Sunday, January 5, 2014

Week in Review (December 30th - January 5th)

As the first week of the season comes to a close and we approach the beginning of the Australian Open, we need to take a step back and look at what we’ve learned so far.

Americans participated all over the world, from Australia to the Middle East to China, each finding different amounts of success. There champions, heartbreaking defeats, injuries, and everything in between. So what is to be expected out of the Americans in the near future?

Hopman Cup
The team of Sloane Stephens and John Isner appeared to be a menacing one, as they came into the tournament as the 3-seed. Each played took care of business when they needed to, as they rolled through their match with Spain 3-0. Stephens continued to play well as she defeated Alize Cornet in straight sets, but Isner was not as fortunate as he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straights. The Americans then lost the tie, as the French team took the mixed doubles rubber. The tournament ended for the Stephens and Isner with their tie against the Czech Republic. Neither singles match was finished (Isner never took the court, Stephens only played the first set which she lost) as each American cited an injury. Isner explained that he had an ankle injury, while Stephens stated she was having back problems.



John Isner and Sloane Stephens congratulate each other after winning a point.

 
The Americans’ experience in Perth just reiterates what we already know. Both Isner and Stephens are very good players, they’ll just have to raise their level if they want to defeat the players ranked higher than them. Each player is expected to be ready in time for the Australian Open, as they will take this week to rest up and get back to 100%.

Auckland
There was a lot of American action in New Zealand, as 12 players participated in the singles. Coco Vandewghe, Sachia Vickery, Shelby Rogers, Julia Cohen, Irina Falconi, Maria Sanchez, and Grace Min all failed to qualify, Allison Riske and Christina McHale lost in the First Round, Lauren Davis made it to the Quarters, Jamie Hampton made it to the Semis, and Venus Williams made it to the final, before losing to Ana Ivanovic.

Six Americans played in the doubles tournament with the teams of Paszek/VANDEWEGHE, FALCONI/Hrdinova, and MCHALE/RISKE all losing in the First Round, Barthel/MOULTON-LEVY made it to the Semis, while Fichman/SANCHEZ won the tournament.

The tournament in Auckland proved to the tennis world that the American women are ready to make a statement. With seven players in the qualies, it shows that the Americans are making the effort to try to work their way into the top of the game. Lauren Davis and Jamie Hampton are well on their way to that after their good results to start off the season. Lastly, we realized that Venus Williams is not going anywhere anytime soon. Venus played well throughout the entire week, including the final, which took three very tight sets to be decided.
 
Venus waves to the crowd after winning a match.

Brisbane
Australia saw one American perform extremely well, while the rest left something to be longed for. Serena William rolled through the singles draw, defeating Azarenka, Sharapova, and Cibulkova along the way without dropping a single set. The women’s draw also saw Madison Keys and Varvara Lepchenko lose in the First Round, while Victoria Duval and Madison Brengle failed to qualify. In the men’s singles, Sam Querrey performed the best, losing to Matosevic in three sets in the Second Round, while Ryan Harrison and Alex Kuznetsov lost in the First Round, and Rhyne Williams, Bradley Klahn, and Wayne Odesnik failed to qualify.

Serena celebrates after defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final.
 
The doubles draws saw the teams of Nishikori/QUERREY, BUTORAC/Klassen, LEPCHENKO/Olaru lose in the First Round, while the team of Chan/HUBER make it to the Quarters.

Similar to Auckland, this tournament proved that the Americans are making an effort to work their way into the top tiers of the game. Ryan Harrison is on his way back towards that, as he qualified in Brisbane. Sam Querrey proved once again that he is capable of playing tennis at a high level, now he just needs to put it all together and string a few matches together. And of course, there was Serena being her ever-dominant self. It will be more than a shock if she doesn’t win in Melbourne this year.

Chennai
There was not much going for the Americans in India, as only one win was garnered, and that was by Rajeev Ram in the qualies. Tim Smyczek and the doubles teams of MONROE/Moser and LIPSKY/RAM each lost in the First Round.

Doha
There was even less going for the Americans in Qatar as Donald Young and Michael Shabaz both lost in the First Round of qualies.

Shenzhen
Vania King brings this Week in Review back to the bright side, as she made it all the way to the Semi-Finals in China. King upset the 7th-ranked player in the world, Sara Errani, on her way to the Semis. Unfortunately for King, she had to withdraw from her Semi-Final match, but she is expected to be ready in time for the Australian Open.

Week Ahead
The men will be playing in Sydney and Auckland, while the women will be joining them in Sydney, as well as Hobart.

Sam Querrey (facing Vasek Pospisil) and the Bryan twins (Facing Kubot/Linstedt) will be playing in Sydney, as Ryan Harrison will hope to join them by going through qualies. On the women’s side, McHale, Davis, Duval, Mattek-Sands, and Lepchenko (Lucky Loser) made it through the qualies in Sydney, where Madison Keys has already upset Simona Halep in the First Round.

In Auckland, John Isner (bye in the First Round) is joined by Jack Sock (facing Adrian Mannarino) in the single’s draw. The doubles teams of  Gonzalez/LIPSKY, Bednarek/MONROE, and BUTORAC/Klassen are also in Auckland. Donald Young, Steve Johnson, and Bradley Klahn have each advanced to the final roung of qualifying.

Allison Riske (faces Pavlyuchenkova) got a direct acceptance into Hobart, where she is joined by Madison Brengle (faces Sam Stosur) who qualified. The teams of RAYMOND/Zheng, and Grandin/RISKE are in the doubles tournament.

The qualifying for the Australian Open begins on Wednesday, January 8th, and we will have a separate article previewing all of that action.
 
(Pictures courtesy of the Hopman Cup, Brisbane International, and ASB Classic websites)

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