The new tennis season is here, with warm-up events for the Australian Open now underway in multiple locations. There are lots of questions to be asked of the four biggest stars for the Association of Tennis Professionals. Here is a look at the tennis futures and the best-case scenario for the men in 2016.
Novak Djokovic
Every player would love to win the Grand Slam, but Djokovic realistically could. He went 27-1 in the four major tournaments last year, so why couldn’t he go 28-0 this time and become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four major tournaments? Djokovic has somehow not won the French Open, despite having a game which is perfectly suited to clay courts. Djokovic simply tightened up under pressure last year against Stan Wawrinka. If he can win the French Open, he will have all four major titles in his career, something only a small number of other players can say. If Djokovic wins the Grand Slam, he could very realistically overtake Roger Federer for the most major singles titles by anyone. If he won three majors, it would be a very strong year – as long as Djokovic won three majors and got one of them at the French Open, he’d be extremely happy with his season.
Rafael Nadal
The 14-time major champion did not win a major in 2015. He suffered what was easily his worst season since the time of his first major title at the 2005 French Open. Nadal didn’t get past the quarterfinals of any of the four major tournaments last year. He lost confidence, and with that, he lost the accuracy and consistency on his forehand. It’s not as though he hit his backhand a lot better than his forehand, but his forehand is the shot which resets so many points and gets him in position to change defense into offense. When Nadal couldn’t hit his forehand from the ad court, he couldn’t gain a tactical advantage over his opponents. That has to change this season, and if Nadal can win the French Open for the tenth time, he’d be able to keep Novak Djokovic winless at that tournament. It would be a special victory after all of his struggles last year. That is the realistic best-case scenario for Rafa, since he is not likely to win at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.
Andy Murray
The Scotsman finished 2015 as the No. 2 player in the world. He made a lot of progress in 2015 after a difficult 2014 which was slowed by recuperation from back surgery. Murray made the Australian Open final last year, and he’ll be a favorite to reach the final of that tournament this year. The Australian Open and Wimbledon are tournaments in which Murray will have a great chance to win. Realistically, he needs to win one of those. If he can win both, he would have a complete season. Murray knows that Stan Wawrinka has tied him with two career major titles. As long as Murray can move back ahead of Wawrinka and win a third major title, he’ll have a satisfying 2016 season.
Roger Federer
The Swiss came close to winning another major tournament in 2015, but Novak Djokovic denied him in the finals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Djokovic beat him in the final of the season-ending World Tour Championships as well. Federer beat Djokovic three times, more than any other ATP player in 2015. The best-case scenario in 2016 is simply for Federer to beat Djokovic in a major tournament. If he does that, chances are he’ll win his 18th major championship and add to his trophy case.
Odds To Win Australian Open
Novak Djokovic -125
Andy Murray +525
Roger Federer +915
Rafael Nadal +1050
Stan Wawrinka +1350
Kei Nishikori +1700
Marin Cilic +4050
Tomas Berdych +4050
Milos Raonic +4250
Juan Martin Del Potro +7050
Grigor Dimitrov +5050
Jo Wilfried Tsonga +6550
Nick Kyrgios +7050
David Ferrer +8550
Bernard Tomic +9050
Kevin Anderson +12000
Gael Monfils +14000
Richard Gasquet +14000
John Isner +16000
Gilles Simon +20000
Nicolas Almagro +20000
Dominic Thiem +20000
Jerzy Janowicz +20000
Borna Coric +22000
Ernests Gulbis +22000
David Goffin +25000
Alexandr Dolgopolov +25000
Roberto Bautista Agut +25000
Vasek Pospisil +25000
Feliciano Lopez +25000
