21 Questions

The summer sun has set in Australia for the ATP and WTA. Tennis has left the continent until 2015, but the train rolls along to the hard courts, whether outdoors or otherwise, of the Middle East and Europe. Many players take much needed breaks to enjoy family time, serve food to drivers stuck in blizzard traffic, or cover the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Still, there are many other unanswered questions that need to be tended to before we hit the restart button. U.S. hard courts and the Euroclay swing will be here sooner than we think! Here are some inquiries that will potentially require the rest of the year to investigate and uncover:

1. Will Serena recover from a disappointing Oz for a third straight year? It's been hard luck Down Under for Serena. She's skipping Doha which may signal a more serious back issue than originally thought, but she should be well rested for Miami. Patrick Mouratoglou should be #proud either way.
2. Does Li Na have a healthy chance to get even closer to a Career Slam? The fact that this is even in the cards for her is a testament to her recent consistency. Li is great on all surfaces and, given Serena's occasional frailty at recent Slams, she should have a decent shot at a Wimbledon or U.S. Open title.
3. Will MaSha be ready to rev up her season post-Sochi? She was decent in Brisbane and off her game in Melbourne and the Paris Indoors. Sharapova's the defending champ at Indian Wells, so she'll have to find her form quickly.
4. How often will we hear "Pome!" at the other large events? Cibulkova showed every facet of her results by busting through to the final at the Australian Open, then losing her two singles rubbers in Fed Cup. I expect largely the same, though I wouldn't be surprised to see her have similar successes at Roland Garros.
5. Can Aga fight her own demons and nab that elusive maiden major title? Another Slam semifinal, another bitter disappointment. These are getting harder swallow for Radwanska. The Middle East and American hard court swing will be a good gauge to see where her head is at?
6. Will we see Auckland Venus or Melbourne Venus (or both) in 2014? She had many chances against Makarova in Australia, but played well through poor patches to push Ivanovic in New Zealand. It's a toss-up, but I think we'll see more of vintage Venus this year.
7. How can Vika get her groove back? She owned Aga, but got sliced open and carbo-loaded in Melbourne. Now she's dealing with a bum foot. Azarenka isn't defending until the summer hard courts, so these next few months present a big opportunity to pick up much needed momentum.
8. Will Genie 2014 mirror Sloane's 2013? Bouchard is steadier and is mentally ready for the pressure of being a top player. Expect her to use this rankings gain to her advantage.
9. How much confidence did Ana Ivanovic gain from her Australian summer? A title run and a win over Serena is pretty darn impressive. She looks happier with her team, too. Ana could be a threat to do some things in the coming months, especially as we head towards the clay.
10. Is Simona Halep ready for primetime? She's defending almost nothing in the next few months, but the pressure cooker will be on high once Rome rolls around. Making a Slam quarter should be good for her confidence.
11. Will Wozniacki fall even further? Eight Slams, zero second-week appearances. It's become a bad trend for Woz to get hit off the court without much of a fight. Still, with Serena, MaSha, Vika, and Aga in somewhat vulnerable mindsets, she can scrape together some solid results to get the train back on the tracks; she is derailed at the moment.
12. What is #Stanimal's follow up act? Wawrinka did something that even Federer can't boast, and that's defeat the Top 2 players AND defeat Rafa and Nole to win a Grand Slam. Hard to follow that up, but the current rankings don't lie. He's definitely the third likeliest to win the French Open this season.
13. Will Stan's win start a shift to a post-Big 4 era? Unlike Del Potro in 2009, Stan's title run did not seem like a "lightning in a bottle" type of performance. However, as we've seen with DelPo, it'll take more consistent, day-in and day-out high-level tennis than the result of a singular Grand Slam to shake the core of the Big 4 (I like to rhyme occasionally).
14. What does Dimitrov do next to impress? Baby Fed's game is awe-striking and dynamic and we finally have a very good Grand Slam result to back up the hype. His performance against Rafa was notable for the way he won the first set as much as it was for his reaction to ultimately losing the match. He's got the goods to play on all surfaces and a higher ranking should boost his chances of making three more second-week appearances at Slams this year.
15. What can Milos Raonic do regain control of the "Next Generation" conversation? Bernard Tomic was the first to make a Slam quarterfinal, Jerzy Janowicz made a Slam semi, and Dimitrov has that big win over a No. 1 and also made a quarterfinal appearance, beating out Raonic in the process. A loss to his cohort has shifted the attention away from Milos in a big way. He will need a stellar performance at either Indian Wells or Miami, semis or better, to grab back some of the hype that has been redistributed amongst his peers.
16. Has Novak lost his killer instinct? I wrote my remarks about Novak's recent Slam struggles here, but maybe losing Oz will galvanize him for the remainder of the year, just as losing the No. 1 ranking was a springboard for his immaculate fall. He's still, in my eyes, the best player on tour all things equal and that should give him some confidence going forward (I hope).
17. Is Nadal scheduled for a dip in results? The one thing Rafa has never done was earn the year-end No. 1 ranking for consecutive seasons. It'll be hard to match his amazing 2013, but he's ripe to hold onto the top spot given his big lead and Djokovic's shakiness.
18. Is Roger back on track? He ran circles around an out-of-sorts Tsonga and dazzled, though not without a slight stumble, against Murray. But then he was beaten down, mentally and otherwise, by Nadal. It was a great run and losing to Nadal isn't anything new for Federer, but the way he lost to him (and in Brisbane to Hewitt) has me hesitating to proclaim Roger "back." I need a bigger sample size.
19. When should we expect Andy Murray to return to form? Losing to an in-form Roger isn't the end of the world. Still, he has a chunk of points to defend before the European clay swing, and will want to get back on his horse quickly. Then again, Andy Murray and the month of March generally don't get along.
20. Are DelPo and Isner doomed to disappoint at the Slams? Both big men won titles the weekend before the Australian Open commenced and both were cut down during the heat wave, citing injuries. Del Potro has been dealing with the left wrist for some time and Isner said he had ankle issues in Auckland, you would think they would manage their schedules better to avoid early Slam exits. Our expectations of these talents are so much higher than their results on the major stages, and I don't see them improving too much on that front this year.
21. How different will the Slam winners look this year? An interesting question because both top-ranked players on each of the tours should expect at least some decline from their monstrous 2013 seasons and the No. 2s are in a bit of a professional flux. The French Open is likely the biggest opportunity for a Slam-less WTAer to nab her first major and I think the U.S. Open could be a chance for the ATP B-squad, particularly Berdych and Tsonga, to join Stan as this year's first-time champions.

Woof, that was long! Any questions you want answered for the remainder of 2014? Have a different answer to any of the questions already posed? Leave a comment! Doha and Rotterdam are underway, and it may give us some clues regarding these inquiries.