It was one of the most remarkable years in men’s tennis, this year 2017. And all you need to do is take a quick look at the ATP World Championship line-up 12 months ago to see the dramatic changes here and now.
In November 2016, the two top stars of the time, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, were once again at the top of the world rankings, number one and number two. Murray and Djokovic won their qualifying groups, won their semi-finals and in the final, Murray’s acclaimed local hero Murray triumphed against his fellow player Djokovic.
Much has also been said about Murray and Djokovic in recent months, but it had nothing to do with trophies and titles, no more intoxicating performances at the Centre Courts of the Tingeltour. It was almost always about crises, about being burnt out, about minor and major injuries. And if the two leading players of the previous season and previous years will not be present again this Sunday when the 02-Arena in London will be hosted for the World Cup again.
Both have long since finished their season and are already hoping for a comeback at the top of the world, and not just for them: four other World Cup participants from 2016 are not present in London either – Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Gael Monfils. All never got into shape in 2017, all of them early season dropouts and now on comeback mission. Only the Austrian Dominic Thiem and the Croatian Marin Cilic will be present in the next few days as well, an involuntary castling castling without precedent in the history of the World Cup.
Which brings us to the equally unexpected leading actors of the year, above all two old masters and a young star-striker. Rafael Nadal (31), Roger Federer (36) and Alexander Zverev (20):”This trio shaped the 2017 season with a force, class and dynamism that no one could have expected,”Federer says himself. Just like Nadal, he had been injured in 2016 when the fight for the title was fought for in London. Then his fairytale comeback followed, and then Nadal’s return to the tennis circuit also took off.
When the Grand Slam season was accounted for after the US Open, they, the Maestro and the Matador, had divided the major titles between themselves, as in former glory times. Federer won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Nadal won the French Open and New York,”Everything seemed to be as usual. But everything was somehow turned upside down,”says the Swedish star of earlier days, Mats Wilander,”if you’d have guessed it all, you’d be a multi-millionaire now” The World Cup won’t change the balance of power in the pecking order, no matter what happens in London: Nadal will finish the year as number one, Federer as number two. Both have a massive advantage over the rest of the pros.
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At least in regular touring, they were often confronted by someone who was the third force of the 2017 season: Germany’s new tennis star Alexander Zverev. At the age of 20, he is the youngest player since Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro (2009) to qualify for the ATP World Cup. Zverev had mixed results in the Grand Slam competitions, but only in Wimbledon did he enter the second week of a major. But apart from that, he moved – astonishingly enough – most of the time at eye level with the best, beating Djokovic in Rome and Federer in Montreal during his two Masters victories. Only last in the treadmill of the tour he ran out of breath.
After ten and a half months of turbulence and amazing filming, there is only one question left: Who has the last word at the World Cup? Federer, Nadal, Zverev? Or someone who’s not on the bill again?