Tennis coverage in Australia tapers off quickly once the Australian Open and the first round of Davis Cup matches complete. But in under a month, attention turns to a tournament where Australians have long struggled to find their feet – the French Open.
It seems a while since Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt knocked off Roger Federer to win the title in Brisbane, before he himself was kicked out of the Australian Open the first round along with troubled Australian youngster Bernard Tomic.
Since Australia we have had three Masters 1000 events, with two to come in Madrid and Rome in preparation for the second Grand Slam of the year. Novak Djokovic stood tall in March, defeating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in finals at Indian Wells and Miami respectively.
After his success in America, the Davis Cup quarter-finals had arrived. Italy, France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic made their way through to the next stage of this prestigious event.
In April, Australian Open winner Stanislav Wawrinka was back to his best in Monte Carlo. The third Masters 1000 event went to the Swiss star as he defeated fellow countryman Roger Federer on clay – another runner-up finish for Federer, though you have to admire his consistency.
A surprise occurred in Barcelona, where clay-court master Rafael Nadal bailed out in just the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 event. Kei Nishikori continued his solid season with a title victory.
This brings us to the present, where tournaments are being played in both Germany and Portugal.
The BMW Open is on in Munich, and unfortunately for Hewitt and fellow Australian Marinko Matosevic their campaigns are already over,as it is for countryman Matthew Ebden in Oeiras.
Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic are the top-two seeds at the Portugal Open and are expected to play off in the final later in the week, while Tommy Haas and Fabio Fognini are the favourites in Germany.
Nadal remains on top of the world rankings, with Djokovic, Wawrinka, Federer and David Ferrer rounding out the top five. Andy Murray has slipped noticeably, and is now down to eighth on the ATP Official rankings.
Brian
Guest
Murray was injured at after the US Open but he did come back for the Australian Open and now over 3 months later he's still done nothing. Nadal has comeback from injuries and usually won a Gran Slam by now.
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Roar Guru
I don't see Murray's downfall as a surprise. He was injured after the US Open, and therefore missed the rest of the season after the US Open (where he lost his title defence to Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter-finals). In fact, after winning Wimbledon last July he has only reached one semi-final since (in Acapulco in March) and hasn't been in real contention for a title. He has nothing to defend at Roland Garros, but I can't see him doing well there as clay is clearly his worst surface. He will have to defend the title at Wimbledon and as you said if he does not do well there then he will drop a lot of rankings points. From memory, I think Richard Gasquet is only some 1,500 points or so behind him and only has a third round appearance to defend. Tough times for Andy Murray could get even tougher. Can't see him returning to the world's top four anytime soon. It's no longer a Big Four as far as we're concerned, it's a Big Three (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic).
matt
Guest
Yes I think a key highlight from Aussie perspective is Tomic having played just once since AO and smashing the old record in that match by losing in just 28 minutes. 28 MINUTES! And as usual his take on the result was suitably modest "hey look, records are made to be broken right?" In all seriousness though, great to see Kyrgios winning a couple of challengers, I just hope his shoulder holds out long term.
brian
Guest
Seems relatively even at the top. Nadal has his injuries and djokovic becoming a dad. Wawrinka stepped up and federer having another coming. Great year for the Swiss if those 2 stay fit they will surely win the davis cup, which would be a first for RF. Biggest downside surprise is murray. Would have though he would be at least 3 by now, but if he doesnt do really well at french and Wimbledon he will fall out of top 8. Aussie wise shame tomic disappoints. Hopefully the greek youngsters can prove more resilient away from home and qualify themselves for the french and Wimbledon. Kyrgios looked like he could get himself into the top 100 with the right application.
Demers
Guest
Good post Will. Looking back at past results, from 1947 to 2000 there was at least one Aussie in the mens doubles final on 40 occasions. But the dirt courts are a great leveler - in '54 Seixas and Trabert took Lew Hoad's serve - one of the great serves back then - five times in the last two sets, and that was with Rosewall, who had a great volley, at the net. Roy Emerson, with five different partners, won it six times in a row. And now we have Rafa who's won the singles 8 out of the last 9. Question is, will RG play faster than ever this year?