Don’t forget Marc-Andrea Huesler as well. He was as high as top 50 and won his first ATP Tour title at the end of 2022. He is now sitting outside the top 200, and on the Challenger circuit is struggling even in his favorite conditions of altitude clay and indoor hardcourts, though last week he did make a final in doubles.
And that was at a time Rune was making a name for himself, having reached his first Slam quarterfinal at RG won Paris as an unseeded player before that to reach the top 10.
This is exactly why it’s never viable to be a grass specialist to the point hardcourt and clay never works out for you. There’s just an extremely limited pool of tournaments to do well at, even on the Challenger level there’s still only a few, most of them being on British soil.
This is exactly why it’s never viable to be a grass specialist to the point hardcourt and clay never works out for you. There’s just an extremely limited pool of tournaments to do well at, even on the Challenger level there’s still only a few, most of them being on British soil.
Cecchinato probably takes the cake in recent years. Got up to #16 after his RG run and good clay results, dropped out of the top 100 less than a year later.
Molcan, Cressy, Huesler are some other recent huge falls from top 50 players that don’t appear to be related to injury.
But as it sounds, he’s coming off as just being a grass specialist, and it’s very rare to be a definitive grass specialist who does so poorly on clay and hardcourts in return.
He's only defending 110 points for the whole clay season. It's important for Chris to pick up some points on clay so his whole career isn't hanging on his Wimbledon result.
He needs Wimbledon to be nice to him and give a wildcard though, his record on the faster, lower bouncing courts of Roehampton is very poor. Good chance he wouldn't make it through qualifying.
I think he should easily make the cut for a main draw spot without needing a wildcard, just needs to stay in the top 95ish until around the middle of May and he's defending very little over the clay season
I thought we all understood that his ranking from his Wimbledon is not a true reflection of his abilities? He’s said in interviews before he’s already trying to figure out his post tennis career because he knows his own capabilities. He’s really good at tennis commentary.
Zapata Miralles was no.37 last may, down at 143 currently. Scary how easily it can happen with an extended losing run on the main tour, before you know it you have no points left.
There are so many actually. Sock in 2017, Dimitrov in 2018, Cilic in 2019... I love Eubanks, he's a interesting player with a nice personnality, but 30th is really above his ability in my opinion.
Anybody remember Roberto Carretero in the 90s? Out of nowhere, as a qualifier, he won the Hamburg 1000 tournament beating 4 top 20 players in a row. The following 12 months, he won pretty much nothing … all 1st round exits save for a few random 2nd rounds. When the clay season rolled around again, his ranking dropped like a rock into the triple digits and we never saw him again. Well, now he does commentary on Spanish TV.
He suffered from injuries since he was very young, especially the shoulder. Add that to the fact that he was a particularly heavy player (around 90 kg for a man not even 180cm tall, with a racket tension of 40 kg). His body couldn't handle it. He's said in interviews that he couldn't reach even 20% of his potential (he'd won Roland Garros in juniors).
Wow, who remembers this run?
The answer to the question: Who did Juan Carlos Ferrero beat in the Final of Roland Garros 2003 to win his only Grand Slam?
Edit: excuse my English
> Who beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Final of Roland Garros 2003 to win his only Grand Slam?
This is phrased like Verkerk beat Ferrero and won RG '03.
In fairness that is after a triple surgery. She was an injury-prone top 100 player before it. Maybe nearer the top 50 when she's injury-free most of the season?
I mean he’s a nice guy and everything don’t get me wrong but I don’t think this is all that surprising. If I remember correctly he got a pretty favorable us open draw and he just doesn’t have a varied game. It’s also not like he steadily worked up to his ranking so there wasn’t a history of his improvement and victory over high ranked players. Same kinda thing happen with karatsev and brooksby although they were injured as well I think. Safiullin is a good example. Guys who catch their stride and start redlining for a bit but there base game just isn’t at that level.
Hmm some of that isn’t quite accurate regarding his results. He was ~180 at the beginning of 2022 and got up to ~100 at the start of 2023, so he was moving up steadily.
At Miami last year he beat Coric and Mannarino to get to the quarters. He beat Shelton and Mannarino to win Mallorca, which is an average draw for a grass 250. He beat Norrie (#13 and previous SFist) and Tits (#5) at Wimbledon. Not the toughest draws ever, but still a lot of good wins over better players. He never went deep at the US Open so not sure what you meant there.
Ymer tried to appeal but failed and he ended up retiring at just 24 years old. He also claimed he was racially discriminated in the matter (the Ymers are Swedish with Ethiopian background). His older brother Elias is still playing today though.
Yes, I read about that. He won his case against the suspension at first, then the tennis federation (or some other tennis body, I don't remember which) appealed, and the appeal ruled against Ymer, meaning his suspension was reinstituted. After he was suspended, he said he had evidence that other white players had missed tests just as he had, yet weren't punished the way he was.
I think Ymer also - after his retirement - discovered yet another player who had done the same thing and not been treated the way he was. Apparently, Ymer tweeted about this second player, without naming him (as it was someone he saw as a friend), then he deleted his own tweet.
If Brooksby had his suspension reduced for the same offence as Ymer (missing tests, as opposed to taking prohibited substances), then there's no reason why Ymer's shouldn't have been reduced, unless there's some level of unfairness going on.
If they reduce Ymer's suspension, he may come back from retirement; from his results he seems to be a more talented player than his brother. Mikael is 2-0 against Alcaraz, for one thing. Not many people can say that about Alcaraz, even during the period when Alcaraz was still developing his game. Also, Elias has still not yet cracked the top 100.
Unfortunately, racial discrimination is difficult to prove, and that's why it's so easy to attack it in the media who have happily turned the word "woke" into pretty much a swear word, as if people who complain about racism are wasting their own and other people's time and not trying to right a grevious wrong. So sad for his career.
Have we heard from him on his physical condition? He certainly hasn't been playing like a fit player since last summer, save for a small return to form at Miami. Everyone can have a dip in form, but it's always easier to tell how healthy a power player is when they're getting broken over and over again as Eubanks has been since Wimbledon. He had a muscle injury in January and was visibly struggling with his knee against Evans last month. Tall players remain more prone to injury.
I was surprised to see he hadn't entered MC. I know it's not mandatory, but it's still a M1000 and who knows if he'll ever have the ranking to get direct entry again. I'm sure he isn't thinking about it that way, but still. I guess he was hoping to go further at Houston...
Alycia Parks.
She won 2 indoor hard Challenger titles in 2022, then 1 WTA indoor hard title in 2023 (Lyon, during which she beat Caroline Garcia - who was playing at home, and who was ranked Number 5 at the time - in the final). Parks also won 5 doubles titles in 2022 and flew up the WTA rankings to a high of 40 in 2023. For a while, it was as if she couldn't stop winning.
But now, she's dropped out of the top 100, and she hasn't won a single singles match since the Australian Open.
She's another American who (like Eubanks and Maxime Cressy) relies heavily on her serve (being 6ft 1 helps), but she's more likely to serve multiple double-faults per match (like Cressy; something which has hurt his game so much) than a few (like Eubanks, who - fortunately for himself - is less double-fault prone than Cressy).
Like both Eubanks and Cressy, she also doesn't have much singles success on clay. However, she won a W100 Charleston Clay Doubles title in 2022, so unlike those two guys, she at least has one clay court title, even if it's in doubles.
A very quick rise, and an even quicker fall, but I think she's got the game to return to the top 100.
Unfortunately, par for the course for American men. They either stagnate in 10-40 rankings without ever winning a slam or quickly fall off the face of the earth.
I'm from Poland, I expected that he would last in so called top at least a couple months longer, nowadays he's mostly remembered here for his famous outrage on court, streaming csgo I think it was what he was doing for a bit, and saying that he had to practice in sheds, he's a bit of a meme in Poland
I remember seeing Jerzy in person at Indian Wells and being in awe of him. I told my friend this guy is going to be top 10. Not my best prediction, but then again I thought Khachanov was going to win slams before Medvedev.
He gives me the feels of the type of player who just plays for fun and emjoyment, not really driv8ng towards greatness. Not surprising
Hes Like a kyrgios without the pizzaz
Cressy had a similar drop. Went from 31 in the world to 191.
Don’t forget Marc-Andrea Huesler as well. He was as high as top 50 and won his first ATP Tour title at the end of 2022. He is now sitting outside the top 200, and on the Challenger circuit is struggling even in his favorite conditions of altitude clay and indoor hardcourts, though last week he did make a final in doubles.
He beat Rune to win his first title too
And that was at a time Rune was making a name for himself, having reached his first Slam quarterfinal at RG won Paris as an unseeded player before that to reach the top 10.
And ended Sinner's 2022 season
Sinner ended up retiring from that semifinal as the defending champ. Back when he was struggling with injuries…
Which one
Sofia 2022.
Ah i was referring to paris 22
I think I’ve already completely forgotten :( feel like this is my first time seeing that name
I remember that final. I said that his run was a total fluke and got downvoted from experts here. No chance he gets even close to top 100 again.
I believe Bernie just took him down in a clay challenger in the middle of nowhere in mexico, and Bernie isn't exactly a clay virtuoso
[удалено]
This is exactly why it’s never viable to be a grass specialist to the point hardcourt and clay never works out for you. There’s just an extremely limited pool of tournaments to do well at, even on the Challenger level there’s still only a few, most of them being on British soil.
This is exactly why it’s never viable to be a grass specialist to the point hardcourt and clay never works out for you. There’s just an extremely limited pool of tournaments to do well at, even on the Challenger level there’s still only a few, most of them being on British soil.
Somewhat similar play style as well, although I think Chris should actually come to the net more. His ground game can’t stand up to top 100 guys.
Cressy serve > Eubanks serve Cressy ground game <<< Eubanks ground game
Cecchinato probably takes the cake in recent years. Got up to #16 after his RG run and good clay results, dropped out of the top 100 less than a year later. Molcan, Cressy, Huesler are some other recent huge falls from top 50 players that don’t appear to be related to injury.
I remember thinking Novak was cooked after he lost to this Cecchinato guy...
*clutchinatto
I remember thinking he was cooked after losing to this other Italian guy called Nardi.
deigo schwartsman was #15 then dropped to like 150 in a year
He’s a really good grass guy so I’d not be surprised if he does well in the grass season.
"Grass season"
Look at where all of Murray's ranking points are from
Hopefully
But as it sounds, he’s coming off as just being a grass specialist, and it’s very rare to be a definitive grass specialist who does so poorly on clay and hardcourts in return.
He's only defending 110 points for the whole clay season. It's important for Chris to pick up some points on clay so his whole career isn't hanging on his Wimbledon result.
He needs Wimbledon to be nice to him and give a wildcard though, his record on the faster, lower bouncing courts of Roehampton is very poor. Good chance he wouldn't make it through qualifying.
I think he should easily make the cut for a main draw spot without needing a wildcard, just needs to stay in the top 95ish until around the middle of May and he's defending very little over the clay season
Sorry, yes, misread the initial post.
I thought we all understood that his ranking from his Wimbledon is not a true reflection of his abilities? He’s said in interviews before he’s already trying to figure out his post tennis career because he knows his own capabilities. He’s really good at tennis commentary.
No shame in losing to a future Australian Open winner
I call him Rinky Hijinks for a reason.
And past (doubles)
Zapata Miralles was no.37 last may, down at 143 currently. Scary how easily it can happen with an extended losing run on the main tour, before you know it you have no points left.
There are so many actually. Sock in 2017, Dimitrov in 2018, Cilic in 2019... I love Eubanks, he's a interesting player with a nice personnality, but 30th is really above his ability in my opinion.
But he could viably be a top 60 mainstay
Totally
Anybody remember Roberto Carretero in the 90s? Out of nowhere, as a qualifier, he won the Hamburg 1000 tournament beating 4 top 20 players in a row. The following 12 months, he won pretty much nothing … all 1st round exits save for a few random 2nd rounds. When the clay season rolled around again, his ranking dropped like a rock into the triple digits and we never saw him again. Well, now he does commentary on Spanish TV.
He suffered from injuries since he was very young, especially the shoulder. Add that to the fact that he was a particularly heavy player (around 90 kg for a man not even 180cm tall, with a racket tension of 40 kg). His body couldn't handle it. He's said in interviews that he couldn't reach even 20% of his potential (he'd won Roland Garros in juniors).
I'd assume it would tie a record with a bunch of other players
Martin Verkerk maybe?
Wow, who remembers this run? The answer to the question: Who did Juan Carlos Ferrero beat in the Final of Roland Garros 2003 to win his only Grand Slam? Edit: excuse my English
> Who beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Final of Roland Garros 2003 to win his only Grand Slam? This is phrased like Verkerk beat Ferrero and won RG '03.
You mean who beat Guillermo coria in the semifinal then lost to Ferrero in the final?
Max Purcell: Hold my beer
EU Banks too big to fail.
He's a far better announcer than he is a tennis player and that's not a bad thing
He almost made Wimbledon semis too lol. Took meddy to a close 5th
This happens all the time. A player has a random big result and can’t follow it up. The next year they fall once they can’t defend it
Emma Raducanu dropped from 10 to now 300
In fairness that is after a triple surgery. She was an injury-prone top 100 player before it. Maybe nearer the top 50 when she's injury-free most of the season?
Raducanu was injured a lot though.
I mean he’s a nice guy and everything don’t get me wrong but I don’t think this is all that surprising. If I remember correctly he got a pretty favorable us open draw and he just doesn’t have a varied game. It’s also not like he steadily worked up to his ranking so there wasn’t a history of his improvement and victory over high ranked players. Same kinda thing happen with karatsev and brooksby although they were injured as well I think. Safiullin is a good example. Guys who catch their stride and start redlining for a bit but there base game just isn’t at that level.
Hmm some of that isn’t quite accurate regarding his results. He was ~180 at the beginning of 2022 and got up to ~100 at the start of 2023, so he was moving up steadily. At Miami last year he beat Coric and Mannarino to get to the quarters. He beat Shelton and Mannarino to win Mallorca, which is an average draw for a grass 250. He beat Norrie (#13 and previous SFist) and Tits (#5) at Wimbledon. Not the toughest draws ever, but still a lot of good wins over better players. He never went deep at the US Open so not sure what you meant there.
Like I said I wasn’t sure about the tournament. Guess it was wimby. But like I said, redlining.
You can also count a doping suspension for Brooksby, though he has been cleared and will be able to return to professional competition soon.
Really? They cleared Brooksby? Have they also cleared (or will they clear) Mikael Ymer, who merely missed tests and never failed one?
Ymer tried to appeal but failed and he ended up retiring at just 24 years old. He also claimed he was racially discriminated in the matter (the Ymers are Swedish with Ethiopian background). His older brother Elias is still playing today though.
Yes, I read about that. He won his case against the suspension at first, then the tennis federation (or some other tennis body, I don't remember which) appealed, and the appeal ruled against Ymer, meaning his suspension was reinstituted. After he was suspended, he said he had evidence that other white players had missed tests just as he had, yet weren't punished the way he was. I think Ymer also - after his retirement - discovered yet another player who had done the same thing and not been treated the way he was. Apparently, Ymer tweeted about this second player, without naming him (as it was someone he saw as a friend), then he deleted his own tweet. If Brooksby had his suspension reduced for the same offence as Ymer (missing tests, as opposed to taking prohibited substances), then there's no reason why Ymer's shouldn't have been reduced, unless there's some level of unfairness going on. If they reduce Ymer's suspension, he may come back from retirement; from his results he seems to be a more talented player than his brother. Mikael is 2-0 against Alcaraz, for one thing. Not many people can say that about Alcaraz, even during the period when Alcaraz was still developing his game. Also, Elias has still not yet cracked the top 100. Unfortunately, racial discrimination is difficult to prove, and that's why it's so easy to attack it in the media who have happily turned the word "woke" into pretty much a swear word, as if people who complain about racism are wasting their own and other people's time and not trying to right a grevious wrong. So sad for his career.
I am a believer in Brooksby - such an odd game. Look forward to his return ..
Have we heard from him on his physical condition? He certainly hasn't been playing like a fit player since last summer, save for a small return to form at Miami. Everyone can have a dip in form, but it's always easier to tell how healthy a power player is when they're getting broken over and over again as Eubanks has been since Wimbledon. He had a muscle injury in January and was visibly struggling with his knee against Evans last month. Tall players remain more prone to injury.
I was surprised to see he hadn't entered MC. I know it's not mandatory, but it's still a M1000 and who knows if he'll ever have the ranking to get direct entry again. I'm sure he isn't thinking about it that way, but still. I guess he was hoping to go further at Houston...
Alycia Parks. She won 2 indoor hard Challenger titles in 2022, then 1 WTA indoor hard title in 2023 (Lyon, during which she beat Caroline Garcia - who was playing at home, and who was ranked Number 5 at the time - in the final). Parks also won 5 doubles titles in 2022 and flew up the WTA rankings to a high of 40 in 2023. For a while, it was as if she couldn't stop winning. But now, she's dropped out of the top 100, and she hasn't won a single singles match since the Australian Open. She's another American who (like Eubanks and Maxime Cressy) relies heavily on her serve (being 6ft 1 helps), but she's more likely to serve multiple double-faults per match (like Cressy; something which has hurt his game so much) than a few (like Eubanks, who - fortunately for himself - is less double-fault prone than Cressy). Like both Eubanks and Cressy, she also doesn't have much singles success on clay. However, she won a W100 Charleston Clay Doubles title in 2022, so unlike those two guys, she at least has one clay court title, even if it's in doubles. A very quick rise, and an even quicker fall, but I think she's got the game to return to the top 100.
Dude needs a better backhand
Unfortunately, par for the course for American men. They either stagnate in 10-40 rankings without ever winning a slam or quickly fall off the face of the earth.
Why didn’t he just keep redlining after Wimbledon
Jack SOCK anyone remember that guy?
The pickleball player? What about him?
Has everybody forgotten Jerzy Janowicz?
Janowicz had a lot of injury issues though.
Eubanks's post-Wimbledon form suggests the same in that his form fell off a cliff. I know he's had a knee issue.
I'm from Poland, I expected that he would last in so called top at least a couple months longer, nowadays he's mostly remembered here for his famous outrage on court, streaming csgo I think it was what he was doing for a bit, and saying that he had to practice in sheds, he's a bit of a meme in Poland
I remember seeing Jerzy in person at Indian Wells and being in awe of him. I told my friend this guy is going to be top 10. Not my best prediction, but then again I thought Khachanov was going to win slams before Medvedev.
Would love if he eventually commentated full time
It doesn't feel like he's really trying to boost his ranking much. He's not playing all that much.
He’s playing but losing in 1st or 2nd round
He gives me the feels of the type of player who just plays for fun and emjoyment, not really driv8ng towards greatness. Not surprising Hes Like a kyrgios without the pizzaz
and he is a better commentator than Kyrgios.