The era of the big four began to disappear when Andy Murray got injured. Then there were three, but that quickly changed to two with the retirement of Roger Federer. Then Rafael Nadal took an extended injury leave and was never the same. He eventually slipped into retirement without much fanfare last year. Did he linger too long?

Novak Djokovic No Longer Feared

Novak Djokovic has been the sole survivor, and he did an excellent job carrying the mantle; however, his reign as a dominant player is over. There was a time when either of the four would step on the court and they won the match simply because of their aura. Now, not anymore. Djokovic has become easy picking, and every scrub believes they can defeat him. Is it time for the Serbian to retire? Has he lingered too long as well? It is great to want to go out on your own terms; however, when you start losing to players who never had a chance of beating you at 50% your best effort, it is time to retire.

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Van de Zandschulp Turns The Table On Djokovic

While not exactly a scrub, Botic Van de Zandschulp in his current form should not have been able to defeat Djokovic. Van de Zandschulp had a career high ranking of twenty-two. It was the way he dominated the former number one in the third set. How did Djokovic lose two sets, only winning three games? The last time they played, the Dutch was ranked much higher than his present ranking and the Serbian dismissed him 6-3, 6-1. Now the roles were reversed. Van de Zandschulp won 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Madison Keys Amongst American Winners

[3] Taylor Fritz struggled in the second set but managed to get the 6-3, 7-5 victory over Matteo Gigante. [11] Ben Shelton defeated Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-2. [32] Brandon Nakashima defeated Rinky Hijikata 7-5, 6-1. Good boost of confidence for Jenson Brooksby. Brooksby has been missing in action due to injury. [17] Feliz Auger-Aliassime seemed to have turned his year around, and was in form; thus, it was quite surprising that he lost so easily to the American, 4-6, 2-6.

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[3] Coco Gauff had a battle on her hands. Moyuka Uchijima pushed her to three sets; however, Gauff prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4). [5] Madison Keys has found her confidence, and she is on fire at the moment. Keys evened their H2H with a 6-3, 6-0 thrashing of Anastasia Potapova. [10] Emma Navarro was pushed to the end by Sorana Cirstea. The Romanian player won the first set 6-3 before the American found her game. Navarro won the second set 6-1, but Cirstea was tenacious. The American won the tiebreaker 7-6(3) after saving match point. [14] Danielle Collins was supposed to be retired; however, she has been playing some of her best tennis since she announced her retirement. Hailey Baptiste made her earn this victory. Collins had to right her ship to claim the 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory over the fellow American.

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