Sweet win for a former phenom - 4/26/2011

Date: 4/26/2011
Result: Barcelona R1, Mirjana Lucic def. Ekaterina Makarova, 7-6 6-3
Why it matters:
- With each win by Mirjana Lucic, hope springs again that Lucic can reemerge, even if only at 10% of her former potential, and make a small impression on the tour before hanging it up for good.  Her run to the Wimbledon semifinals was so memorable (even if slightly overshadowed by another surprise semifinalist).  Lucic's upside seemed limitless.  She has a smooth game that can translate to any surface, so she's enjoyable to watch for the fans.  But perpetual injuries really stopped her, along with waning confidence and heightened expectation.  The WTA has seen its fair share of teen phenoms gone bust, but few have fought as hard as Lucic has throughout the years to try and regain her top form.  This win may be at a small tour event, but for Lucic, I'm sure it is sweet.
- Makarova is so up and down.  She can put together amazing strings of wins (like in Eastbourne, with 5 top 20 wins, beating Pennetta, Petrova, Kuznetsova, Stosur, and Azarenka), and then lose to, well, people like Lucic in fairly disappointing fashion.  Of course, clay doesn't suit Makarova's big game.  It dampens her serve and exposes her movement problems; the counterpoint though is she should be able to hit through the court with her power.  Makarova is a dangerous floater that most of the WTA would prefer to avoid in the draw, I'm sure, but her fear factor will rise once the grass season comes around.  For now, players should try to take advantage, especially when the courts are extra slow.
Honorable Mentions:
-Belgrade R1, Fernando Gonzalez def. Martin Klizan - 62 64 - Welcome back Gonzo!  After a serious knee injury kept him out for an extended period, Gonzalez is back in a fairly low pressure situation.  He is especially lucky to have such a favorable draw to ease him back into playing condition (Sorry Klizan!).  I think Gonzalez has the kind of game that can come back quickly; he hits so big that if he can find confidence and a bit of a rhythm, he doesn't have to work the point very much.  But if he doesn't find any rhythm soon, his matches could be error-fests.  Give Gonzalez until the French to get it all the way back.
- Munich R1, Dustin Brown def. Stanislas Wawrinka - 67 64 75 - Brown worked his way to one of his biggest wins of his career (his win over Querrey in Newport last year may be considered bigger) in front of his new home crowd.  Having been born in Germany, he feels at home in Munich and hopefully has enough crowd support to make that a significant advantage.  But his funky game is probably what got him through this match.  Wawrinka is built on rhythm, so changes of pace and lack of pattern can break him down.  Wawrinka should shake this one off.  Of course getting wins is important, but this loss may let him focus on the real targets in Madrid and Rome coming up.  He's proven he's tough on clay, he should have real ambitions to make a splash at one or both of the Masters events.