The good, the bad, the ugly: the week in review

Published by Matt Trollope

Milos Raonic; Getty Images
Milos Raonic’s return, Garbine Muguruza’s woes and Novak Djokovic firing his entire entourage – we bring you the good, the bad and the ugly in an eventful week in tennis.

Five ATP and WTA events played out simultaneously last week and adding to the tennis overload was the kick-off the Madrid Masters at the weekend.

As a result there was tennis everywhere you looked – so we bring you as succinct a wrap as we can of the good, the bad and the ugly from a big week in the sport.

The Good

Milos Raonic made a welcome return to competition after more than a month away from the game. In fact, Raonic had played just one match since Delray Beach in late February, withdrawing from Indian Wells with a hamstring strain and lasting just one match in Miami before aggravating the injury and pulling out of that event too. Yet in Istanbul, Raonic reminded everyone why he was a top-10 player, storming to the final on his least favourite surface of clay to gain some much needed match fitness and confidence. Health pending, this is a great sign a just a month or two our from the grasscourt season, where he typically does the most damage.

Another player having a good result was Marin Cilic, who beat Raonic for the Istanbul title. It was the Croatian’s first claycourt title in nearly five years. Also winning was Alexander Zverev in Munich, the young German’s first title on home soil. Another German, Mona Barthel, triumphed in Prague for her first WTA title since 2014, having come all the way from the qualifying rounds. It was especially sweet given Barthel’s struggles with illness, which confined her to bed for several weeks in 2016 and saw her fall well outside the top 100.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard have set up one of the more highly-anticipated second round clashes in recent memory. The reason? Bouchard’s forceful comments surrounding her one-time idol’s return from a drug ban. “She’s a cheater and I don’t think a cheater in any sport should be allowed to play that sport again,” Bouchard said. “[She’s] definitely not someone I can say I look up to anymore.” Given Sharapova owns a 4-0 record over the Canadian, Bouchard may well have shot herself in the foot given Sharapova will no doubt be even more fired up to put her in her place – even though Sharapova claims she’s not using the comments as motivation. Whatever happens, it’s sure to be compelling.

Bad

Garbine Muruguza often seems to fall into this category, and it’s because her results have been generally lacklustre since she went all the way to the Roland Garros title nearly 12 months ago. The latest loss was a 6-1 6-3 drubbing at the hands of Timea Bacsinszky before home fans in Madrid. A tough draw, sure, but one that a reigning Grand Slam champion should make a better fist of. Also bombing out in the Spanish capital were the in-form Elina Svitolina – who took a surprise loss to Chinese qualifier Zheng Saisai despite holding two match points in the second set – and Kristyna Pliskova, who after losing in the Prague final to Barthel from a set and a break up, mustered only three games in a first-round loss to Simona Halep in Madrid.

On the men’s side, perhaps the most disappointing performance was that of Gael Monfils. The Frenchman, who has slipped since the start of the year from world No.6 to No.16, fell meekly to Korea’s Hyeon Chung in Munich, winning just six games despite being the top seed.

Ugly

It’s hard to recall a player firing their entire team on the eve of one of the most important stretches of the season. Yet that’s exactly what Novak Djokovic has done, parting ways with his longtime coach, physio and fitness trainer ahead of his Madrid Open title defence. The Serb also reached the final of Rome and won Roland Garros last year, meaning he is defending a truckload of points in the coming five weeks. And now he’ll be doing so with a completely different set up around him. As Peter Bodo wrote for ESPN: “Seldom is it so difficult to tell if a decision is the result of great clarity or profound confusion.” With the way Djokovic’s form has been trending in the past few months, it may well be the latter.

Back in Madrid, Laura Siegemund and Johanna Konta played before a almost entirely empty stadium on Saturday night as their first-round match extended well into the wee hours. With officials and the odd janitor about the only living beings within range of the match, Siegemund wrapped up the win in three sets at 2.17am in an anti-climactic, isolated setting that will do no her no favours physically going into the next round. Another example of scheduling gone mad.

Share this: 
  • Most popular articles

6 September 2017

Andrey Rublev was in a One Direction cover band

Yes, you read that right. Tomorrow, Andrey Rublev is going to walk out on court to play th... More

9 January 2018

ATP: the biggest strength and weakness of every top 10 playe...

As the first Grand Slam of the season fast approaches, top-10 players are leading the char... More

23 February 2016

The history of the most common words in tennis

Tennis is a funny old game. People love you one minute and then want to drop you the next;... More

20 July 2016

What has happened to Grigor Dimitrov?

The decline is as perplexing as it is constant. When did Grigor Dimitrov hit rock bottom? ... More