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FAA gets 2026 off to a winning start
Felix Auger-Aliassime (FAA) defeated Zhang in straights to get 2026 off to a good start.
The Canadian picked the season up where he left the last one off. What a fine end to 2025 he had. He’s now ranked No.5 and seems to be ready to fulfill that great potential everyone thought he had years ago. Aged 25, he’s still relatively young and in his prime. It’s easy to hype up such runs in a promising player’s career, as we did with Felix once upon a time, only to then be let down when the realities of injuries and slumps come around. Felix has an advantage though. This isn’t his first rodeo. He comes into this ‘second wind’ with a lot of experience and knowledge that he didn’t have before. Hopefully, he can use it to take care of his body and maintain a baseline level when things are going south, which at some point they will.
What is his potential? Nothing less than a slam, at any of the venues really but it’s most likely the USO, then the AO, then Wimbledon and finally RG. It’ll be tough with Sinner and Alcaraz the top dogs, but they can falter; sometimes they even get banned, or one of them does. Carlos can have his off days and Sinner has shown twice last year (RG and USO finals), he can buckle when the pressure is on. Though that was facing Alcaraz and not FAA who he leads 4-3 and has won his last four matches against. But those 3 wins are reassuring for Felix.
The problem with trying to predict like this is that tennis is really about what happens on the day. Yes, history does play a role, as does match ups, but players can improve and they can turn things around. If Felix hits top form and feels good, he can win a slam. It’s a big ‘if’, though, when you’re not one of the top two or three in recent years (or should I say decades).
Based on his talent and potential, and his great skillset with that serve and baseline game and shot-making ability, I’m backing FAA to grab a slam before his career ends.
And of course, now I’ve started hyping him again, expect an early exit for the poor Canadian this AO.
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Zhang and Bergs get the year going at United Cup
2026 didn’t have to wait long for its first ‘banger’. The match between Zhang and Bergs, if the highlights are anything to go by, was a real contest.
Zhang won 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 7-5. It’s good to have him back. The world no.410 has been off with injury (shoulder)and if this match is anything to go by, getting close to his previous high of 31, achieved in summer 2024, isn’t out of the question. The 29 year old has a great all court game and plenty of spirit and clearly a lot more to give at the tail end of his career.
As for Bergs, he’s been grinding away for a good few years now and looks to be a solid top 40 player now (ranked 39). In fact, he’s at a similar stage Zhang was before injury derailed him. He’s a solid player not afraid of the net and plenty of people are willing to bet on him causing the odd upset and going on a nice run. He’s got personality, too, and is one to watch out for.
Meanwhile, Wawrinka beat Rinderknech in 3. It’s Stanimal’s last year on tour. Hardly a shock seeing as he’s aged 40. Ranked 157, he’ll play a nice cameo this season, wheeled out by tournament director’s for long goodbyes. I’d forgotten he was even still plying his trade on the tour and so it’ll be fun to see him at Roland Garros or the USO having one last go at being the ultimate slam winning upset artist.
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New Season Underway with United Cup
2026 is off and running with the United Cup.
Baez beat Munar in straights and Tsitsipas beat Mochizuki. The players have numbers next to their names which may or not be their seeds. Tsitsipas has 12 and Mochizuki has 13. It looks weird and I can’t be bothered to find out why.
Okay, I’m not that lazy. The seeding represents their country, suggesting that Tsitsipas and Mochizuki are somehow evenly matched. No doubt this has been done to counter criticism of the vast difference in level between players in this format. To the casual fan hesitant on parting with significant dollars for a ticket, this may make the deal look more appealing.
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Five Questions for men’s tennis 2026
- Can anyone break the Alcaraz-Sinner monopoly?
I did clamor for an end to the big 3 and of course what I got was more of the same in the form of the big 2, Sinner and Alcaraz.
Their rivalry is still fresh at least that we haven’t tired of it. And their slam finals in 2025 were entertaining. One of them, Roland Garros, is an all time classic, and the US Open was a nice surprise.
However, it would be nice if someone else did challenge them in 2026 just to keep things interesting.
2. How will Sinner and Alcaraz divvy up the big titles?
2025 showed that Sinner and Alcaraz weren’t too predictable. Most pundits would have had Alcaraz winning Wimbledon and Sinner the US Open, and we got the reverse.
What will fans get in 2026? Can Alcaraz win the AO and complete the career slam? How about Sinner getting the same achievement at RG?
3. Will Mensik and Fonseca break through?
The two most hyped up and comers have had mixed fortunes so far. Mensik seems to have achieved the most with his Miami ’25 win and Fonseca snatched a 250 title at the end of the season.
What we’d like to see is a slam quarter or semi. A final would be good.
4. Will Djokovic have a fairy tale end to his career?
The GOAT reached four slam semis in ’25 and his fans and no doubt himself and his team will believe he can make another final and win a title. It’s the fairy tale end to a career and one that Pete Sampras, Djokovic’s idol, enjoyed.
I doubt he can do it at his age, 38. But funny things happen in sports. Draws fall apart. Top players get injured. As long as Djokovic is in the draw, he’s a contender.
5. Will Musetti win a big title?
It’s all well and good being a pretty face with a beautiful game but it’s even better being one with a nice big title. Ask Marat Safin for more details.
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Not De Minaur double bagelling Dimitrov in Monte Carlo QF!
It’s rare a result really pops out at me, but this one did.
First of all, in 2025, what are either of these two doing in a Clay 1000 QF?
Mind, Monte Carlo is seen as the step child of the 1000 family with rumors circulating now and then of it being demoted. Historically, it’s often been quite badly attended by the very top players, often American and often avoiding clay anyway, due to its proximity to the end of the long early season hard court swing.
Back to the result. Whatever Monte Carlo’s status is, it is a 1000 event and thus prestigious.
This result really signified to me the demise of the clay court game and the old school clay court player, grinder some might say, who built up their ranking points and prize money between April and June each season.
With the homogenisation of the game and the resulting standardisation of the typical pro player, the clay grinder is gone, those long names you struggled to pronounce but whose endurance and point construction made you grin, and so, if this result is anything to go by, so is the clay game itself.
De Minaur is a fine player, and it goes without saying Dimitrov is, too. And to some degree, De Minaur does have grinding elements to his game, and he’s quick. But he doesn’t have the power of a clay courter and he doesn’t have the finesse needed to break up those long points and make something else happen. Now, De Minaur, one of the tour’s hardest workers and likeable players but still a guy whose best clay result should be a QF at most, has a clay 1000 SF on his resume.
And then Dimitrov. He does have the all round game and touch to do well on Clay. But in 2025? This is the best the game can give us. I mean, I’m happy to see this charming guy anywhere, however, in 2025, I’d imagine there would be a fresher up and comer getting these results?
Ageism is not attractive, I know, and you might say that this result is testament to the player’s tenacity and spirit, and Di Minaur and Dimitrov reaching the QFs of a Clay 1000 isn’t that shocking considering their pedigree.
But this result is, I am afraid.
Let’s look at the other QFs:
Alcaraz defeats Fils in three sets.
This one is pretty healthy. The second seed was always likely to get his act together come the clay, and Fils is one of those fresher faces I alluded to earlier.
Musetti d. Tsitispas in 3.
Again, the kind of result we want to see. Musetti is a Dimitrov, and also a Tsitsipas, type. The mercurial talent who thrives wherever they happen to be inspired that day. Tsitsipas is a great player in Monte Carlo, too.
Davidiovich Fokina d. Popyrin in 2.
ADF, another huge, erratic talent, beating a fresh up and comer with a nice resume. A right result on paper and in reality, too.
Looking at those results, they suggest the game, on Clay, isn’t in that bad shape.
Nevertheless, this De Minaur destruction of Dimitrov is a stand out and though the game may be in fairly good shape, if we ever needed evidence of surface homogenisation and the death of the claycourter, we have the only exhibit we really needed.
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Alcaraz upset in US Open round 2
Calros Alcaraz has been upset in the second round of the US Open by Van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
The loss is not that much of a shock as the 2022 champion and world No.3 was said to have injured his ankle in training.
Alcaraz joins:
Tsitspias
Rune
Fils
FAA
Korda
Hurcakz
Humbert
Cerundolo
Baez
Jarry
Tabilo
Khachanov
Bublik
on the list of seeded casualties before their projected last 32 places.
That means 14/32 didn’t make, so that’s 44.75%.
My tip for the title Medvedev made it to round three with wins over:
round 1: Lajovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
round 2:Marozsan 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
That’s a tricky first couple of rounds that’s he navigated pretty comfortably.
In round three, he’s playing 31st seed Cobolli.
His projected draw to the title is:
round 4:He was supposed to face Tsitispas here. Now, he’ll face either Borges or Mensik.
QF: Sinner. This is a big hurdle. But Sinner is under a lot of pressure as the top seed and under scrutiny with his doping scandal. Although Sinner has the upper hand in their rivalry of late, this is winnable for Medvedev who has been around the block and has nothing to lose. He also has, after the AO final loss to the Italian, something to prove. If he can win the mental game here, it’s his. That is always the case, but this time Sinner has some things going against him mentally that are unusual.
SF: Alcaraz and Hurkacz (7) are both gone here. The highest seeds left are Draper and De Minaur, who he would be favored to beat even if they do pose some threat.
F:Djokovic.
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Goodbye Dominic Thiem – we’ll miss you!
Who’d have wanted to be an up and coming tennis player in the age of the Big 3?
Talented players, the best of their generation, such as Nishikori, Dimitrov, Raonic and Goffin never made it to No.1 or won a slam. Pre the Big 3 era, they’d have likely have achieved at least one of those things, if not both.
Thiem proved to be an exception. Certainly, timing came into it. By the time he was coming up, those afore-mentioned players were known and hyped quantities and the Big 3 were still at or near the top of their game.
Thiem came along when they were starting to derail a little. That isn’t to undermine his achievements–it’s just a fact that in a tennis career, timing is imperative, and unfortunately, it’s something players have no control over.
Thiem scored many a big win over Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. At slams, his victories at Roland Garros and the Australian Open were huge statements in which he brutalised the ball with his forehand and had the greatest of all time standing in the middle of the court, lost.
He won his slam, too, at the 2020 US Open. One of the strangest majors ever played in empty stadiums bar the player’s boxes where his colleagues dined on take out and looked on at Thiem playing out his destiny before them.
In that final, he came back from two sets and a break down versus a much hyped player from the generation below him, Zverev. This time, Thiem got a little luck. Unlike timing, that can be controlled to some extent. Thiem’s hard work, and we mean hard, hard, back breaking work out on the practice courts earned him that luck and that much elusive slam. It didn’t happen at Roland Garros where we thought the man who beat Nadal on Clay when 99% of the tour could only dream of winning sets would make history. But where it happened didn’t matter. What counted was the number one that would now be written next to his slam tally in the record books. A zero, quite simply, would have been pure cruelty on the part of the tennis Gods.
For the last few years, he’s not been a factor. Injury, the ender of most careers, had its way with him. He kept trying, of course. But he couldn’t come back. We could say that is bad luck, but for most pros, it is the inevitable, and painful, ending.
And now Thiem’s leaving us. I’ll miss his ground strokes and his passion as he took on the game’s best players, competing like a pro in the age of million dollar endorsements and prize money, and you felt the whole time you watched him that he’d have given his all back in the days of the amateur tour, too.
Good bye Mr. Thiem – we miss you already!
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US Open Men’s Day 1 Review
The biggest upset of the day was Rune going down in straight sets to Nakashima. The American is no slouch at slams, having reached the Wimbledon fourth round in ’22, but the 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 score in his favor does raise an eyebrow.
The loss is Rune’s second first round exit in New York in a row.
Less surprising is Bublik’s first round exit after leading Shang 2 sets to 1. I often pick Bublik as one to watch but didn’t bother this year and I’m happy about that.
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The US Open 2024 Men’s Preview
Men’s tennis enters the final slam of the season with quite a lot of uncertainty and something of a tarnished rep.
The end of the Djokovic era doesn’t seem upon us at all, not after the tennis he produced to win Gold in Paris.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz is rumored to have picked up an injury (so has Djokovic but injuries seem not to matter much with him). And it’s unlikely he’ll win three slams on the run at this stage of his career and the letdowns he does have after a run of sustained success.
Then there’s Sinner. I won’t say much on that. But a world No.1 and slam champ being involved in a doping story is never a good look and it’d be understandable if the scrutiny got to Sinner and he lost early.
If all that weren’t enough, dark horse Jack Draper has tarnished his reputation with double-bounce gate. It’ll be tough for him to focus and get that breakthrough with that still on his mind.
So, where does that leave us? I’d say Djokovic winning is highly probable.
But, he’s not my pick.
Medvedev is.
The Russian has zero pressure or expectations. He has motivation, too, after losing last year’s final and most likely wanting to end his career as a multiple slam champ.
We know he has the hard court skills and pedigree, and while his mentality is sometimes questionable, he can rise to the occasion as he did back in 2021 and in the spotlight, too. The guy singlehandedly stopped Djokovic winning the calendar slam, and in straight sets no less.
Winning another USO is certainly in Medvedev’s capabilities. A window has opened for him at this year’s event should be bit fit and hungry. With those long legs of his and all that height, it’ll be entertaining, as always, watching him try and squeeze through.
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Wimbledon Men’s third round review
Only one of my dark horses remains in the draw – Musetti. The 25th seed beat Comesana in four sets. In the next round, he faces the big server Perricard. That match really could go either way and it’s not ideal for the Italian to be meeting a player with such a weapon as Perricard has. Still, it’s better than facing one of the favorites.
One favorite, Alcaraz, got past Tiafoe in five. Once he’d won a tight fourth seed, the Spaniard cruised home in the fifth. Tiafoe seemed to know the window he’d opened with his crushing play in set four had passed him and looked a little resigned to his fate. Alcaraz is 12-1 in five setters and that’s one stat that his opponents will always have in the back of their minds.
Another favorite, Sinner, easily handled Kecmanovic in straights. He really is dealing with being the top seed with such a level head and looks like the champion in waiting.
Zverev also made it through, beating Norrie in three, and Djokovic beat Popyrin in four.
Shelton won his third five setter in a row, beating Shapovalov. Impressive stuff. He’s showing real fight and desire and is following up on last year’s USO semi-final very well.
There were another three matches that went the distance – RBA over Fognini, Fils beating Safuillin and Rune defeating Halys.
Humbert, who is a player to watch, beat Nakashima in four. Meanwhile another favorite of mine, Bublik, went out to Paul in three. Bublik was starting to impress but Paul is frustrating to play against, so calm and consistent, for players like him.
The fourth round looks as follows:
Sinner vs Shelton
Dimitrov vs Medvedev
Alcaraz vs Humbert
Paul vs RBA
Musetti vs Perricard
Fritz vs Zverev
Fils vs de Minaur
Rune vs Djokovic.
That’s a very enticing line up. However, if the favorites win, the QFs might be quite predictable. We’d have:
Sinner vs Medvedev
Alcaraz vs Paul
Musetti vs Zverev
Djokovic vs De Minaur.
Let’s hope for:
Shelton vs Dimitrov
Humbert vs Paul
Musetti vs Fritz
Rune vs Fils.
An organizer’s nightmare, but a fan’s dream!
Tennis from a fan's point of view
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