By Chris Oddo | Monday January 22, 2018
Today's preview of Day 7 of the Australian Open will be prefaced with a few burning questions.
What’s Next for Novak?
Anyone who watched the six-time Australian Open champion fall in straight sets to Hyeon Chung last night in Melbourne knows that Novak Djokovic was struggling physically, and that he apparently has not cleared the hurdle in front of him when it comes to the elbow issues that has plagued him over the last year-plus. There’s also the fact that Djokovic was playing his first competitive event in six months and his body was paying the price for that as well. He had a hip or back issue in the third round against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, probably due to the very physical match he had with Gael Monfils in the grueling heat in the previous round, and appeared to struggle with that as well on Tuesday in his loss.
Take nothing away from Chung—this was a breakout performance in a breakout event for the young Korean and he earned this victory by outplaying Djokovic in the bigger moments, even when the Serb had thrown caution to the wind and had become engaged in the match. But in the aftermath of this upset it’s fair to wonder just when—if ever—the former World No.1 and 12-time major champion is going to get back to peak, world-beating form. He demonstrated that he still has the goods in fits and starts over his run to the round of 16, but the perpetual struggles with the elbow and other issues continue to leave the Serb’s future in doubt.
This is Djokovic’s reaction when he was asked how his health was after Tuesday’s match: “Yeah, it's not great,” he said. “Unfortunately, it's not great. Kind of end of the first set it started hurting more. So, yeah, I had to deal with it till the end of the match.”
He added, when pressed further: “It's frustrating, of course, when you have that much time and you don't heal properly. But it is what it is. There is some kind of a reason behind all of this. I'm just trying my best obviously because I love this sport. I enjoy training. I enjoy getting myself better, hoping that I can get better, perform and compete. Today was one of those days where, unfortunately, it was too much to deal with.”
It appears that Djokovic is nowhere near being out of the woods with his injury issues. and that's certainly perplexing. Will he continue to push through, perhaps realizing that he’s not at risk to do further damage and learn to play in this compromised state? Will he pull back and opt for surgery or more time off the court? It’s difficult to tell. The good news for Djokovic is that he returned to the game and played some excellent tennis in Melbourne. The bad news is that it wasn’t enough to make a title run or even to escape the doubt that has surrounded him for over a year now.
What Does Chung Have for an Encore?
Hyeon Chung has long been on our radar as an intriguing young talent with a bright future in the game. Well, the future, apparently, is now. Chung has played the match of his life—twice—and is now awaiting a quarterfinal with American Tennys Sandgren for a shot to reach the semis. The 21-year-old has demonstrated some sublime shotmaking in his victories over No.4-seeded Alexander Zverev and Djokovic. Some have even gone so far as to call it "Djokovician."
He’s an explosive mover that can turn defense to offense and create draw-dropping winners on the run, from way off the court. He’s also very mature, even-keeled and while he doesn’t play with a lot of variety, he’s very good at what he does. It will be very interesting to see how Chung performs with another layer of confidence against a lower-ranked player in the quarterfinals. Chung doesn’t always exude belief—he didn’t own a Top 10 week before the Australian Open and at times he almost seems sheepish in big matches, or detached, too timid to play the explosive ground game that he has to play to be a force—but if his self-belief surges he could quickly rise up the rankings and become a legitimate force from this point on.
Are we seeing the next great Belgian women’s tennis player in Elise Mertens?
Elise Mertens was ranked 137 in the world this time last year. As I write this piece today she is in the process of blowing out Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals and she is playing like a woman who has been there before. She is already the first Belgian to reach the Aussie Open semifinals since Kim Clijsters in 2012, and Mertens and the Belgian legend are connected by more than just results past and present. Mertens has spent the last three years training at the Kim Clijsters Academy with coach Robbe Ceyssens, and Clijsters is a frequent hitting partner of Mertens.
The 22-year-old is a true talent. Very smooth, good power, lots of poise. This could be the beginning of a very successful career for Merters.
Just How Unlikely is Tennys Sandgren’s Run to the Quarterfinals?
Seriously? Two ATP wins and none at the Grand Slam main draw level prior to the 2018 Australian Open, and now Tennys Sandgren is mowing down players like Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem? Granted, Wawrinka was not at 100 percent when Sandgren scalped him in round two, but the victory over Thiem was one of the best performances of the tournament, by any player. Sandgren was fast, unbelievable at net, quick to attack, and he went toe-to-toe in the rallies with one of the biggest hitters in the game. This is a guy who has made a living on the Challenger Circuit and typically wasn’t good enough to qualify for majors—according to Tennis Abstract he’s 3-12 in qualifying matches at the majors.
How is he doing this, and can he possibly keep it up?
If Sandgren lacked confidence prior to this Australian Open, it’s clear that he doesn’t anymore.
“I know that I'm good enough to do good things in the game,” he told reporters last night. “This is confirmation for me. It's like I know that I serve well. I know I can take care of business on my serve. I've been working on my mid-court forehand, hitting it well. I'm able to 1-2 a lot of time. If you can hold serve in this game, you can compete with anybody.”
Will we see a maiden major winner on the women’s side?
It’s likely. And that isn’t a knock on Angelique Kerber’s chances, which we think are most certainly good after she made her way through that harrowing match against Hsieh Su-Wei in the round of 16, but Kerber is the only former Grand Slam champion remaining among the quarterfinalists. The top two seeds have long been after their major breakthrough—Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki have each lost their two previous maiden finals and, coincidentally, they’ve each saved match points to stay alive in this draw. There’s also Madison Keys, who looks to be on the verge of a crowning achievement, and Karolina Pliskova, who along with Keys is a player who has gone been in a U.S. Open final.
It’s going to be an interesting few days on the WTA side, and very tough to call.