Post Australian Open
Happenings
There have been several 250 events following the Australian
Open. The following general trends are
apparent, mainly involving the men’s game:
Alex Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov. These two are continuing their strong play, with
Zverev winning the Open Sud de France and Dimitrov winning in Sofia. Both lost in other finals, but in general,
they both are threatening to be in the top 10 before the year is over.
Goffin makes top 10.
Consistent winning put David Goffin in the top 10 for the first
time. He made the finals in Sofia and
Rotterdam, and although he did not win a title his consistency got him to a
career high #9. Grats to a small guy
(155 lbs.) playing in a big man’s game!
A rising star? After
several years languishing in the rankings, Nikoloz Basilashvili of the Georgian
Republic has rising sharply in the rankings to #53. He has a win over Dominic Thiem. Best to keep an eye on this hard hitter.
Federer has last laugh.
Last year Roger Federer was asked to comment on Bernie Tomic’s
prediction that he would play himself into the top 10. Federer responded that he thought it unlikely
that Tomic would make the top 10 because of Bernie’s history of inconsistent
play. Tomic responded acerbically that
Roger can’t beat Djokovic or Murray, a retort which suggested that Tomic didn’t
have a lot of respect for Roger’s game.
So where are we now? Tomic’s
ranking fell steadily in 2016, and in 2017 he has won only two matches, both at
the Australian Open. His rank has fallen
to 41. Meanwhile, poor Roger just
managed to come back from a 6-month absence to beat 4 top 10 players in one
week, win three 5-set matches in a row, and defeat Rafa Nadal in the third of
those 5-setters to claim his 18th major title. So I guess we can say Roger has the last
laugh on this one, except for the fact that Bernie Tomic’s underachievement is
anything but funny.
