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It may seem strange, stupid and come as a bit of a surprise but Marinko Matosevic has his best chance of winning his first ever Grand Slam match at the upcoming US Open.
At this point many people would sit there and ask why? He’s nought from nine, won one set in three Grand Slam matches this year and looks bereft of confidence when it comes to that level of tennis.
But the 28-year-old has been in the form of his life over the last weeks.
After making the semi-finals of the ATP 500 event in Washington, Matosevic continued that form with a quarterfinal appearance at the ATP Masters event in Montreal last week.
Along the way, the Australian defeated the new number ten in Milos Raonic, the world number 12 in Tommy Haas – through a retirement – and Benoit Paire, the world number 24.
It is a remarkable turnaround by Matosevic after a lean grass season, which culminated in a disappointing loss to Guillaume Rufin at Wimbledon.
In fact, before his great run over the last two weeks, Matosevic was 0-4 in his last four tournaments and languishing at number 83 in the world – his lowest in over a year.
Now he’s sitting at number 56 in the world, and heads towards the US Open full of confidence after two successful weeks.
Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have any more matches to prepare for the event. Matosevic was meant to compete in the Cincinnati Masters this week but missed the sign in for qualifying as he was playing Rafael Nadal at the same time in Montreal.
This excluded him from the draw and from the tournament.
As a result, the Victorian won’t play any more tournaments before the final Grand Slam of the year after opting to miss the lead up event in Winston-Salem next week.
After having a big schedule over the last two weeks, the little layoff may not be as bad as many people think and the Aussie can refresh, mentally and physically, for the event.
If Matosevic can get a handy draw – which is a lottery as he is unseeded – he might finally break his streak of nine straight first round losses.
The streak started at the 2010 Australian Open and has continued through to his four-set loss against Rufin at Wimbledon.
This time last year, at the US Open, Matosevic was up two sets to love over Marin Cilic before losing in an epic five-set battle.
It is the closest he has ever come to winning his maiden Grand Slam match.With form and confidence on his side, Matosevic will be looking for a handy draw to break the duck.
The other reasons Marinko has a great chance of breaking his streak is because the event is being held in North America.
Firstly, he doesn’t have the pressure of being at home, nor does he have pressure of competing at a prestigious tournament like Wimbledon.
He’s also not competing on a surface that isn’t his favourite – like clay at the French Open. Without trying to play down how good the US Open is, this tournament doesn’t have all those pressures, which will play on his mind.
The other advantage he has is his impressive record in North America. Up until his recent loss to Nadal, Matosevic is 14-9 in United States/Canada based events and 7-15 around the rest of the world this year.
In other words, Matosevic has a 61% winning record in matches played in America this year.
It doesn’t stop there. Some of Matosevic’s best results have come in North American events.
He made his first final in an ATP 250 event at the Delray Beach tournament last year, losing to Kevin Anderson in the final after qualifying for the event.
This was followed by a semi-final appearance at the ATP 500 event in Memphis earlier this year, and the quarterfinal in the ATP Masters event in Canada.
Most of the success the Aussie has had has come from this continent. This continues in the ATP Challenger arena with the Aussie winning his first two events in the United States.
What has also helped is his new coach in Mark Woodforde has transformed his confidence and belief over the hard court season.
Matosevic said after the Washington event that the South Australian had given him a great game plan and helped focus his attention to tennis.
If this continue his recent form into the US Open, the streak could well come to an end.
Not only will Matosevic hope that happens, so too will many, who have watched him over the last three years.
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