Anarchy of Tennis Professionals

Well, that escalated quickly.

I've sensed this quiet disturbance in the men's tennis force earlier this year. There have been patches of the 2014 season that made you question, is this the year the ATP gives us something new? Even though 'something new' came very quickly with Stan Wawrinka bagging the Australian Open title unexpectedly, it was a common exercise to point to Rafael Nadal's untimely back injury as the reason Stan won. Still, there were little sprinklings of evidence signaling the arrival of new blood and the weakening stranglehold the Big Four had on the rest of the tour.

Tele-Kei-nesis

Funnily enough, it starts with Rafa's Australian Open campaign, where he was subtly pushed by Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov in consecutive rounds. In both of those matches, Rafa couldn't fall back on his B-game to get him through. It made me think that maybe, just maybe, the Next Generation was ready to start making some noise. Maybe the oft-overlooked B-Squad was about to come out of the shadows.

As the season moved forward, the results slowly became more conspicuous. In February, Grigor outlasted Andy in Acapulco when, in the years prior, "Grigor" and "outlast" didn't belong in the same sentence. Milos Raonic turned himself into a ubiquitous presence in the quarterfinals of Masters 1000 tournaments. Kei stunned Roger Federer in Miami and was blitzing Rafa on Madrid clay before coming up lame with a back injury that forced him to retire in the final. Roger lost what looked like sure titles in Monte Carlo and Toronto to Stan and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Even 19 year-old Nick Kyrgios got in on the action with his takedown of Nadal at Wimbledon.

The men's locker room was buzzing about Stan opening doors for them and their increased belief. The impossible was proved to be possible. This U.S. Open is an even bigger feather in the Belief Cap. With just one round to go before the 36th thrilling installment of Fedole, Marin Cilic routined Roger and Kei played the role of Iron Man, having enough willpower to stand the humidity and Novak Djokovic after beating Milos and Stan in two physically, and mentally, draining five-setters. Not since the 2005 Australian Open have we had both Slam finalists come from outside of the Big Four. Either Cilic or Nishikori will become the second first-time Slam winner on the ATP this season. The last year there were multiple first-time winners was 2003.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? In 2003, Agassi won his last Slam in Melbourne before Juan Carlos Ferrero, Roger Federer, and Andy Roddick cleaned up the rest, beginning their own periods at the top of the game. 2003 can definitively be classified as a year of upheaval, harbinger of the Fed Era that we are still trying to wade through. Is 2014 the signal of another instantaneous shuffle at the top?

A large fact refuting this new regime is the current cream of the rankings crop compared to that of 2003. A-Rod, Fed, and JCF were the tour's Top 3 back then, a complete changing of the guard. The Top 3 now are Novak, Rafa, and Roger, and they will likely remain in their positions by season's end. The Big 3 still reign in that department. It also doesn't help that two of those three are holding Slam trophies, with the other having made a final and two additional semis.

So there is something strong in the air this year, but expect the same names to still be very relevant in the big picture of 2015 just with these new names in the mix on Sundays. The ATP is still very much the Big Four's world and they will still stand on the majority of podiums, but, as 2014 has shown, nothing lasts forever. It's about time we start to accept the idea of other champions in this sport. One will be forced upon us tonight. Nishikori in four.

What are your thoughts? Is this the first page of "The End of the Big Four" novel? Or is this a fluke? Leave a comment!

WTA Sidebar: you are ridiculous, Serena Williams. Congratulations on 18. And commiserations to Caroline. So glad to see her back near the top where she belong.

(Image from stevegtennis.com)

All's Indian Wells That Ends Indian Wells

World Tennis Day has come and gone, but which players can use a holiday boost in the desert? Below are a few players who could benefit from a good run at the Fifth Slam:

Novak Djokovic - While he's only played 8 matches this year, it's clear that Nole has been off to an uncharacteristic start. It's the first time since 2006 that he has come into Indian Wells title-less. He took the first set of both matches he lost (and was up a break in the fifth set against Wawrinka in Melbourne), leading to many questions regarding his mental state and lacking killer instinct. Djokovic has a nice draw to the final though, being the only one of the Big 4 in his half.

Andy Murray - It's been a slow comeback for Muzz and he's traditionally struggled in California, but the courts at Indian Wells suit his game and he SHOULD do well. If we get the quarterfinal matchup between him and Rafa, we'll really get a sense as to where Andy is at compared to his Big 4 brethren.

Milos can't pull off this look

Milos Raonic - The Canadian Missile has definitely been shunted to the side by his cohorts as of late, most notably Grigor Dimitrov, winner of Acapulco and all-around cutie pie. He's had to pull out of Davis Cup and withdraw from Zagreb due to a bum ankle, but winning a potential showdown against Jerzy Janowicz in the third round can ease a lot of the pain.

Petra Kvitova - Two years after being a few points of the No. 1 ranking, Petra suddenly has a lot to prove. This year's first round loss in Australia sounded several alarms, whether it was her continued struggles in warm playing conditions or her penchant to go completely off the rails with her groundstrokes. She needs a big result at a relevant tournament to quell the questioners. A semifinal or better run at Indian Wells (or Miami) would help Kvitova's cause.

Australian coffee is her kryptonite

Sam Stosur - Sam is in a bit of a career crossroads, but with some of the top players stumbling out of the gates this season, she has the opportunity to make something of a run in the desert. If she gets through her early rounds, Sam is a dangerous opponent for any of the WTA's upper crust. Indian Wells should be a good surface for her playstyle and hopefully she's confident in her abilities after her best result in Australia in awhile, reaching the third round of Melbourne. (That sounded rude, but it's the truth.)

Sloane Stephens - Obviously (Sloane's favorite word) she has been in a funk. Although she went 0 for the Middle East yet again, Sloane can silence a bunch of critics with a deep run, and she has a draw that could break her way if she takes care of business on the front end. A decent result here can give her ranking a bolster, too, as she isn't defending any points from 2013.

Anyone else in mind that could use Indian Wells as a springboard to 2014 success? Leave a comment and tell me who! Should be a fun tournament, as always. Please God, let men's doubles have decent TV coverage in the early rounds...

Canadian Missile Crisis: Make or Break Time for Raonic

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!

Maybe it's maple leaf

Although he missed qualifying for the World Tour Finals in 2013, Milos Raonic did well to finish the year at No. 11. He's the youngest guy in the Top 20 and second youngest in the Top 50. So why does it seem like 2014 is a make or break season for the Pride of Canada (or something)? It's because his 2013 didn't really consist of anything special. There were a few highs, and a few lows, but he's been mostly stagnant in terms of big wins or impressive runs. Here's how his 2013 shook out:

The Good

Milos should really be able to take advantage of his improved ranking on the Australian hard courts. He had a really impressive Asian swing, winning the Bangkok title over Tomas Berdych and defending his finalist points in Tokyo (ultimately losing to the hot hand of Juan Martin Del Potro). His big fall left him with an outside shot of qualifying for London going into Bercy. Even with all of that, Milos's season will be most remembered for his run to his first Masters 1000 final in his backyard at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, winning some very tight matches to get there.

The Bad

Unfortunately for Raonic, he continues to flounder against the guys ranked above him. His 2013 record against the Top 10 was only 3-9, with two of those victories coming after the U.S. Open and one of them muddled by controversy (more on that later). His Grand Slam performances have also been a disappointment. He failed to reach the quarterfinals of a single Slam this year and had his opportunity in Flushing Meadows against everyone's favorite Round of 16 opponent, Richard Gasquet. Milos had a match point in the very long fourth set tiebreaker, but couldn't close.

The Ugly

Milos really took unexpected heat when he hypothetically/technically gamed the system at the expense of beloved DelPo en route to the Rogers Cup final. Granted, Milos was on his way to winning that match and he did well to eventually apologize, but it wasn't a good look for him or for tennis. Raonic's desire to win matches is very evident, but it makes me wonder whether this helps or hurts him during pressure points. For someone who is prone to playing tiebreakers, he had a very mediocre 20-19 record last season.

2014 Outlook

I'm not sure what this new season will bring for Milos. His improved ranking should help him get slightly softer draws at Slams, but he's lost to lower ranked players in the past, and in rather routine fashion. We'll see if he can do some damage on the hard courts, especially in North America. Events outside of his home continent may be tough on Milos. He hasn't done a whole lot on clay and he's useless on grass. If he is to make a big move up to the upper crust of the rankings, Raonic better take advantage of the Melbourne, Indian Wells, and Miami hard courts. Who knows if he will, eh? (Had to.)

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment!

The Count of Monte Carlo

This clay season just got real.

I must admit, as a Nole fan, I was already writing off 2013's Euro-clay season as loss. Nadal took home two titles (including a thorough beatdown of his primary whipping boy, David Ferrer) and lost just one match in his comeback tour on South American/Mexican clay, not to mention winning Indian Wells, his first hard court title since 2010. It was pretty much a given that Rafa would sweep through April and May without any sort of hiccup.

Fast forward through a very combative final and we are back in 2011 all over again. Djokovic really took it to Nadal at his "favorite tournament." Yeah, it would be my favorite, too, had I won there EIGHT TIMES IN A ROW.

Anyway, now that the road to Roland Garros is not yet a foregone conclusion, let's try to make sense of what could go down as we get closer to the season's second Grand Slam.

Barcelona: now this is a foregone conclusion. Nadal has won the trophy here the last seven times he's entered. His half of the draw contains a few threatening players like Berdych, Raonic, and Dimitrov, but they are all in Berdych's quarter. However, his confidence may be shaken after his dustup with Nole in Monaco, so maybe, possibly Ferrer has a chance to sneak one in? Yeah, I don't think so either.

Madrid: Fed is defending his title here, but we are back to red this time around. The blue clay of 2012 was much more grass-like than anything else, so I don't think he'll be as lucky this year. Both Nadal and Djokovic have major points to gain here and I'm sure Andy will have worked on his clay court abilities to be a factor. It all depends on how the draw shakes up. Nadal could meet one of the other Big 4 in the quarters.

Rome: the final tune up will be a good one. Nadal ran through Djokovic in the final here last year, but look for Nole to try to exact some revenge here. Much like Madrid, it comes down to where Nadal is placed in the draw.

SO, with all that being said, WHO YA GOT? Can Nole bring back the magic of his 2011 RG tune-ups? Will Roger or Andy make any noise these coming weeks? Most importantly (in my opinion, will Rafa get a protected ranking at Roland Garros? The French Open is closing in on us really quick and I have a rekindled excitement for it! Today, we saw an excellent preview of a potential final round matchup. Or semifinal. Or quarterfinal. Please give Nadal the fourth seed...

Semis Are Set Sans Serena

Okay, no time because because the the women's semifinals start in a few minutes/seconds, but I must address a few things about what we've seen this past week:

Sloane Stephens defeats a hobbled Serena. I'm thoroughly shocked at the outcome because Serena seemed to have felt better physically in the third set, but so very happy for the teenager. Sloane is here to stay!

Djokovic wins five-set epic against Stan Wawrinka. Once again, Nole had me awake all hours of the night and 'til the wee hours of the morning. A challenge here or there could have altered the complexion of the final moments, but Djokovic prevails.

Sharapova rolling through her opponents. She must have eaten a truckload of these because she is riding the longest sugar-high ever. With Serena out, she has to be the new favorite (Sorry, Vika).

DelPo ousted early. Very disappointing result Down Under. There is a big ol' brick wall in front of him at the majors and he needs to figure out how to scale it. And quick.

Federer schools the cool kids in class. Roger has the most varied offensive arsenal in tennis history and he showed it against two vastly different youngsters. He showed Tomic what finesse was about and he outserved Raonic. The old guy's still got the goods.

Anyway, gotta run! Enjoy the rest of the Australian Open! Sure to be an exciting finish :)