The 2017 tennis season is over and off-season. We look back on the tops and flops of the ATP tour – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev and many more.
Federer and Co.: The old ones are back. Who would have thought so at the beginning of the year: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal dominate the tennis scene as they did in past times and divided the four Grand Slam titles fairly. The development of the two old masters in 2017 is astonishing, even at the age of more than 30 years “FedEx” and “Rafa” still seem to have had potential for growth and the coming youngsters showed their limitations. The fresh breeze of newly sparked rivalry at the highest level was a feast for every tennis fan. Federer in particular managed to make up some of the balance sheet against his permanent rival. He beat Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, Miami and Shanghai; declassified the Spaniard in the last 16 at Indian Wells and improved to 15-23 in a direct duel. We want to see 2018 more of them!
Youngsters on the upswing: In addition to the old hands in the tennis circuit, the young wild ones brought a breath of fresh air to the ATP tour. Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Co. established itself among the best of the sport and annoyed some top stars. What does top star mean here – even the 20-year-old NextGen players have long been regarded by fans and those in charge as shining stars in the big tennis skies. When it comes to marketing and appearance, players like Karen Khachanov or Borna Coric are in no way inferior to their big idols. The breakthrough of the Canadian Denis Shapovalov also hit like a bomb. At the age of 18, he beat Nadal in Montreal and catapulted himself into the top 50 in the world. In the coming year, it will be clear which players from the next generation will meet expectations and be able to work their way up. It will always be exciting…
Alexander Zverev: Speaking of Zverev. What a great season this 20-year-old has played. In 2017, the German must be named in the same breath as Federer and Nadal. Two Masters-1000 titles and three further triumphs were won by “Sascha” in his best season so far. In the meantime, he was even ranked number three in the world ranking at the beginning of November. Germany has a superstar again. Even if it didn’t want to work at the Grand Slam tournaments yet. The best German tennis player plays amazingly mature and ripped tennis with wit and a mental strength that is second to none at his age. The beautiful thing is: in the calendar year 2018 there is still room for upward movement. Wouldn’t it be boring, too?
Laver Cup: The show tournament in the Czech capital was a success in every respect. The Crème de la Crème of the tennis stars was present and delivered spectacular tennis. At the tournament on behalf of Rod Laver, the tennis fans around the globe were delighted with a premiere: there was finally a doubles match with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.”Fedal” on the same side of the net was never before and it should be epic. The legionaries won their match against Jack Sock and Sam Querrey and scored a point for Team Europa, which later also won the overall match. This event is also planned for next year – thank God!
Grigor Dimitrov: The Bulgarian has finally made his breakthrough. Already at the beginning of the season he played great at the Australian Open and dropped out after a five-hour semi-final against Nadal. With great results, he qualified for the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals for the first time and triumphed as a debutant in the final against David Goffin. It is the 26-year-old’s biggest title win to date, and he ended the year in third place in the ranking – he has never been higher. Thumbs up for Dimitrov!
Juan Martín del Potro: The long-term injured has finally returned. In 2016,”DelPo” made timid attempts to return to the tour after a serious wrist injury and three operations. For the clay court season 2017, the 29-year-old returned to the Masters in Rome and reached the quarter-finals. The recovery of the “Tower of Tandil” seemed to have been successful; smaller breaks between the tournaments provided additional relief and recovery. Towards the end of the year, the gentle giant began to gain momentum, bringing Roberto Bautista Agut, Dominic Thiem and surprisingly Roger Federer to a premature end at the US Open and conceded a semi-final with Rafael Nadal. After four sets, the Argentinean went out of place as an arrogant loser. Only a few weeks later he defended his title at the Intrum Stockholm Open and advanced to eleventh place in the world rankings. Finally the man with the crackling forehand is back again – and hopefully he will stay healthy!
Injury misery: The ATP hospital had prominent names in the past season – too many. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and many more had to end their season prematurely. Some even missed half of the season and will only return to the new season. The patient list took away the big stars from the tournaments and caused sadness for one or two sympathizers. Fortunately for everyone involved, all hospital visitors are already planning their comeback to the first tournaments in January 2018. We look forward to the return of the elite!
Bernard Tomic: The enfant terrible has struck again. The Australian caused some uproar on the tour. Indulgence when playing tennis is one of them. But what Tomic did on this year’s Wimbledon holidays went too far. In the first round, the 25-year-old apparently gave up due to injury. At the press conference, he explained that he did not feel like it and was unable to motivate himself. But he accepted the prize money gratefully. In such cases, however, the organiser of the event must also accept the obligation to let such small talk take place. Although Tomic had to pay a fine for his appearance, the prize money was not enough and the Australian left London with a plus. Very big no-go!
The men’s final world ranking list 2017