Monday, January 11, 2016

Wk.1- Here We Go Again...


Hey Y'all. Galileo here.



So, where do we begin? Raonic has won the Roy Emerson Cup. Djokovic has brutalised Nadal and Federer made another final. Oh, and Wawrinka is flying under the radar despite rolling through the Chennai field. So what’s new? Well, Fed lost that final, in two quick sets. Also, Australia look good coming into the Australian Open.

Now, as I’m sure you’re aware, the Hopman Cup is an ITF event and not an ATP event, technically. It is viewed as separate but part of the tour. With Serena out, who would steal the show? Kyrgios rode the home crowd to a 3-0 record, dropping just a set in the process. His win against Murray was impressive but perhaps even more notable than that victory was his performance against the Dog (Dolgopolov). Against an unpredictable, explosive opponent Kyrgios was solid and measured. He served big and was in control for most of the match. The fatal nail in the coffin came when Kyrgios got a break early in the second set. It was all he needed.



Svitolina impressed but not as much as the fiery Garcia. She served cleverly and made good decisions for the most part. Her forehand was absolutely on song and she was let down only by her partner De Schepper. She was originally meant to have Monfils, now she has only the thought of what might have been. Gavrilova and her dash of insanity are going to be a good addition to the Australian stable. She and Tomljanovic are both solid top 30 prospects.

Heather Watson was another solid performer and she also should have expected more from her partner. Lisicki and Serena were disappointing, though Serena can be excused. Australia’s second team were clearly just happy to be there. Wolfe, who has previously been Groth and Gajdosova (twice), was also a little disappointing, as was Hewitt.

The spirit of the tournament, at least, was not lost. Good sportsmanship was rife, with Sock making Hewitt challenge a call he knew was in. That was just one example of a Cup that had a ‘back to school’ feel. The young Australians had done their homework but the Germans and the Americans need remedial classes.

So, for the first time of many, shall we get going?

*Rankings Watch*
Top 32 - No change. Kyrgios, Chardy and Johnson are 30-32.
Top 10 – No change. Gasquet, Tsonga and Anderson are 9-11.
Top 8 – Kei and Ferrer swap. That aside, no change.
Top 4 – No change. Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Wawrinka.



*WEEK 1 CHAMPIONS*
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
S: Milos Raonic def. Roger Federer 6-4/6-4
D: Kontinen/Peers d. Duckworth/Guccione
DOHA, QATAR
S: Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal 6-1/6-2
D: F.Lopez/M.Lopez d. Petzschner/Peya
CHENNAI, INDIA
S: Stan Wawrinka def. Borna Coric 6-3/7-5
D: Marach/Martin d. Krajicek/Paire
HOPMAN CUP (Perth, AUS)
Australia Green (Kyrgios/Gavrilova) def. Ukraine (Dolgopolov/Svitolina) 2-0


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DJOKOVIC
...”If he plays like this I cannot do anything.” So says Nadal and so says everybody else. Well, just about everybody. The Swiss stars do not fear Djokovic as much as the rest of the field do. Take Qatar as the perfect example. Dustin Brown is horrible to play but Djokovic ousted him 6-2, 6-2 with no trouble at all. Next he blew by Verdasco in an identical scoreline. Mayer stuck around long enough to slightly bother the number one but still fell 6-3, 7-5. Third seed Berdych did even better but still lost 6-3, 7-6[3]. He did well to even push Novak that far. Nadal was on court for just over an hour. At least it was quick. The question for everyone this season is how to beat Djokovic. Who will beat Novak? How will they do it and when? Will he go on an unbeaten run? Will he win all four slams? Will the French finally be his? The answers are around the corner but until then we can only sit and stare in awe at the dominion over the rest of the tour he has. He is a steel curtain of efficient defence and aggressive returning that has no counter. Federer outplayed him in back-to-back slam finals but lost both in four. Wawrinka can beat him but not consistently and always when he is a complete underdog. So we have two who are capable. Murray won one but, really, he is out of the picture when it comes to solving Djokovic. So we must look to a new challenger. Perhaps the young Korean Chung is the answer. Or maybe Nishikori has new ideas. I think, however, the answer could lie closer to home. Here in Australia. Maybe not today, but some day Kyrgios could have Djokovic’s number. And when that day comes, we will know the young Aussie has arrived.

Nadal’s full quote here.
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RISER: RAONIC
...It is on Raonic that we focus now. He had injury woes last year, a lack of good slam results and was plagued by inconsistency. But he has turned a new leaf and he has started to look back to his old self, though with a slightly fresher hairdo. The funny thing about his run in Brisbane was that nobody saw it coming. Seeded fourth he scraped past Dodig 6-7[2], 6-1, 6-4. It’s bizarre for the Canadian to lose a breaker 7-2. Raonic recovered and didn’t lose another set. He beat Pouille 6-4, 6-4 then Tomic 7-6, 7-6. He was up 5-1 in both breakers before Tomic won four points in a row in both. The Canadian managed to win the last two pints of each breaker to give him a 7-5 victory in each. Then he overcame the world number three in his 136th final. He is ten off Lendl but 30 off Connors. No other active player has 100 finals but Nadal is on 99. The Canadian’s ranking did not change despite the title.
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VETERAN: WAWRINKA
...The yearly tradition of Wawrinka sweeping to victory in Chennai is expected. It happens every year, but to say it is because of a weaker field every time is a little insulting. Three years in a row he has won Chennai then made an Australian Open run. He is 4-1 in finals there this decade. Boring but impressive.

=============================
FRESH FACE: CORIC
...Aged just 19, Borna Coric has made his first ATP final. He didn’t even disgrace himself; he held his own against a defending slam champion and world number four. He is only just 19 and cannot drink in America or vote in certain countries. But he has won his way through to his maiden title. He should rise about four places to sit nicely at 40 in the world. He was seeded eight and opened up by beating Granollers in three. Then he dispatched rising star Austin Krajicek in two sets. Then, a signature win. A 3-6, 6-4, 7-6[1] win over Agut in the quarter-finals. He faced off against new Brit Bedene next aand edged an epic 7-6[5], 6-7[5], 6-3. The eighth seed was through. A loss to Wawrinka 6-3, 7-5 followed but that is perfectly acceptable.
.=============================
DOWN: CILIC
...It’s disappointing that Marin would go out like this. Sure, he is the second alternate in London. That means nothing. With a week-long gap, Gasquet likely won’t play. Competing for the alternate spot in London he went out in straight sets in the first round. He lost to the even more disappointing Dimitrov 7-6[3], 7-6[2]. With a serve like that, only getting five points in those breakers is criminal. Cilic has had another poor year. The only reason he is going to London is because three other players didn’t want it. He doesn’t deserve to go there. He needs to improve and go back to how he was last year. Federer was also poor. Had Cilic won another match it would be Federer here.
=============================
UPSET: TOMIC
...Tomic’s improvement continues to grow. He is finding consistency on and off the court. His 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 upset of top eight player Nishikori was the crowning moment of a good run to the semi-finals of Brisbane. Tomic has served well and played smarter than usual in his first handful of matches. Six years ago Tomic, aged about 17, was wild-carded into Brisbane in 2010. He lost to one A.Dolgopolov. Had he won he would have faced off against the second seeded Stepanek. This year, seeded 7th, Tomic beat Stepanek and the 2nd seed. Roddick won that year, beating Stepsy in two breakers. How times change. Look how far Tomic has come.
=============================

Notes from the week...
1 – Gasquet is out with a back injury. He is the biggest seed not competing in Melbourne.
2 – Australia will have two seeds for the first time in a long while on the men’s side. Kyrgios at 30 and Tomic at 16 can both go far.
3 – Apart from an inexplicable loss to Gavrilova, Svitolina looks the real deal.
4 – Azarenka is the biggest wild card in the Australian Open. Wherever she lands, chaos will surely follow. Also, watch out for Angie Kerber.
5 – Will Murray play the Australian Open? What is his form like? Here is an interesting article on just that.
6 – Australia won its first Hopman title since 1999 when Dokic and Philippoussis took out the title. Seeded 14th, he made the fourth round in Melbourne. He lost to eventual finalist Enqvist. Dokic got a wild card but was dismissed by Hingis for just three games in the third round. The second seeded Swiss went on to win the Australian. (Editor's note: And the Dokic eventually upset Hingis in the 1st Round at Wimbledon later that season.)
7 – Also this:



1. Brisbane Final - Raonic d. Federer 6-4, 6-4
...Raonic put in a complete performance to start the year. He was calm and unflappable. The Canuck had edged a determined Tomic in two breakers. Surely Federer would keep his form going and sweep to the title? No. Raonic fought through a break with the trainer and several break points to triumph in straights. Federer has an illness to contend with before the Open.
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2. Brisbane QF - Federer d. Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7[4], 6-4
...Federer came back from 4-1 down to take the second set into a breaker but crumbled once there. He eventually closed it in three. He appears unchanged from last year. His old magic is still around and he had a number of quick games. Dimitrov appears to be making steps forward…
=============================
3. Qatar Final - Djokovic d. Nadal 6-1, 6-2
...Djokovic monstered Nadal in an hour and a quarter. Rafa is in a bad way having struggled his way through to the showdown. Nadal could barely get a foothold and succumbed to the world number one. Last year Novak had one of his only losses here. This year no such thing happened.
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4. Hopman Cup rr - Kyrgios d. Murray 6-4, 7-6[5]
...A match that signals a new coming? Well behaved and consistent, Kyrgios is undefeated in 2016. He has been perfect so far. You can tell because the critics are so quiet. The young Aussie outclassed a slower looking Murray on the way to giving the Aussies a crucial win…
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*Auckland*
=SF=
Ferrer [1] d. [4] Anderson
Tsonga [2] d. [3] Isner
=FINAL=
Tsonga [2] d. [1] Ferrer

...Ferrer and Isner both have past success here in Auckland, having titled here previously. With little form to go on, the seeds are all I have and Tsonga will want a good warm-up before the Aussie. Anderson is Mr. Reliable but Ferrer should be too solid. The South African’s knee injury will be tested.

*Sydney*
=SF=
Tomic [1] d. [5] Seppi
Thiem [2] d. [4] Dimitrov
=FINAL=
Tomic [1] d. [2] Berdych

...Tomic is going to win here again, like in 2013. This may be the first ever event he is the top seed. Thiem is on form and it is a toss-up between him and Dimi, but I like the Austrian to ride his form all the way through to the final. Seppi has a history here and should be good enough to make a run.

Mladenovic is our WTA star this year. It links this blog to the WTA and it’s interesting to really follow a player the whole season long. She is ranked 30 in the world in singles and 9th in the doubles. She will turn 23 in May. Here is the blonde beating Halep in Birmingham last year. Ignore the misleading title. The quality is good.



She plays all three disciplines. Here she is losing, predictably, to Hingis/Paes.



She lost to Cornet 6-3, 6-4 in the singles in Brisbane. In the doubles she and Bencic went down fighting to Hingis 6-3, 4-6, 10-6. That will be a partnership to watch.


Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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posted by Todd.Spiker @ 1:54 PM 

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