Is Brian Baker's Spectacular Season Tailing Off?

Brian Baker has had a great comeback.  A few years ago, he had to undergo devastating surgeries that might never allow him to play tennis again.  But, Baker did come back, and came back strong, surprising everyone at the Wimbledon Championships.  But, ever since Wimbledon,  Baker just has not looked the same.  So, we must ask ourselves, is Brian Baker's spectacular season tailing off?

After being out for what seemed like forever because of multiple surgeries, Brian Baker made his big comeback at the 2012 French Open.  A tough First Round matchup against journeyman Xavier Malisse awaited Baker.  Baker, however, would not be intimidated, winning in straight sets.  Then, in the Second Round, he lost in five sets to one of the better players on tour, Gilles Simon.  This was a great start for a comeback, and Baker would continue to progress.

At Wimbledon, he really made strides to show that he was going to be a factor in the years to come.   He only dropped one set, beating a pretty good Jarko Nieminem on the way to a Round of 16 matchup against Philipp Kohlschreiber.  Although Baker lost in convincing fashion, after being out of the game with his surgeries for so long to making the Round of 16 of a major championship makes for one of the best stories in tennis history.  Now, the bar was set high.  And now, Baker's challenge was to keep this performance going.

At the US Open, Brian Baker clearly regressed.  Yes, he did make it to the Second Round, but his First Round opponent was very weak, and any pretty good player should have no problem with this kind of player.  Then, when he plays a top ten player in the Second Round, he loses meekly in three sets.  It's not that Baker lost in the Second Round, but the way he lost it.  I would have suspected based on his Wimbledon performance that he could have played better in the Second Round of a major.

At the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, a tournament after the US Open, Baker continued his slide.  In the First Round, he played a no-name player, Michael Yani, who has never made it into the main draw of the Australian Open, and never past the First Round of any other major.  So, this is the type of player that Baker should easily dispatch.  This was not so.  Not only did Baker lose, but he did so in straight sets losing 6-3, 7-6 (4).  This was a glaring step back for Baker and shows he is definitely not ready to consistently compete at the tour level.

So, is Brian Baker's spectacular season tailing off?  Yes.  Am I starting to get worried about Brian?  Yes.  But, has his play this year been sensational at points and inspirational?  Oh yes.  And the thing is, there is more of this story that has yet to be told.