They once shone in the second week of Grand Slams, yet were eliminated early in the Australian Open qualifiers.

There is a saying that talents emerge in every generation, each dominating for centuries. But in tennis, the timeframe is much shorter. Last week, many players were knocked out early in the Australian Open qualifiers. Some of these players had made it to the second week of Grand Slams before. So, who are these players? And what achievements did they have on the Grand Slam stage? Today, this article will take you to find out.

In 2021, South African player Lloyd Harris fought through five sets to defeat Russian master’s champion Karen Khachanov in the first round of the US Open. Perhaps this victory boosted his confidence, as Harris then went on to defeat Mexico’s Escobedo, Canada’s Shapovalov, and the US’s Opelka, reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. However, his current world ranking has dropped beyond 220. In the first round of the Australian Open qualifiers, Harris lost to Italy’s Cecchinato and was eliminated early.

Many tennis fans are familiar with Georgian player Nikoloz Basilashvili. In 2018, Basilashvili reached his first Grand Slam round of 16 at the US Open. That same year, he also won the China Open in Beijing. In 2022, Wu Yibing defeated Basilashvili in the first round of the US Open, breaking the curse of Chinese male players never winning a main draw match at Grand Slams. In the first round of the Australian Open qualifiers, Basilashvili was beaten in straight sets by Peru’s Bueno and sent home early.

In 2017, British player Dan Evans reached his first ATP tour final at the ATP250 Sydney event in January. That month, he also advanced to his first Grand Slam round of 16 at the Australian Open. In 2021, after winning his first ATP tour title at the ATP250 event in Melbourne, Evans defeated then world No.1 Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters, reaching his first Masters semifinal. That year, he also made his second Grand Slam round of 16 at the US Open. Last week, with his ranking having fallen beyond 180, Evans was swept aside by Japan’s Sakamoto Rei in the first round of the Australian Open qualifiers.

Some ATP players excel on a particular surface but lose their magic elsewhere; Italian player Marco Cecchinato is one of them. All three of his tour titles have come on clay courts. Cecchinato’s only Grand Slam main draw wins were at Roland Garros, where in 2018 he famously defeated Serbian star Novak Djokovic to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal. However, last week Cecchinato lost in the first round of the Australian Open qualifiers to Belgium’s Bolleli, exiting early.

Besides them, former Grand Slam second-week players such as Swiss Henri Laaksonen, Serbian Dusan Lajovic, Chilean Nicolas Jarry, Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, Australian Bernard Tomic, Croatian Borna Coric, and Bolivian Hugo Dellien all fell in the Australian Open qualifiers. These players who once proudly advanced to the second week of Grand Slams now stopped at the qualifying rounds, highlighting the harsh reality of competitive sports. That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)