Going Green

Grass, for lack of a better term, is a totally different animal than hard or clay courts, and with so few tournaments on the surface -- and this year, a two year gap since we saw any action on it at all -- it can take a lot of people by surprise.

But for some players the lawn can be a real opportunity. Whether it's Johanna Konta, who picked up a title in Nottingham last week, her fist since 2017, or one-time Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic, who rode momentum from a trophy in Stuttgart to the quarters in Halle, we've already seen a couple turn around what had been fairly lackluster years. And this week, not only did we continue to see some comebacks, but we also got a few big breakthroughs.

🥳 🏆 FIRST WTA TITLE. 🥳 🏆@Ons_Jabeur gets the job done in straight sets over Kasatkina, 7-5, 6-4 in Birmingham.#VikingClassic pic.twitter.com/l6SoDqjbFt

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 20, 2021

Viking Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain

Ons Jabeur has been quietly building on her successes of last season, climbing to a career high of #24 in the world after the French Open. But while she's had some deep runs at events here and there, she's never been able to bring home that trophy for all her efforts. And with only one match win at Wimbledon in her last three attempts, I didn't give her much of a shot at changing things this week.

But she really surprised us all in Birmingham. After early wins over some of the sport's up-and-coming stars, she ultimately faced off against former top-ten player Daria Kasatkina in the final. The Russian may have been seeded lower, but with a quarterfinal run at the All England Club in 2018 and two titles already this year -- not to mention wins in her both of her previous meetings with Jabeur -- she might have nevertheless been the favorite.

But Jabeur persevered in the tight two-setter, staying ever so slightly stronger on serve and ultimately pulling off the win. It was meaningful for a lot of reasons -- not only her first career title, but also the first won by a woman from the Middle East. She's now tied with Ashleigh Barty for most wins this season, not bad company to share. And as she gets ready for the third Major of the year, she's well made a case that she's one to watch.

Bett1Open, Berlin, Germany

The draw in Berlin wasn't quite as favorable for the favorites, with the top four seeds all losing their opening round matches. And that opened the door for a struggling Belinda Bencic to really up her game. Since making the final in Adelaide at the start of the year, she's been pretty quiet, losing three first round matches and to Kasatkina in the second round of the French. But she got her game together in Germany, with wins over a resurgent Petra Martic and a very talented Ekaterina Alexandrova. Plus she ended the run of another comeback story -- Alizé Cornet, who'd stunned both Bianca Andreescu and former Wimbledon champ Garbiñe Muguruza on her way to the semis.

But Bencic's own momentum was no match for qualifier Liudmila Samsonova, who's so far had most of her success on the ITF circuit. Still ranked in triple digits, the Russian opened with a win over 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova and followed that up by taking out Charleston champ Veronika Kudermetova and one-time U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys, who was fresh off her own big upset of top seed Aryna Sabalenka. But her big win came in the semis, where she shocked former world #1 Victoria Azarenka in straight sets.

The final was a seesaw of a match, with both ladies taking 6-1 sets off each other. But Samsonova got the early break in the decider and, though Bencic kept it close, she never looked back. The win, another first, was also the second time this year a WTA qualifier went home with a trophy. Will it be enough to earn her entry into the Wimbledon main draw, the only Major she has yet to make the cut for? I suppose we'll find out tomorrow, but she certainly put up a nice argument for herself this week.

Cinch Championships, Halle, Germany

Elsewhere in Germany the seeds were similarly sanguine. With Daniil Medvedev, who clearly only enjoys playing on hardcourts, losing his first round in Halle, and ten-time champion Roger Federer getting stunned by protégé Felix Auger-Aliassime, there were plenty of openings for others to sneak through. And the one to do it was a highly-underrated Ugo Humbert -- after a breakthrough 2020 season, the 22-year-old Frenchman has been a little quiet this year, scoring just one win the entire clay court season and amassing a losing record going into this week.

But, not surprisingly, he started getting his game back on grass. A fourth-rounder at Wimbledon in 2019, where he beat FAA and Gael Monfils, he made the quarters last week in Stuttgart and in Halle scored his first top-ten win of the season over Alexander Zverev. He backed that up by taking out breakthrough star Sebastian Korda and FAA again to make the final against a very prolific Andrey Rublev, the only seed to make it out of the second round.

And while the Russian was the heavy favorite, it was the unseeded Humbert who was able to seize the opportunity on Sunday. In the colossally close match, he was able to convert the only break of serve and took the second set in a tiebreak. The win gives him a perfect 3-0 record in tour finals and should give him a big confidence boost heading to the All England Club. And with much higher expectations on his head this time around, it will be interesting to see how he handles the challenge.

Noventi Open, London, Great Britain

Meanwhile, much closer to the upcoming action at Wimbledon, we saw one player really start to assert himself as a true all-court threat. Matteo Berrettini may have had his Major breakthrough on the hardcourts of New York, but he added to his trophy case on clay this season and actually has his best record on grass at 13-5. He improved on that at Queen's Club this week, beating five-time champ and sentimental favorite Andy Murray in the second round and then taking out Dan Evans and Alex de Minaur to boot.

On Sunday he faced off against Cameron Norrie, who's having his own strong season with a win over Dominic Thiem on his way to the Lyon final last month. The 25-year-old Brit had scored wins over Dubai titleist Aslan Karatsev and second seed Denis Shapovalov on the way to his third final of the year, and was hoping that this time he might be able to come away with his first tour-level crown.

But as I said, Berrettini was on a mission to demonstrate his breadth. He didn't allow even a break opportunity in the nearly two-hour match, firing off an astounding 19 aces and winning more than 90 percent of his first serves. That's the kind of service game that should work well for him at Wimbledon. Will it make him a contender for the crown? Who knows, but it sure will make some of the favorites sit up and take notice.

The 2020 Tennis Spin Awards: Under the Radar Stars

Wow, can you believe it's December? In what's somehow been both the longest and fastest year in history, we can finally see the other side. But before we get there, there's a little more to say about the tennis season that was, and a few more performances to really highlight.

So let's get to the next round of the Tennis Spin Awards!

These are the players who may not have made a loud splash in 2020, but that's exactly what makes them so dangerous. While we were all distracted by the bright shiny objects stealing the spotlight, these guys and gals chipped away at their matches and quietly pulled off some pretty big wins. And if and when they're given a chance, they might pull off some surprises against the top names in the sport.

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The Women

The Winner: Elise Mertens

It's been over two years since the 25-year-old Belgian hit her career high ranking just outside the top ten and a year since she won her last title. But in a severely abbreviated season where so few of the sport's top female players made the trip from one tournament to another -- not to mention from one continent to another -- Elise Mertens managed to rack up more wins than any other player in the WTA.

After the lockdown, Mertens made the final in Prague, the semis in "Cincy", and the quarters at the U.S. Open, where she dealt a pretty one-sided defeat to Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin. She closed out the year with some decent results on the clay, too, and finished as runner-up in Linz, losing there to her doubles partner Aryna Sabalenka -- the two partnered for the title, though, in Ostrava.

Mertens may not have the big weapons of some of the strongest players out there, but she has the workhorsemanship (is that a word) that can allow her to put together a string of wins, and maybe sometime soon, come home with the big trophies.

In a year as unpredictable as 2020, these six women found a way to get on court, and win once they got there. 🙌

1. @elise_mertens
2. @SabalenkaA
3. Elena Rybakina
4. @SofiaKenin
5. @Simona_Halep
6. @GarbiMuguruza pic.twitter.com/9xRoXdvPsv

— TENNIS (@Tennis) November 30, 2020

Honorable Mention: Ekaterina Alexandrova

As I've mentioned a couple times, I'd been out of the game for a few years there and so really missed the rise of some of the sports new stars. So I was surprised to realize, given some of her results this year, that this 26-year-old Russian had been spending so much of her time on the ITF tour and at 125K events.

In fact, Ekaterina Alexandrova wrapped up her 2019 season by taking her second straight title in Limoges -- her third there overall -- and went right on to capture her first WTA trophy in Shenzhen to start this year -- she beat Garbiñe Muguruza, Elena Rybakina and Qiang Wang in the process. At the end of the year, she held tough in a first round against Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open and made the semis in Linz, barely losing there to Mertens. She's a shade off her career high ranking at #33, but something tells me she might be primed for some big wins next year.

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The Men

The Winner: Ugo Humbert

You'd be forgiven if you didn't realize the 22-year-old Frenchman captured two titles this year, the first of his career. But ranked just outside the top fifty at the start of 2020, Ugo Humbert upset four favorites, including John Isner and Denis Shapovalov, and a former Grand Slam semifinalist to take home the trophy in Auckland and bookended the season with another win in Antwerp, besting surprise U.S. Open standout Pablo Carreño Busta on the way.

His titles only scratch the surface of his accomplishments, though -- Humbert also notched wins over Fabio Fognini in Rome, Daniil Medvedev in Hamburg, and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Paris Masters. Two wins over top ten players on the year? Pretty nice stat, considering he only played four matches against the group in total.

And at a career-high ranking of #30 heading into the new year, he could be in a place to get a lot more experience against the top guys in 2021. Sure, he has a good number of points to defend right off the bat, but he could well be in seeding territory when the Australian Open does eventually begin. And while he hasn't yet had a truly deep run at a Major -- he made the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, but that's his best yet -- he seems to be ready to break through. And the sport's elite should know better than to write him off.

He is, after all, a man of many talents...

The keys to @HumbertUgo's talent 🎹🤩 pic.twitter.com/3ElYEgZnJW

— ITF (@ITFTennis) November 30, 2020

Honorable Mention: Cristian Garin

The young Chilean is setting himself up to be a pretty solid force on the clay courts. After an early exit in Melbourne, he put together a nice run during this year's Golden Swing, picking up titles in Cordoba and Rio before withdrawing in the quarters in his own Santiago. In the back half of the year, he got his feet back under him on the clay of Hamburg to make the semifinals. Yes, he is turning into a bit of a specialist, with his 67% win rate on the dirt far outpacing that on other surfaces. But we've seen others thrive under exactly those parameters -- I'm not saying he'll win the French next year, but he could certainly do some damage if we aren't paying attention.

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Be sure to come back for more Tennis Spin Awards. Up next: the players who put together some of the best win streaks on tour this year -- and, surprise! None of them are named Novak Djokovic!

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

The Final Countdown

We're officially in the last stretch of this abbreviated and infinitely strange 2020 tennis season, with the last big event before the ATP Finals now underway. And with so few opportunities for players to make really big statements this year, perhaps it's no surprise that such a diverse field is hoping to close out 2020 with a strong performance at the Paris Masters.

Maybe somewhat surprisingly, all four of last week's finalists are back in the draw this week. John Millman, fresh off his first career title in Nur-Sultan, opens his campaign against a tough Miomir Kecmanovic and could next face U.S. Open finalist Alexander Zverev, who, despite two straight titles in Cologne, finds himself embroiled in scandal yet again this year. And Adrian Mannarino, who he beat yesterday, looms as a potential third round.

Meanwhile Vienna (🙏) Cinderella Lorenzo Sonego, a lucky loser who jumped to a career high #32 ranking with a stunning victory over Novak Djokovic last week, starts in Paris against tricky server Alexander Bublik. And Andrey Rublev, who booked his first ticket to the year-end championship by winning the title in Austria, has a second round date with Radu Albot. He's trying to earn an inspiring sixth title this year.

Congratulations, @AndreyRublev97!#ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/fRyQ1ItfWy

— Erste Bank Open (@ErsteBankOpen) November 1, 2020

Then there's under-the-radar Ugo Humbert, who picked up his second trophy of 2020 in Antwerp a few weeks ago and extended his win streak today by outlasting Casper Ruud in three sets. For his efforts, he'll be awarded a second round against second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

But there are a couple players in the field who are trying less to keep their recent momentum going, and more to turn around their luck. There are plenty to choose from, from David Goffin to one-time U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic. But highest on my list is Daniil Medvedev, who I thought last year would be virtually unstoppable against the top players. He's been rather lackluster in 2020, making the semis at the U.S. Open, but losing his first round at Roland Garros. He could potentially face off against Kevin Anderson, who beat him last week in Vienna, in the second round and while the South African is certainly well of his best game, he might be able to pull off an upset.

And of course, I can't leave out Diego Schwartzman, who's certainly won a lot of hearts with his performance this year. The Argentine, who stunned Rafael Nadal in Rome and made the French Open semis, has the ATP Finals in his sights for the first time in his career and would clinch it with a final appearance in Paris. He hasn't suffered a lot of upsets recently and with Medvedev the only other seed in his quarter, he could make a real play for the finish line.

Of course, there are a couple notable names absent from the Paris Masters draw this year, which could create some opportunities for spoilers. Some of that comes down to the COVID-altered ranking methodology, which allows players to count points from the better of their performances at an event in either this year or last. That's why Novak Djokovic, who won the title last year in Paris, had no incentive to defend those points and chose instead to lock in a year-end #1 with a couple wins in Vienna last week. Then there are players like Dominic Thiem, injured during his quarter final last week, who pulled out just before the draw was announced, and Gael Monfils, red-hot before the shutdown and winless since, who said he was ending his season last week.

Can the slew of lucky losers in the draw take advantage of those openings? Could top seeded Rafael Nadal take home his first hard court title in Paris -- how weird to think he's had such vastly different results in the same city?!

Whatever the case, it'll be interesting to see if these players can close out the year on a high note. While, at the end of the day, their performances may not be what we remember most about 2020, for each of them, this is a great opportunity to start to write a new story.

On a Roll

It's always tricky trying to manage player schedules ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year. After a couple weeks off tour, you want to get a little bit of match play under your belt, but also be careful not to tire yourself out ahead of the big game. Some players manage it better than others, but it's not uncommon to see those stars who take on full schedules flame out early at the Australian Open. This year, though, we're getting a glimpse of a couple stars who are proving to have real staying power.

It's not all good news, of course. France's Ugo Humbert had a solid run in Auckland with wins over Denis Shapovalov and John Isner on his way to the title, but couldn't quite keep his run going against hometown favorite John Millman in his first round. On the other hand are the players you'd expect nothing but the best from -- Novak Djokovic, who went 6-0 at the ATP Cup, had a big of a bobble against Jan-Lennard Struff in the third set but made it through largely unscathed, and Serena Williams, fresh off her first title in three years in Brisbane, dispatched young talent Anastasia Potapova in under an hour. But it's some of the other performances that have really caught my attention.

Take for example Shenzhen champion Ekaterina Alexandrova. The twenty-five year old Russian took out three seeds on her way to that title, her first in the top tier, and climbed to her career-high ranking of #26 in the world. She's seeded at a Major for the first time in her career and opened against a tough Jil Teichmann on Monday. It was a tight match, taking three sets and over two hours, but for her efforts she'll get to meet Czech qualifier Barbora Krejcikova, ranked out of the top hundred. Alexandrova's won the pair's only previous meeting, almost three years ago, in another close match, but she's certainly upped her game since. Last year's finalist Petra Kvitova likely awaits her a round later, though, so it only gets tougher from here. But there are opportunities where the rising star can take advantage.

But maybe more interesting is Elena Rybakina, who actually lost in the Shenzhen final but rebounded quickly to claim her second career trophy last weekend in Hobart. She'd already played ten matches this year before even stepping foot in Melbourne Park, and though her seeding doesn't reflect it, is actually now ranked higher than the woman who defeated her in China. So far she's followed through with her early successes -- withstanding Monday's rain delay to take out an on-the-rise Bernarda Pera on Tuesday. We'll get a glimpse of how truly resilient she is, as she won't get a day off before coming up against qualifier Greet Minnen tomorrow. But perhaps her non-stop schedule so far got her ready for exactly that task.

On the men's side, you have to hand it to twenty-two year old Andrey Rublev, who started his year in Doha and flew all the way over to Adelaide without dropping a beat. In the first two weeks of the year, he's doubled his trophy count to four and, while he hasn't had to face a top twenty player in either run, brought his ranking up to #16, though like with Rybakina, his performance last week came too late to improve his seeding in Melbourne. He had a little bit of a hiccup against wildcard Christopher O'Connell in his first round, dropping a bagel in the second set, but rebounded to keep his record perfect on the year. Of course the bigger challenges are still to come, but the Russian was gifted a pretty winnable section of the draw -- his biggest immediate threat is a struggling Alexander Zverev -- and he has a chance to cement himself as a real force this year.

At the other end of the spectrum -- at least on the age front -- is thirty-one year old Roberto Bautista Agut, who as I've said was the surprise standout at the ATP Cup this year, marking a perfect record at the round robin-style event. He didn't go up against the very top players -- he avoided, for example, matches against Novak Djokovic and even David Goffin -- but it was enough to bump his ranking up to #9 in time for the Open. He rolled past fellow veteran Feliciano Lopez in his opening match and will face American wildcard Michael Mmoh next. And while he may be the oldest in this group, he may be the one with enough experience to keep his 2020 unbeaten streak going the longest.

Second round play kicks off in a few hours, with a couple first rounds still to be completed. But we've got a lot of players looking to really make a splash at this year's Australian Open. And if they can prove themselves here, there's no telling what more they'll be able to do for the rest of the season.