Commanding Respect: Sloane has Plenty to Prove and Disprove

This December, I'm going to attempt to profile a few players to watch in advance of the 2014 season. Leave a comment on any of these postmortems if there is a player you think I overlooked!

Her future is as bright as her kits

Sloane Stephens's 2013 could be described using many words with varied meanings: breakout, schizophrenic, inconsistent, lucky, tumultuous. It was a year that Sloane really made her mark on the WTA circuit as a constant headline grabber, someone you want to see succeed or fail spectacularly. In my opinion, Sloane became the most polarizing figure in women's tennis over the past year, and she managed to do so with both her play on the court and magazine interviews off of it. Here's a look at her ever-oscillating season:

The Good

If you wanna rip on Sloane's season, the one area you can't knock is her ability to get up for the Grand Slams. Along with Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska, Sloane was one of three women to make the second week of each one (and very well could've won Wimbledon). She also plays well in tight moments, a key trait that many great players share. And I believe she's on her way to doing some big things in this sport. She's got the power, she's got the speed, and she's got the confidence. Most importantly, we've seen her put it together, if only for a stretch of two matches. Sloane's decision to work with Paul Annacone is really encouraging for those of us who enjoy seeing her put together.

The Bad

Her poor patches of play leave so much to be desired, particularly at tour-level events. She's made only one semifinal outside of Melbourne this year, zero outside of Australia as a whole. Sloane has lost to a lot of players that she should routinely beat (e.g. STEFANIE VOEGELE IN BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS, WHAT IS THAT). That's so not Top 15 material. Her inconsistency and lethargy match in, match out is what's keeping her away from the upper echelons of the circuit.

The Ugly

All the drama surrounding Sloane this year was...a lot. Among being "disrespected," beating Serena, Vika's MTO, blasting Serena, flatline press conferences, not being able to hold serve against Marion Bartoli, and almost losing in the first round of the U.S. Open, it's hard to pick which moment caused more angst. I wonder how all of it affected her on the court, especially because she bursted out of the gates in 2013 and noticeably cooled down post-January.

2014 Outlook

The spotlight will be very bright on Sloane as we begin a new season. Her 2013 was full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and other roller coaster terms. She will be under immediate scrutiny to defend the bulk of her points Down Under we'll quickly learn if she can handle the pressure of defending your rank in the WTA pecking order. Still, once this January has passed, there are tons of opportunity for Sloane to make a serious push to the highest tiers. If she is able to steady herself and her results, I really believe Sloane has the capacity to be a mainstay for a long time. She just has to take it one match at a time.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment!

Knocked Down: Jo-Willy Fighting to Get Back Up

This December, I'm going to attempt to profile a few players to watch in advance of the 2014 season. Leave a comment on any of these postmortems if there is a player you think I overlooked!

I would love to see this after a Grand Slam final

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a modern example of French men's tennis. Can wow one point, then make you scratch your head the next. Combustible, yet huggable. Attempts unnecessarily acrobatic shots, yet seems perplexed when they don't go as planned. But unlike a Gael Monfils or a Benoit Paire, Jo is the only one of the lot that has been to a Grand Slam final and has the firepower to break the Big 4. So why did he finish 2013 a small step back from where he started? Let's take a look at his season starting with the positives:

The Good

For someone who was out due to injury for a huge chunk of the second half, Jo did well to remain in the Top 10 at the end of 2013. After missing the U.S. Open, he nearly defended his Metz title, losing to another Frenchman in Gilles Simon in the final. He made a good charge in his attempt to return to the World Tour Finals  with his semifinal run in Shanghai and came within a point and a match from outpacing Gasquet for that last berth to London. JW had a solid season pre-knee problems, helped by his title run in Marseille in February. Most notable was his monstrous French Open which included a thumping of Federer in the quarterfinals. He's also the spitting image of Muhammad Ali, which should count for something.

The Bad

Unfortunately for Jo and tennis fans alike, he continues to be snake-bitten with injuries at inopportune times. His retirement at Wimbledon was especially disappointing, since he was the one name outside of our four usual suspects that had an outside chance to potentially make the final against an out-of-gas Novak Djokovic. Tsonga isn't getting any younger either; he's older than three of the Big 4. His peak window is slowly closing and Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

The Ugly

How frustrating is it to watch Jo-Willy play, you ask? Watch this (1:18 - 1:42):

That's how frustrating. He does dumb things during the most unforgiving moments. His affinity for flair takes away from his substantial game. He let's matches slip from his grasp. The aforementioned point does not a Grand Slam champion make. He also has a habit of completely bowing to the guys ranked above him at times when you think he could pull off the upset. He drew Djokovic in the quarters of Indian Wells, with Djokovic coming off of underwhelming performances against Fabio Fognini and Grigor Dimitrov in his two previous matches, and got dusted, 1 and 3. He dismantles Federer in straights in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, only to get blown away by David Ferrer on his home court in the very next round. Opportunity seldom knocks during this Golden Era for the second tier players, but Jo is never around to answer the door when she does.

2014 Outlook

All of that being said, I really see this being a banner year to come for Tsonga. If anyone outside of the Big 4 were to win a Slam next season, he's first on my list. He has the power, he has the desire, and he has recorded big wins more recently than the other outsiders. If he could somehow be a little less French during critical points, we might see him in another Slam final very soon.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment!

Sugar Crash: Maria's Up, Down, Then Out 2013

This December, I'm going to attempt to profile a few players to watch in advance of the 2014 season. Leave a comment on any of these postmortems if there is a player you think I overlooked!

It's never too early to practice your "concerned WAG" face

Maria Sharapova has had another interesting, albeit less successful, year. She began 2013 crushing everyone in her path in Melbourne and ended it on an operating bed and many a red carpet. So what happened between January and October that has her with a new(er) coach, a repaired shoulder, and a correspondence gig at the Sochi Winter Olympics this coming February? Let's take a look, Good, Bad, & Ugly style:

The Good

Overall, MaSha's season, despite being pretty much M.I.A. in the second half, was actually pretty good. She showed just how dominant she can be during that ridiculously blazing start in Melbourne and her crushing of Caroline Wozniacki to win Indian Wells, one of her two titles for the year. She also showed that she isn't as far off from beating Serena as we previously thought, by taking a set in the Miami final and playing her in a very tough straight-set loss in the Roland Garros final one round after fighting through her nemesis, Victoria Azarenka, in topsy-turvy three-setter. Even though Serena owned on the red dirt, Claypova wasn't really far behind, defending her Stuttgart title and making the Madrid final.

(P.S. MaSha also officially started dating ATP heartthrob Grigor Dimitrov, and cemented their relationship status by cheering him on vociferously in his second round Wimbledon match. Respect.)

The Bad

The one burning question going into 2014 is whether Shara's shoulder is ready to go. She pulled the plug on her season after her poor loss to Sloane Stephens in Cincinnati, citing right shoulder bursitis. She had a previous surgery on her right rotator cuff causing a ten-month absence from the tour between 2008 and 2009. She has proven that she can come back stronger than ever, but will a second injury be too much for her to reach the summit once more?

The Ugly

"The Ugly" of MaSha's 2013 season is basically the 12 days after her Western & Southern Open exit and the commencement of the U.S. Open. She canned Jimmy Connors (and sent him into a spiraling alcohol-induced depression), embraced the silly, quirky, and splashy rumors of her changing her name to "Maria Sugarpova," and decided to retire her racquet for the year and attend sponsor events instead. It was confusing, and with her recent announcement of joining the NBC Winter Olympics coverage team, you wonder if she's already in a post-tennis state of mind. Sochi is MaSha's hometown, but it's still a bit ... spooky to see how much she has done in the last few months that does not concern tennis in the slightest.

2014 Outlook

For the most part, I think MaSha will be fine. I don't think we will see her revved up in full come January and is vulnerable to an early-round exit in Melbourne, but she is usually so very focused and dedicated to her tennis and I can't see that suddenly stopping, even with her shoulder issues. She had such a good 2013 prior to Wimbledon's Black Wednesday (still finished the year at No. 4) that I can't imagine her falling way off the pace of Vika and Li Na throughout the coming season. I fully expect her to be back to her sporty self going into the clay season.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment!

(Edit: and read this wonderfully relevant article on Sharapova by Chris Clarey.)