Claire McLoughlin
THE SANTA CLARA
January 26, 2017
If I’d written this column a week ago, it’d have been entirely off the mark. Since the Australian Open began on Jan. 16 in Melbourne, the two safest bets for men’s singles champion have been knocked out. Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan bested Novak Djokovic in the second round of the tournament and the German Mischa Zverev forced the world No. 1 Andy Murray to go five sets before crushing his dreams of an Australian Open victory.
With Murray and Djokovic out of the picture, the crown could easily find itself on anyone’s head.