only player to take a set off Aga Radwanska last week in Montreal, and might now have the fire to go one better this time.

While these unseeded ladies have outlasted expectations already in Cincinnati, David Ferrer is looking to give himself a bit of a boost. Last year's runner-up in Paris has remained consistent this year, reaching the quarters in Australia and at Roland Garros and remaining squarely in the top ten of the ATP. But he's also suffered some surprising losses -- to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his Barcelona opener and to Andrey Kuznetsov in the second round at Wimbledon. And even when he's won, he's had a tough time doing it -- yesterday against Phillipp Kohlschreiber in Cincy, he needed three tiebreaks and nearly three hours to advance. Up next for the sixth seed is Mikhail Youzhny -- a man who's been struggling himself this year, but encouragingly followed up a win over Toronto champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga by beating Andreas Seppi on Wednesday. Ferrer has a less-than-spectacular 3-5 record against the Russian, but if he can rally for the win there's no telling what it would do for his morale.

Gael Monfils can't really ever be accused of having too little confidence, but he's struggled to come back from injury over the last several months, and success has come in fits and starts. He did claim a title early in the year and took Andy Murray to five sets in the Roland Garros quarters, but he also was dealt a early exit at the hands of Jiri Vesely at Wimbledon. Last week in Toronto he pushed Novak Djokovic to the limit, ultimately losing in the almost-three hour match, but it might have lit a fire under him for the Western & Southern -- he went three sets in his opener, but rebounded quickly to upset 2014 breakout Roberto Bautista-Agut. It's only going to get tougher from here, of course -- he'll take on Roger Federer this evening -- but Monfils actually won the pair's last meeting at the Shanghai Masters and might have the momentum to pull off another big upset.

Of course it's great when new talent crops up in the tennis world, but there's something reassuring about seeing these guys and gals hitting back so strong against the tide. They might not be the favorites in the field, but they've all scored some huge wins in the past and could certainly find the strength to do it again. And if they keep it up, things could get really interesting in the weeks to come.

10 Things Update: About a Week In...

Didn't I tell you things were going to get crazy at the French Open?

Since Day One we've seen some shocking upsets, the exit of champions and the rise of some unexpected stars. And as the rounds progressed, the surprises continued.

All that action tore quite a few holes in my wish list for Roland Garros. But while I may have gotten some of the details wrong, a couple themes still hold, so I thought it appropriate, as we kick off the last day of the first week, to revisit the things I'd like to have happen this fortnight, and nominate a few new candidates that now seem to fit the bill.

10. A dubious seed proves his worth

Well this was a tricky ask from the start. Roberta Vinci lost her opener, bringing her record on the year to an unimpressive 7-15. And while Jerzy Janowicz's loss in the third round to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was expected, he certainly should be able to pull off those upsets. Sorana Cirstea has a slightly better shot -- though she'll technically be the underdog against Jelena Jankovic in today's third round, she's won both their meetings on clay and might be able to keep things in her favor.

Hopefully the same can be hold true for twenty-fourth seed Fernando Verdasco, who's survived through his first two rounds by the skin of his teeth. One of the few men who've defeated Rafael Nadal on clay, the Spaniard picked up his first title in almost four years in Houston, but had otherwise put together a middling 10-8 record on the year. This week he toughed it out against Mikhail Kukushkin in his opener, and had to come back after losing his first to sets to Pablo Cuevas late on Thursday. He'll have to raise his game higher versus Richard Gasquet in his next round, and if he does manage a win he'd likely face off next against Andy Murray -- no easy task. Still a few more surprises would do a lot to reinforce his ranking, and maybe even help him improve.

I've been even more impressed by Sloane Stephens, interestingly the only American woman left at the French. The world #19 was dead even in her 2014 record before Paris and had notched just one win over a top seventy player on clay this year. But she survived a test from Shaui Peng in her opener and only dropped serve once against Polona Hercog on Thursday. She'll be the higher seed when she meets Ekaterina Makarova today, but the Russian will be the biggest threat she's faced yet this week. It won't be an easy win, by any means, but if she gets it done, it could certainly right her career this season.

And John Isner, almost always a tenuous seed at the Majors, has so far lived up to his on-paper reputation. He's lost on dirt this year to the likes of Federico Delbonis, Jurgen Melzer and, most discouraging, then-#101 Dustin Brown, and with less than a fifty percent win record on this surface, I wasn't expecting him to do too much at Roland Garros. Admittedly he's been scraping by this first week -- in eleven sets he's played eight tiebreaks -- but he stuck it out versus veteran Tommy Robredo on Friday. The stakes get higher from here, of course, but even as the tenth seed here, the run to his first fourth round in Paris seems impressive. Even if he loses to Tomas Berdych next, I'll be happy with what he's done.

9. An underdog follows through

All my original picks in this section, unfortunately, have had to book their tickets home -- Jeremy Chardy and Dominic Thiem both won their openers, but ran into the two favorites in the second rounds, Novak Djokovic and eight-time champion Rafael Nadal, respectively. Camila Giorgi had a slightly better shot at advancing, facing totally beatable 2009 titleist Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday.

But others have so far kept their cool after exacting big wins. Kristina Mladenovic, who shocked 2011 champ Na Li in the first round, battled through an injury timeout to make her first Paris third round. While she faces a tough Andrea Petkovic for a spot in the sweet sixteen, the German struggled in her last match too and the Frenchwoman could take advantage. On the men's side, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez suffered little fatigue after ousting Melbourne winner Stan Wawrinka in his first round. He had a little hiccup on Thursday, but delivered a fourth set bagel to Adrian Mannarino to close out that match. And with a third round meeting with streaky Donald Young, I like his chances of making it into Week Two.

8. A breakout has a breakthrough

This one was also almost totally a farce. Caroline Garcia and Donna Vekic both lost their openers, and while Jiri Vesely lasted a round longer, he couldn't keep leads he had on Milos Raonic in their second round. Roberto Bautista-Agut, too, the group's best shot at delivering, didn't repeat his Indian Wells triumph over Tomas Berdych, falling on Friday in four sets.

Meanwhile, Garbine Muguruza seems to have recaptured the fire she had to start the year. After picking up her first career title in Hobart and defeating Caroline Wozniacki on her way to the Melbourne fourth round, she went a little quiet during the spring. But she sure turned up the volume in Paris, shocking Serena Williams in an hour-long, straight-set victory on Wednesday, and following up by dismissing fellow upset-causer Anna Schmiedlova yesterday. She'll face unseeded Pauline Parmentier, playing her first ever Major fourth round, for a spot in the quarters, and maybe she can ride that momentum even farther.

7. A fish jumps out of water

South Africa's Kevin Anderson is the only one still alive among this bunch, so it'd be great to see him continue to keep one of my calls alive. To be fair, the nineteenth seed hasn't had the toughest couple rounds, opening against Austranlian Cinderella Stephane Robert and facing wildcard Alex Michon in the second round, but he hasn't dropped a set yet. And while he faces another big server in Ivo Karlovic today, he won the pair's last meeting in Delray and could get the momentum he needs to improve on his fourth round showing here from last year.

6. Hard work is paid off

While most in this section have also fallen earlier than I'd have liked, Fabio Fognini has been impressive in his first two rounds of play, against two very solid opponents -- Andreas Beck has picked up a couple Challenger trophies this year and Thomaz Bellucci, coming back from injury, has won all three of his titles on clay. Fognini, though, a quarterfinalist here in 2011 took care of them both and will face off against former top-ten player Gael Monfils next. He is the on-paper favorite in this match, and holds a winning 3-2 record over the Frenchman, so he should be able to advance. Whether he can repeat his Cinderella run from three years ago still remains to be seen, but I kind of like his chances.

5. A phoenix rises

I feel a little bad about this one -- my original wish list came out the morning before news broke of Caroline Wozniacki's split with that dude, and she of course did not rebound quite as quickly as he did. I'll put my money on her for next time though.

But my other picks are still alive and kicking. Former world #1 Jelena Jankovic dropped the first set she played here, but quickly recovered to take out Sharon Fichman and after a tight opener against Rio champ Kurumi Nara, she delivered a bagel in the second round. She's lost both of her meetings with third round opponent Sorana Cirstea on clay, though, so she might have to pick up her game a little. Meanwhile compatriot Ana Ivanovic is looking even stronger. She survived what could have been a big challenge from Caroline Garcia in her opener and handily dispatched Ukrainian teenager Elina Svitolina on Thursday. While Petra Kvitova is the favorite in her immediate section of the draw, and world #4 Simona Halep cannot be ignored, I wouldn't be surprised if the Serb really took this opportunity to make a statement.

4. A runner-up repeats (or goes one better...)

Dominika Cibulkova is so far the only one in this group who's been knocked out, though, to be fair she's also the only one who's played her third round.

But after a little blip in her opener, 2012 finalist Sara Errani came back strong to take out young American Madison Keys and advanced over Dinah Pfizenmaier with little drama. She'll meet Israel's Julia Glushko, barely ranked in the double digits next, and should be the heavy favorite. And last year's runner-up David Ferrer hasn't dropped a set in his first two matches, spending under three-and-a-half hours on court so far. He'll face Andreas Seppi on Saturday, a man who very nearly beat Novak Djokovic here two season's ago, but the Italian's game has fallen a bit and should prove little trouble to the world #5.

Whether either can ride early successes to another final in Paris -- well, I'm not sure. But with the draws clearing out so much over the first couple days, there's no reason not to hold out hope.

3. A first-time Major winner is crowned

Kei Nishikori knocked himself out of the running here early, but both Carla Suarez Navarro and Tomas Berdych have reached the fourth round already, the latter having avenged that shocking Indian Wells loss to then-unknown Roberto Bautista-Agut. And while the Czech has a little more experience on the big stage -- he made the semis here in 2010, just before stunning Roger Federer on his way to the Wimbledon final -- the Spanish señorita is in a wide-open section of the draw and could be the big beneficiary of that.

But perhaps Milos Raonic has established himself as another spoiler here. Somewhat surprisingly, the world #9 has never gotten out of the third round in Paris, and he barely did this time either -- after having to come back from breaks against upstart Jiri Vesely in his second round, he got down sets to hometown favorite Gilles Simon twice on Friday -- and nearly squandered a lead in the fifth -- before finally closing out the three-plus hour match. He's in the same section of the draw as Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych, so even if he makes his first Major quarterfinal he'll have his work cut out for him. Still it seems inevitable the Canadian will eventually win a Slam, so why not get things going now.

2. MaSha doubles up

This was sort of a long shot when I first wrote it, but with Serena's exit in the early rounds, not only have Maria Sharapova's prospects in Paris improved, she might have just established herself as the favorite.

Sure, there are still a couple higher seeds left in the draw, but only Petra Kvitova has ever won a Slam before and Jelena Jankovic is the only other one to even play in a final -- and both those runs feel like they came decades ago. Meanwhile Sharapova is coming off wins in Stuttgart and Madrid, and her double bagel over Paula Ormaechea in her third round Friday shows she's far from tired. She'll meet Sam Stosur for a spot in the quarters, and the 2010 runner-up has been launching a comeback of her own in recent weeks. But Maria's only lost two of the the pair's fifteen career meetings, and something tells me she's not going to let that number change anytime soon.

1. Rafa takes home #9

After his performance during his first two matches I'm breathing a little easier than before. Rafael Nadal has only lost ten games so far at the French Open, fewer than anyone else in the men's field, and with the promise of facing no seeds until at least the quarters, he's unlikely to drop many more in the immediate future. Still with one major exception, the men's draw hasn't been nearly as decimated as the ladies' and big threats still loom from the likes of Roger Federer, David Ferrer and even Andy Murray.

Of course Novak Djokovic, with the career Grand Slam and a #1 ranking on the line, continues to hold the best odds of turning the world upside down. While he did drop a tiebreak in his Friday third round, he's faced noticeably tougher challenges -- barely unseeded Jeremy Chardy and always tricky Marin Cilic -- and he's set to meet last year's semifinalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round. But he's got the stamina to power through these tests, and I fully expect to see him challenge Rafa come finals weekend.

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With a little more than a week left at this year's French Open, there's still plenty of opportunity for my revised wish list to be dashed again. Still, we've seen some impressive results from the favorites and the underdogs alike, and as we enter Week Two at Roland Garros the titles really do seem up for grabs.

So let's hope the excitement we see over the coming days matches that we saw in early rounds. And that the eventual champions deliver performances that live up to the standards already set.