Post Australian Open Rankings

A quick update on where the Americans stand on the ATP after the last few weeks, so our month's end ranking of the players in the top 200:

13. John Isner (-)
49. Sam Querrey (+2)
79. Donald Young (+12)
82. Bradley Klahn (+11)
89. Jack Sock (+6)
97. Michael Russell (-5)
100. Tim Smyczek (-10)

Living with Mental Weakness on the Tennis Court

The most common misconception about having mental weakness on a tennis court, in my estimation, is the assumption that it's an easy fix or that it can simply be changed with little work. Much like lazy footwork or a hitch in your forehand, it can take years of full commitment and training/practice to get your mind right. Even then, there are no guarantees. Like every technical part of your tennis game, your mind never stays the same... it gets better or worse every day depending on how much you work at it.

Australian Open Preview

The first grand slam of the season is here! Austin Krajicek is competing in the qualifying draw, but I want to mention him by name first here because he had a big week in Noumea. Krajicek defeated Duckhee Lee and Edward Corrie to get into the 125k challenger main draw, then he upset doubles partner Tennys Sandgren and David Goffin (by retirement) to start the year with a quarterfinal run, before losing 6-0 in the 3rd against Irishman James McGee. He also teamed with Sandgren to win the doubles title in Noumea without dropping a set all week. That's a fantastic way to start 2014 for Krajicek, one of the best weeks of his career, and he's up to a career high doubles ranking of 90 and a singles ranking of 227 (career high is 210).

In singles we have the following nine players in the main: