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While there were many players who performed and under-performed in 2013, there were also the many few who showed glimpses of their good form, but at the same time, glimpses of their bad form.
This is Part III of who was hot and who was not in 2013. Parts I and II looked at the performers and under-performers during the season, and still to come, we will look back at some of the new names and the comeback players of the year.
This part will look at the players who were hot and cold in 2013, that is, players who mixed their good form with poor form and injuries.
First, let’s have a look at the men:
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Upon hiring Roger Rasheed as his coach at the back end of last year, one of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s goals was to try to emulate his run to the 2008 Australian Open final and try to go one better.
Though that ultimate goal was never reached, he was able to post some impressive results on the board throughout the year, but could only capture one title in a season marred by a knee injury.
Tsonga meant business when he pushed Roger Federer to five sets at the Australian Open at the start of the year, but he did not have to wait long to post the crushing victory, defeating him in straight sets at his national Championships, the French Open.
His solitary title came in February, when he won in Marseille, but that would be the only title Tsonga would enjoy under Rasheed’s tutelage, as the Australian coach would soon part ways with the popular Frenchman due to being separated continually.
After years of trying, Tsonga would reach his first clay court semi-final, losing to Spaniard Rafael Nadal, and also did likewise at the French Open, defeating Federer in the aforementioned quarter-final before losing to David Ferrer in the final four.
But in between, he would suffer a quarter-final loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in Madrid and a second round loss to rising Pole Jerzy Janowicz.
A knee injury suffered on Black Wednesday would rob Tsonga of three months of the season; he subsequently missed the entire US Open series, including the final Grand Slam event of the year due to the injury.
Seeking a second title of the year in Moselle, his comeback tournament, he was defeated in the final by compatriot Gilles Simon; that was then followed by defeat to world number two Novak Djokovic in Shanghai and a second round exit to Kei Nishikori in Paris.
The latter result ensured Tsonga could not qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, and as such, ended an inconsistent season marred by injury.
The Frenchman is now on the lookout for a new coach after letting go of Roger Rasheed, and whoever takes on him will have a big task trying to finally turn him into the potential that he can be.
Tomas Berdych
The only top ten man not to win a title this year endured a season of inconsistency this year as he mixed in victories and good performances against quality opposition with some disappointing results at a few tournaments.
His season started off well when he reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the third consecutive year, winning each of his first four matches in straight sets in the process before being defeated by Novak Djokovic in four sets.
That was one of two Grand Slam quarter-final losses he would suffer at the hands of the Serb, the other time coming at Wimbledon after defeating our very own Bernard Tomic in the fourth round.
But his inconsistency at Grand Slam level was also exposed; sandwiched in between those two losses was a five-set, first round loss to former world number seven Gael Monfils, who was coming back from a long-term injury.
That followed back-to-back Masters semi-finals in Madrid and Rome, the latter of which he lost to Rafael Nadal after coming from a set down to defeat Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
Then, coming off a semi-final run at Cincinnati, where he once again lost to Nadal after defeating Andy Murray for the second time this year, he fell foul of Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round of the US Open, in the process dropping rankings points as he had reached the semi-finals last year.
Though he was unable to win any titles during the year, he did reach three finals, first in Marseille, where he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, second in Dubai, where he lost to Novak Djokovic after defeating Roger Federer in the semi-finals, and in Thailand, where he lost to Milos Raonic in straight sets.
Berdych is one of those players who can really perform at his best, but if he wants to contend for the big titles in 2014, he’ll have to step his game up a notch. This means, among others, improving his Grand Slam results and maintaining consistency across them.
There’s no doubt that he can also beat the top players, as evidenced by his victories over Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray (twice) this season, but overcoming Rafael Nadal, to whom he lost against five times this season alone, might be too much of a challenge.
Now, let’s look at two women who have been inconsistent all year, but still managed some good results:
Samantha Stosur
For the most part, 2013 wasn’t a particularly good year for Samantha Stosur, however, when she had the chance, her good form allowed her to do very well and two titles vindicated just that.
For the first time since 2007, Stosur played all four Grand Slam tournaments but failed to reach the fourth round at any of them; all four defeats came in three setters and three of them came after winning the first set.
Another came after she let slip a good chance to go deep at the Australian Open, when she lost to Zheng Jie after leading 5-3 in the final set. That capped off her traditionally poor Australian summer, something which she will hope to rectify in 2014.
The shock defeat to world number 296 Victoria Duval also marked the seventh consecutive Grand Slam in which she lost a three-set match, and it came after she defeated the more famous Victoria in the Carlsbad final.
She also suffered agonising defeats to Jelena Jankovic and Sabine Lisicki at the French Open and Wimbledon respectively, the latter of whom went on to reach the final after defeating Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska in later rounds.
She also underperformed at some, if not most, of the Premier events, but she was able to achieve significant victories during the season, such as maiden victories over Azarenka and Petra Kvitova in Carlsbad and Rome respectively, and also one over Radwanska on the way to the title at the former tournament.
The other title she won during the season was at Osaka, where she defeated Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard in three sets; this is the same opponent to whom she was forced to retire against in Charleston, coming back from injury.
Stosur has picked up the services of Andy Murray’s former coach, Miles Maclagan, as she bids to avoid dropping further down the rankings in 2014.
Her Australian summer will be tweaked significantly; she will represent Australia at the Hopman Cup alongside Bernard Tomic, where she is guaranteed three singles matches, after which she will play in Hobart for the first time since 2004.
Hopefully this will be a springboard to what could be a make-or-break year for Stosur, as time runs out on her career and a second Grand Slam title.
Petra Kvitova
Another woman who proved to be inconsistent all year round is former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
Since claiming a stunning victory at the All England Club in 2011, Kvitova has struggled to maintain those standards and finds herself losing to less fancied opposition as well as also defeating some quality names.
She also played the most three-set matches of any other woman this year, including in the final of two tournaments which she was able to win (Dubai and Tokyo).
Her Australian Open swing was poor, as she lost within the first two rounds of each of her first three tournaments, including at the Australian Open, where she lost to Laura Robson after a marathon third set which lasted 20 games.
That followed straight-set thrashings by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Dominika Cibulkova in Brisbane and Sydney respectively; both of whom went on to reach the final.
The second round exit at the Australian Open was the first of three Grand Slam tournaments in which she would exit before the fourth round; the only exception being Wimbledon, where she reached the quarter-finals but blew a big chance to add to the solitary title which stands out among eleven career titles which she has captured so far in her career.
At the All England Club, she suffered a three-set loss to unheralded Belgian Kirsten Flipkens – that sandwiched in between disappointing losses to Americans Jamie Hampton and Alison Riske at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows respectively.
Among her other notable losses included one to Kristina Mladenovic in Paris, another to Flipkens in Miami, and two final losses to Roberta Vinci and Simona Halep in Katowice and New Haven respectively. Those are matches Kvitova should have won easily, given her top ten status.
However, she defeated five big names to win her first title in Dubai – defeating, in order: Daniela Hantuchova, Ana Ivanovic, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki and finally Sara Errani.
All five players have reached at least a career high rank of world number five, though Errani’s highest rank at the time was only seven.
Having now gone six straight Grand Slams without getting past the quarter-finals, 2014 shapes up as a make or break year for Kvitova, who will kick off her season representing the Czech Republic alongside Radek Stepanek at the Hopman Cup.
The potential is there for her to win a second Grand Slam title, but to do that, she will have to clean up on the number of unexpected losses she seems to be suffering more frequently.
Making her task more tougher is that Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka have combined to win six of the last eight Grand Slam titles, so it’ll take a lot of work and determination for Kvitova to crack their domination.
If she can bag a big title in 2014, then it will give her a lot of confidence going forward.
That’s Part III of who was hot and who was not in 2013. Next, we will have a look at some of the new names that made their mark in 2013, and what to expect from them in the new year.
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