Lost in the Shuffle: New year, new hopes for Mattek-Sands

Among other things, the Australian Open is known for the fashion it inspires. Clothes are sometimes louder than the fans at Melbourne Park, with apparel manufacturers opting for bright colors and vibrant patterns to announce the start of the tennis season—and the players who try to pull off such daring styles.

Perhaps that’s why Bethanie Mattek-Sands, she of the knee-high socks, exposed sports bra, tattoos, and a cap conservative only in relation to her pink locks of hair that flow from it, didn’t seem to stand out on Day 1. Her highlighter-yellow shirt was fairly tame compared to some of Nike’s funky men’s wares, after all.

Maybe it was because the opening day of play was known more for the women’s upsets—six seeds had lost before 6 pm in Melbourne—than the women’s winners. Maybe it was because any result on a day in which 64 singles matches take place can get lost in the shuffle.

But Mattek-Sands, and her 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 first-round victory over Ying-Ying Duan, warrant a second look. Her last foray into Grand Slam competition was a year ago, at the Australian Open, when she drew Maria Sharapova as her opening opponent. She lost that match, then went just 2-5 in main-draw matches for the rest of 2014, mainly due to condition. The now-29-year-old American underwent hip surgery last April, bitten yet again by the injury bug. As Peter Bodo wrote in his up-close-and-personal piece on Mattek-Sands last year, “she hasn’t been healthy enough to play a full schedule over a one-year period since 2010.”

When asked after today’s match by Pam Shriver what her goal was in 2015 besides staying healthy, Mattek-Sands replied, “Staying healthy.”

For those who follow tennis beyond the big names, it seems like Mattek-Sands has been around forever. She turned pro in 1999, and we once knew her as simply Bethanie Mattek, before her supportive husband Justin came into the picture. She’s risen as high as No. 30 on the WTA ladder, has reached four tour singles finals (though never a winner), and figured into the United States’ deep Fed Cup runs in the early part of this decade.

But despite some bad luck, and a lack of hardware, status, and acclaim, I would guess that Mattek-Sands enjoys what she does more than most players. “I’m really excited to play singles and doubles again,” she cheerily said after advancing to the second round of the singles tournament for the first time Down Under. (Did you know?—Mattek-Sands is a Grand Slam champion, having won the 2012 Aussie Open mixed doubles title with Horia Tecau.)

Thanks to a bit of early-round carnage, Mattek-Sands will meet Kristina Mladenovic rather than 28th seed Sabine Lisicki in the second round; if she wins that match, No. 3 Simona Halep likely awaits. But in with a protected ranking at No. 258, Mattek-Sands will be an underdog no matter who she faces. She has nothing to lose, and that’s always a dangerous thing when you’re playing someone with the obvious talent Mattek-Sands possesses.

Solid off both wings but with offensive instincts, Mattek-Sands wore down Duan on a warm summer day. “I had to be aggressive; I had to neutralize her first serve,” she said. That helped her win the big points during match in which both players won 104 of them.

After reiterating her desire to stay healthy this season, Mattek-Sands said she wanted to do something else: “Have fun.” She certainly does that every time she walks out onto the court, sporting some of the most unique couture imaginable. But with some good play and good fortune, Mattek-Sands hopes to keep her fun run going for longer than just a round or two.