The ATP Tour will have so many rich storylines at work in the Australian Open, and naturally, most people will focus on the return of Novak Djokovic to the court, joining Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal plus Milos Raonic and other previously injured players who are trying to get back in the saddle and ride tall Down Under. Yet, while those major stories unfold, which players are more under the radar in Melbourne, armed with a possibility of making surprise runs into the second week of the tournament to cause trouble in various parts of the draw? Here are some candidates:
Gilles Muller
At last year’s U.S. Open, the idea of Muller making a big run wouldn’t have come across as a surprise, because Muller had already made his big run at Wimbledon and had the full attention of the rest of the ATP Tour. Muller beat Nadal in a four-hour, 48-minute classic in the fourth round of Wimbledon to make his first Wimbledon quarterfinal and just his second major quarterfinal ever. He then played Marin Cilic tough and close, losing in five sets after giving it everything he had. Muller came to New York as a target, but he disappointed, losing to Paolo Lorenzi, a player he should have beaten on a fast surface. Muller cooled off in the second half of the 2017 season, which has removed the spotlight from him once again. That downturn makes him more of a shadowy figure in Australia, so what better time to sneak up on opponents than now? Muller landed in a manageable section of the draw, and if he gets to the fourth round, he would face Cilic again, gaining a chance to avenge his Wimbledon loss. If Muller’s serve and volley are crisp and precise, he can do real damage.
Muller was 32-18 in all matches last season with his strongest suit being grass (11-2). However, he did have a relatively positive record on the hard courts, going 13-9 in main tour draw matches.
Kyle Edmund
The Brit will not be favored to beat U.S. Open finalist Kevin Anderson in round one, but Anderson heavily struggled after his huge, career-changing run in New York, so Edmund certainly has a chance to pull off the upset there. If Edmund can score a victory in that match, the next few matches look very winnable, and Edmund could then make a push into the second week. The Anderson match is one of the best ATP matches in round one of the tournament.
Fernando Verdasco
Another elite-level first-round match which promises high quality is Fernando Verdasco against No. 20 seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Whereas Bautista Agut is the solid, steady, no-frills player who is good at taking care of players he should beat, Verdasco is the erratic player who can be awful, but who can just as easily play nearly untouchable tennis when he is at his best, firing winners from all positions on the court in ways his opponents can’t match. If the good version of Verdasco shows up, he should beat Bautista Agut, and since he is in a section of the draw with Dominic Thiem, who is terrible on hardcourts, Verdasco could make his way to the quarterfinals. He’s been a bit sluggish to start the season as he’s collected just one victory in three matches so far.
Steve Johnson
Johnson gets Thiem in the second round. It is a golden opportunity for him to make the second week – if he had been placed near any of the other top-eight seeds in the second round, his prospects wouldn’t be nearly as good, but Thiem has yet to figure things out on hardcourt surfaces. Johnson is entirely at home on hardcourts due to his Southern California upbringing. Players who grow up in that part of the United States learn how to serve and hit forehands on hard, fast surfaces.
He hasn’t had a particularly strong start to the year, though. He has registered just one win in three matches to date in 2018.
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