WHAT TO FOLLOW NEXT YEAR FOR TENNIS FANS

 

 

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Medvedev beat Dominic Thiem in Final of ATP Finals and became 2nd Russian to lift the trophy

Key Highlights

• Novak Djokovic ends year at No.1 position, 6th time he achieved this crown, eyeing for another monumental record

• After winning Paris Masters, Medvedev continues his form in ATP Tour Finals, will he continue his form?

• Nadal’s long wait continues, again he fails to win ATP Finals

• Will Rublev's impressive run continue?

This year’s professional tennis competition ends on last Sunday in London. A pandemic affected year caused to delay tennis’ most prestigious tournament- Wimbledon. Many interesting things will come up next year. Let’s talk about what will be the expectations from next year.

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CAN DJOKOVIC REACH HIS AIM?

No doubt the Serbian is in the safest position to take the crown of most Grand Slam Titles. That may be not possible in next year, but he can achieve another very monumental record in March next year. He is eyeing Roger Federer’s record of most weeks at No.1 position. Djokovic is running in No.1 position now for consecutive 294 weeks almost. To break Federer’s 311 weeks of holding No.1 position he has to continue his form till second week of March next year, and he is in very safe place and almost two thousand & five hundred points ahead of 2nd Rafael Nadal.

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Except that huge point difference Djokovic will have a very good chance to bag another Title in Australia Open, and undoubtedly he will be the 1st seed of AO. He had won it Eight times, he loves to play at hard and he is always exceptional in under light condition. It’s not impossible to beat him at AO but it will be not easy enough. This year AO open final speaks enough for that. Thiem was leading two set to love, close to his 1st Grand Slam Title but Djokovic put the pressure back on Thiem, played hard and deep and won back to back three consecutive sets to seal his Eighth AO crown. So great chance for him to reach closer in GOAT race, as he can bag at least two majors and easily break Federer's record.

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ANY CHANCE FOR NADAL EXCEPT CLAY?

No doubt he will be the first choice for next year’s Roland Garos. Except that can he win another major? Pretty tough but whenever he is on the court , he will not let it go easily, he will try his best to bag another hard court Grand Slam. His record is very good in Flashing Meadows, he had won it four times, he can win it , why not? He has experience, has mental game too. In AO and Wimbledon, it will be expected he will reach at least semis. No one has achieved each majors for at least two times. Nadal has first chance to reach that record if he bag his second AO open.

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He played well in ATP Finals but fail to win against Daniil Medvedev in semis. His forehand looked beautiful while group match against Thiem though he lost both sets in tiebreaker. But he isn’t exceptional in Indoors, he never won Paris Masters and ATP Finals, he had a good chance this year but failed. He will like to win couple of ATP 1000 MASTERS to get ahead of Djokovic as the Serbian is leading the most number of ATP 1000 Titles (36), and the Spaniard is just one step behind him.

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WHO WILL BE THE NEXT NEW GRAND SLAM CHAMPION?

Youngsters are not now only Giant killers, they are hunting now. Big three dominance is now a phase where age, injury, form are the key factors in their career. Though they are aged, but they know how to win, how to handle pressure, so they will be undoubtedly first choices for Grand Slam Titles next year too, but young generation players are gradually becoming matured and they will bring twist the incredible GOAT race.

Dominic Thiem is undoubtedly the most consistent name among the young generation players. He is now 27 and entering his prime gradually. He is well experienced and he will expect to prove himself the prince of clay next year again. He is also very good in hard courts, he recently won US Open and became runners up of this year’s AO. His grass court performance will be looked up closely by the experts next year.

Daniil Medvedev is in red hot form, won back to back Paris Masters and ATP Finals. He knows well how to use form in big stages and he is unstoppable when he is in his prime. He won all five matches in ATP Finals. He is the best hard court player among the youngsters. Defeating Djokovic in Indoor is not a easy task, but he did it in London, beat the No.1 in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. He will expect to win his first Grand Slam next year, may continue his super form in AO too.

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Tsitsipas is exceptional in his day, but he is not consistent enough to win Grand Slams, but he is hunter and if he is in top mood he will beat any big fish in his day. He performed well in Roland Garos and fought till the end against Djokovic in Semis. He was down two sets to love, from that he took the match in five sets, it would never be easy against Djokovic. Tsitsi is very complete player, his backhand return is amazing and he is enough fast in court. He is not now only a giant killer, he is doing well and hope he can go very close to his first Grand Slam Title next year.

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For Alexander Zverev, it is more easy to find his top gear than anyone among youngsters as technically he is most sound among them and can continue his standard level match by match. According to Nadal , Federer he will be the next No.1 and undoubtedly he can achieve that. He is good enough in all the courts and this year performance was pretty good, missed some tournaments because of injury but able to set up a standard level in his game. He will go deep of every major tournaments, and give other big names hard fight.

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Andrey Rublev is most impressive this year. He had won five titles this year and looked well in every tournament. His improvement is such commendable thing this year. He is aggressive and his game is very fast forward. Still he is not well tested at the big stages, but undoubtedly a big name for next year’s tournaments.

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WHAT’S STATUS OF ROGER FEDERER?

The king of grass have already started practice and sources say he will make his comeback in AO next year. He will be 40 next year. Nadal have touched his Twenty Grand Slam mark. He will aim to win at least two majors next year. The king of grass never misses any Wimbledon in his career, he is Eight time winner of game's most oldest tournament and he will definitely want to win another Wimbledon.

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After participating in AO open this year, he didn’t participated in any major tournaments. He had a knee injury that caused him bad defeat in AO Quater Final against Novak Djokovic. In February, he had knee surgery and after that he is trying to come back next season strongly. Player like him knows the exact path of comeback, he did that in AO 2017, after four years he will try his best to continue in the GOAT race of three different ways.