Wk.2- You Can't Keep a Good Muller Down Forever

Hey, all. Galileo here.

Welcome to a slightly shorter Week 2 post. You'll be hearing so much from this BACKSPINNER over the next two weeks, so why start with a big long post? Why not lighten my work-load and your read-load?

It was our first week of hitting the ball in anger everywhere. We also got the draw for our first slam, so it was a good week. Of course, we also saw a twice-defending champion vanquished and Dominic Thiem have a bit of a meltdown.

"If I don't see myself, and if I don't believe that I can be competitive, and when I mean 'competitive', it is fighting for the things that I fight for during the last 10 years, I will be probably be playing golf or fishing at home. I am being honest with this. If I am here it is because I believe."

That’s Rafa Nadal, discussing his chances in Australia.

The Spaniard is always dangerous, but if, and it is a huge if, he’s going to win another slam it is only going to come in one place. You wonder if Nadal is going to go into retirement or be pushed. In fact, this is a field packed with former champions - Federer, Nadal, Wawrinka and Djokovic. You can probably discount Federer and Nadal. And don’t forget the five-time finalist Murray. But if he were to lose final number six that would be an awful result. Evonne Goolagong losing four in a row in the 1970’s was poor, but to lose six? It would certainly raise questions.

But we will get to the Australian Open soon. For now, we need to look back, not forward.

*WEEK 2 CHAMPIONS*
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (Hard)
S: Gilles Muller def. Daniel Evans 7-6(5)/6-2
D: Koolhof/Middelkoop d. J.Murray/Soares
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (Hard)
S: Jack Sock def. Joao Sousa 6-3/5-7/6-3
D: Matkowski/Qureshi d. Erlich/Lipsky


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: GILLES MULLER, FRA
...It’s hard to know where to put Muller, which box he belongs in. He has a lot of touch for a big server, a lot of dimensions for someone who relies on breakers so much. He is now at his highest ever ranking of 28. Plus, he finally has his first title. He improved to 1-5. For such a good volleyer, his final last week in doubles was surprisingly only his second. He is 0-2 in ATP doubles finals. Last year he made finals in back to back weeks on grass, but lost both. One of them was in three breakers to Karlovic. Given that he made his first final in 2004, the fact he won his first title this year might give him an ATP Tour record - longest time between first final and first title. The sixth seed opened with a win over Dolgopolov, hanging on to win 7-5 in the third. Then he saw off Matthew Barton 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. To start the year with a quarterfinal in the first two weeks is a big result. Then an upset. He saw off second seeded Cuevas 7-6[4], 6-4. More breakers in the semi-finals, as he put the two-time defending champion Troicki to the sword 6-3, 7-6[6]. Viktor had beaten him in that round previously, winning 6-4, 6-2 in 2015. So revenge for the Luxembourgian player. The big serving lefty hung on in the final to see off Evans 7-6[4], 6-2. By the end, Evans wasn’t just cracking from the pressure, he was imploding.
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RISER: JOAO SOUSA, POR
...This guy is a total wildcard. A very talented, top 20 talent at times, he can beat anybody on his day. He has a strong game off the baseline and has a serious array of shots at his disposal. Throw in a serious amount of guts and you have a seriously dangerous player. Which is what he is. And you will see that at the Australian Open. He opens with Australian Thompson, but is likely to face eighth seeded Thiem in the second round. And we should all be on upset alert for that. In the first round of Auckland he dismissed 6th seed Ramos-Vinolos 6-1, 7-5. Brydon Klein, a former Aussie now playing for Britain, had qualified but his run ended at the hands of the Portuguese 6-3, 6-4. Next was Haase, who managed to win just five games. Sousa had hit a purple patch which continued when he saw off Baghdatis 6-1, 7-5. Having knocked out two seeds and not dropped a set he was coming into the final on form. But he couldn’t hang on against Sock and went down in three tight sets. His highest ranking was 27, but he has stayed around the top 40 for some time. He had a personal best result at all four slams last year. Keep watching the Portugese vet. Upsets tend to happen around him. The only negative? His 2-6 mark in finals. That has to improve.
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FRESH FACE: WESLEY KOOLHOF/MATWE MIDDELKOOP, NED/NED
...Who? Well, exactly. But they have both won their first title of any kind on the ATP World Tour. Well that’s what this BACKSPINNER thought. But no. Matwe Middlekoop and Wesley Koolhof are 2-0 in finals. They won in Kitzbuhel and Sofia last year. And they are 6-2 in challenger doubles finals. They have won exactly one doubles match at slam level, but are in a manageable area of the draw for this year’s edition of the Australian Open. During their run in Sydney they beat the fourth seeds and the top seeds, in the final. So watch out for them in Melbourne.
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VETERAN: JACK SOCK, USA
...He does feel like a late bloomer. But the American is still only 24. And he has a slam trophy in mixed with Oudin and in men’s with Pospisil. He has won those on two different surfaces. This guy is probably the future of American tennis, though Harry Taylor Fritz may have something to say about that. He has improved to 2-4 in finals and, more than that, he finally has a great chance to have a breakout slam. He is in a very nice section of the draw. Now he has a chance for a big result. But he didn’t face a murderer’s row in Auckland, with Johnson the best he faced. Will he be able to get up for tougher competition?
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SURPRISE: DANIEL EVANS, GBR
...Living in Britain means hearing about this guy who, admittedly, does have talent. But the British press aren’t happy about having Konta, Watson, Robson and the Murrays. So they continue to wax lyrical about Evans. And they made that guy who Federer thrashed at Wimbledon last year, Marcus Willis, a cult hero. Anyway, Evans was in Sydney last week. And he had a great tournament and sunburn by the end of the week. The edgy win over Monteiro was hardly impressive, but beating two seeds back to back was. To come back against a player of Thiem’s stature is also noteworthy. Next time he has to win that final. You can’t blow opportunities in this sport.
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DOWN: DOMINIC THIEM, AUT
...All throughout last year Thiem scheduled poorly. He went into far too many tournaments. He has not learned from his errors. Last week he should’ve given a pitiful excuse and withdrawn. He has top eight seeding. Why not rest and try to make a run? His loss in three to Evans was all his own fault and should have been avoided. He needs to pace himself better throughout the year. He could be world number one if he just picked his tournaments a little better.
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UPSET: ROBIN HAASE, NED
...Years ago Haase led Nadal at Wimbledon. He was up two sets to one but crumbled and won just three more games. Nadal, however, won the whole thing. He has played Murray at three of the slams and pushed him close at the U.S. twice. Once he led by two sets to none but lost the last three 6-2, 6-0, 6-4. Last week he defeated the delightfully named Kiwi Finn Tearney in straight sets. But, more importantly, he defeated the three time champion David Ferrer. And he did it the Ferrer way. He gritted out a tough 2-6, 6-4, 7-6[4] victory. Sure, Ferrer’s stock is falling, but that is still a remarkable result. He is ready to make some noise in Melbourne. Or not, because he drew Zverev. If he could cause the upset it be quite a splash.
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Notes from the Week...
1 – This from Stuart Fraser

Novak Djokovic can reclaim world No 1 if he wins the Australian Open and Andy Murray is knocked out before the semi-finals.

— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) January 7, 2017

2 – Ten years ago the Australian Open played on that funny green surface for the last time. Of the 32 seeds in that year, a third are seeded this week, about a third have retired and the rest have faded badly. Ours can be a cruel sport.
3 – In Sydney, the women's main-draw ranking cut-off was 29, making it the highest cut-off of any WTA tournament in the world in the past year. Imagine that - being ranked 30 and having to qualify.


1. Auckland R2- Baghdatis d. Brown 4-6, 7-6[4]. 6-4
...Brown blew another one. The German was up and had the match in his palm, but the Cypriot fought back for the win. He will be dangerous in Melbourne if he can stay fit and motivated. He is a classic spoiler pick. Beware if he ends up near a big seed. This match also featured a clash of styles, always a plus.
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2. Auckland F - Sock d. Sousa 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
...Sock's big heavy forehands bought him another title. Having not dropped a set the whole way the Portugese man was in form. But when he was a point away from 3-1 in the third, he faltered, lost his serve and Sock never looked back. Still, it was a great battling effort to take the second set and force a third. Watch out for Sousa in Melbourne.
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3. Sydney QF – Evans d. Thiem 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
...It took over two hours for Evans to get his first ever top ten win. The worrying thing was hot Thiem literally just faded, collapsed down the stretch. He won't win his first slam until he corrects his approach to schedules and puts matches away.
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Dasha, seeded 22nd, got no easy draw in the first slam of the year. Naomi Broady is no pushover and then she has to face either Mladenovic or Konjuh. After that is Bacs or possibly Giorgi. If she wins those, and she is fully capable of it, Pliskova almost certainly awaits in the next round. And it's the scary one. Her ace in the hole is the crowd and the fact she has a great support network. No doubt Kyrgios will watch some of her matches if he doesn't have clashes. No doubles draw yet, but she should be pairing with Kasatkina.

In Sydney, the Dashas beat Huber/Sanchez 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 [10-7]. But they withdrew in the next round. After beating Vekic, Gavrilova got just four games against eventual champion Konta. Konta then eliminated the other Dasha, before rolling to the title. Her dismissal of Aga in the final was impressive.

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