The ATP season in 2018 promises all sorts of unexpected developments. No one expected Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to win all four major titles last year, two apiece. No one could have known that Novak Djokovic would get injured and that Andy Murray would miss roughly half of the whole season after violently tumbling from the World No. 1 ranking. There will be positive moments for members of the ATP, but after week one in Melbourne at the Australian Open, a number of players fell flat on their faces and have to dust themselves off heading into Indian Wells in March. Which players got roughed up at the 2018 Australian Open in the land Down Under? Let’s take a closer look at the first week’s action.
Jack Sock
The story of Jack Sock took a huge positive turn last November when he bounced from a ranking outside the top 20 all the way to No. 8 when he won the Paris indoor Masters in Bercy. That first Masters 1000 championship gave him the massive point boost he needed to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals event in London. Sock then advanced to the semifinals out of his round-robin group and gave eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov a tough match before losing in three sets. Sock ended 2017 in the top 10, with a large dose of confidence. It was reasonable to think that 2018 would cement the American as a fixture in important tournaments, as a much more consistent and high-level player than ever before.
Instead, he bowed out in the first round to Yuichi Sugita.
That’s a terrible result and a clear way to show that Sock’s rise in November was much more the product of other players being tired late in the 2017 season than Sock being uniquely good. It’s true that Sock took advantage of a favorable circumstance late last year, but a lot of people were expecting him to remain legitimately strong this year, and that did not happen in Australia. Sock has a lot to prove.
Kevin Anderson
The 2017 U.S. Open runner-up did something so many of his fellow professionals have not yet done in their careers. Anderson enjoyed two great weeks in the spotlight and enjoyed the thrill of a lifetime. He played with great energy and intensity, and he successfully dealt with rough patches of play during those two weeks in New York, with the exception of the final, when he ran into the buzzsaw known as Rafael Nadal. Anderson had so much cause for optimism heading into October and November of last year, but he struggled. He let down his guard after his huge moment in New York. This Australian Open was a chance for him to bounce back and start fresh, but he lost in round one to Kyle Edmund. That’s a damaging start to a new campaign.
David Goffin
The runner-up at the ATP Finals and the winner of two Davis Cup Final matches for Belgium against France was one of the more successful players in the final two months of the 2017 season. Goffin hoped to carry that form into 2018, but he was surprisingly flat in a second-round loss to Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Goffin probably needs to rest a lot in February. He played a ton of tennis in October and November. Nevertheless, he should have had enough quality to move into the fourth round at this tournament. Losing in the second round is a big failure for him.
Alexander Zverev
The woes for the two-time Masters 1000 champion continue at the Grand Slams. Zverev has not yet reached a major quarterfinal, and that will remain the case after Australia. Zverev led two sets to one but then fell apart in the final two sets, winning only three of 15 games and getting blasted in the final set, 6-0, by Hyeon Chung. Zverev doesn’t manage his body or his emotions wisely. Until he learns how to carry himself better in five-set matches, Zverev will continue to doubt himself and run into this brick wall at the most important events on tour.
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