The bottom of the class

Within Tennis Metrics we pretty much all agree that these two players are really not good at the start of this season; which one will be the least bad?

Griekspoor hasn’t won a single set in 2026, he’s 0/3, but it’s really the way he’s playing that’s worrying. He already threw away the second set against Zverev and Humbert and seems completely switched off at the start of this year. We know that mentally he’s prone to big drops in motivation during the season, and in my opinion that’s what’s happening here. I’m not sure a Slam will help him feel any better given how he’s started. The pattern is pretty clear: he starts his matches off fairly well, but once he falls behind, it’s over. In a best-of-five format, that leaves room for so many comebacks!

The other underperformer is Quinn. I’m not going to defend him just because he’s not very popular with my colleagues, but I do think he has some excuses. First, he’s very young, 21 years old and only one real year on the tour. Then he loses to Collignon and Fucsovics this year; that’s not disastrous in itself, especially when I read Fucsovics’ comments after their match. The Hungarian was tactically prepared to face him, it oozes intelligence and experience. No wonder Quinn comes off as a slightly “stupid” player in comparison, with his ultra-risky game and no plan B. I really don’t see Griekspoor adapting that much and making him play as much as Fucso did; the Dutchman doesn’t have a reputation for being smart on court, he serves and hits big. They’ve already played twice and the matches were super tight; I especially remember the one at Roland that Griekspoor won.