Nick Kyrgios Rises and Rafael Nadal Falls in Weekly Winners and Losers
While Nick Kyrgios crushed the field in Marseille, Rafael Nadal fell to a clay-court journeyman in Rio de Janeiro. Is this the future on the ATP World Tour?
Meanwhile, there were other surprising stories from the world of tennis, including the wonderful return of Juan Martin del Potro. Tennis could use another comeback star, and the Argentine is looking to overcome his injuries for another few years of meaningful, championship tennis.
On the other hand, the WTA Tour's stars are continuing to struggle to stay healthy and play well. It might not be out of line to talk about reform on the women’s tour, because it’s tough for fans and followers to scour through different lineups and inconsistent results from week to week.
This is our weekly “Winners and Losers” lineup, where we analyze the top trends and results in professional tennis.
Winner: Juan Martin del Potro
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The best news of the week was watching Juan Martin del Potro come back for three wins and a semifinal appearance at Delray Beach, Florida.
“There are so many positive things," the Argentine said, per BBC Sport. "I'm looking forward to the future because I can make a plan for playing tournaments.”
That he bowed out to resurgent Sam Querrey in the semifinal loss seemed inconsequential.
Del Potro was one of the biggest hitters on tour and a perennial top-10 player since his 2009 U.S. Open victory over Roger Federer. He’s had several wrist surgeries, and he missed almost all of 2015 with two more surgeries that could have ended his career.
At least he is competing again, but the long road back means many tough draws and anxieties about the wrists. Still, nobody’s going to want to draw his name for the early rounds at Indian Wells next month.
Loser: WTA Stars
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Many of the WTA stars have been banged up with injuries in 2016. It’s resulted in more uneven performances and upsets when they do play. This past week in Dubai, the eight top seeds were out without winning a single match.
That’s eight stars all ranked in the top 17 with zero wins, including Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Belinda Bencic and Petra Kvitova. No wonder stars have not been able to challenge Serena Williams and her No. 1 ranking. Right now, the WTA is an elevator with constant ups and downs and players getting off on the wrong floors.
Are stars just concerned with using mid-majors to knock off rust and prepare for Premier Mandatory, Premier 5 and major tournaments? Are they ground down too much to compete at a consistently high level?
Stephanie Myles of the Guardian ran a thoughtful feature that questioned many factors, such as too much emphasis on fitness, burnout and the pressures and expectations in winning.
Players are rarely on the same level with their peaks and valleys, and so their results often fluctuate. The cynic might say many of them are just mailing it in. The optimist could make a case for greater parity and balance in the WTA. The bottom line is that the top players have been wildly inconsistent.
Winner: Veteran Americans at Delray Beach
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Surprises abounded as veteran Americans persevered at Delray Beach.
The most impressive performance might have been from Rajeev Ram, a quick-strike player who has usually been more successful at mid-major grass tournaments. Ram used his serve and a mix of volleys and chips to upend younger talents Bernard Tomic and Grigor Dimitrov, and he made it all the way to the final.
On a quick note, Dimitrov looked like he didn’t want to play, and Ram kept him off balance as he moved his ranking up 29 slots to No. 60, his career high.
But the championship went to Sam Querrey, who defeated the comeback story of Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals before finishing off Ram 6-4, 6-4 in winning his eighth career title.
Querrey has struggled with numerous injuries the past few years, but he put together his powerful serve, forehand and solid movement. Maybe he can build on his No. 43 ranking.
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Loser: Stan Wawrinka
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Stan Wawrinka’s No. 1 seed in Marseille, France, meant nothing when he was outlasted in the third set against Benoit Paire, a match after surviving a third-set tiebreaker against Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Once again, the two-time major winner did nothing to show that he is more than a dangerous challenger. His best days are impressive, but he sprinkles them in with plenty of early-round flops.
With Dubai and Indian Wells coming up, it’s difficult to see Wawrinka putting together a great streak. The former is a faster surface that makes it difficult for the Swiss to have time to wind up his powerful strokes.
Indian Wells will have a large field of hard-hitting, rising stars who are making for deeper draws. It won’t be easy to stave off Milos Raonic and Nick Kyrgios, let alone other hungry veterans who have been more consistent than Stan the Man.
Momentum is often a stranger to Wawrinka, and springtime seems to be no exception.
Winner: Dominic Thiem
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Never mind that Dominic Thiem was stunned in the semifinals of the Rio Open to the lesser-regarded Guido Pella. For starters, he played through interrupted wind, rain and darkened skies more fit for a horrific scene in The X-Files than an equatorial clay-court match. He didn’t handle the conditions so well, and his legs were leaden, especially after finishing a doubles match at 1:30 a.m. the previous day.
Thiem’s eight-match winning run was snapped, but he continued his streak of reaching the semifinals or better in six straight mid-major tournaments on clay, dating back to a French Open tuneup at Nice, France. All told, it’s been four titles and two semifinals.
Thiem peaked when he dismantled veteran star David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2. He will move his ranking up from No. 19 to a new career high at No. 15. The Austrian boasts admirable power and endurance to grind on clay, and if he can raise his game in April and May at top tournaments like Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, he could be a dark-horse threat at Roland Garros.
Loser: Rafael Nadal
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We’re going to move Rafael Nadal to the middle of this column. It’s simply not huge news in 2016 when he loses another clay-court contest. This time he lost his edge after winning the first set, falling to respected clay-courter Pablo Cuevas in the semifinals at Rio de Janeiro.
“I lost an opportunity, that's it," Nadal told the ATP World Tour website. "I fought until the end. I have to accept it and keep working to try to change the dynamic. That's what's happening today, and I have to work hard to change it.”
The disheartening part was Nadal’s continued pattern of fading away late in matches. At the Australian Open, he was tossed aside by Fernando Verdasco in the fourth and fifth sets. Against Dominic Thiem in last week’s semifinal at Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nadal couldn’t come through in the final tiebreaker. The loss to Cuevas came after he was unable to close out the match in a second-set tiebreaker.
Next up for Nadal is Indian Wells, where expectations will not be so high for the Spaniard. It’s been three years since his epic comeback ripped through February and early March. Everything Nadal does now will inevitably be a dubious comparison or shadow of what he once was as a champion.
Winners: Pablo Cuevas and Guido Pella
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Argentine Guido Pella seemingly rose out of the sea like some exotic creature, navigating through Brazil’s tempestuous weather and flashing big serves with aggressive play. How in the world did he get through his draw that included No. 11-ranked John Isner, clay-courter Santiago Giraldo and hot Dominic Thiem?
Pella’s title dream ended on his final serving game to Pablo Cuevas in the 6-4 third-set loss, but not before he thrilled with several combinations of lefty, looping strokes and flat blasts. Clay-court tennis at its finest.
Meanwhile, Cuevas rallied against Nadal in the second-set tiebreaker of the semifinals and then carried his role as favorite despite more weather interruptions and a tight left thigh. He moved up 18 notches to No. 27 and will be thrilled with his fourth clay title in less than two years after wallowing in obscurity for more than a decade.
If he is not so fatigued, Cuevas will be one of the favorites at Sao Paulo, seeded at No. 3.
Winner: Nick Kyrgios
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The talented and mercurial Nick Kyrgios dominated Marseille with a serve that nobody could touch. He did not drop serve the entire week, and that included victories over Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic. It was only his first career title—with surely more to come—and the Australian did it in impressive fashion.
Kyrgios had an strong week in defeating two top-10 players and the 2014 U.S. Open champion, so this was a legitimate coup. He just vaulted from No. 41 to No. 32 in the world rankings. Is he ready to streak into the top 20?
The best sign for Kyrgios was the way he returned shots. He was more focused, hit with better margin and showed the athleticism that could make him a huge winner on the ATP tour. Not that anyone’s predicting Masters 1000 and major titles yet, but he has that kind of ability.
The easy part for Kyrgios is being a front-runner. He hammered his opponents early and often, so he never had to feel the pressure or roiling emotions that have occasionally undermined him in the past.
He’s got Dubai coming up, and if all goes well for another week, he could be testing his serve against King Novak Djokovic.
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