Over the years, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have impressed us with their style, amazing shotmaking, spectacular defensive skills and unbelievable consistency. In 2016, neither were impressive. Neither were able to recapture their old magic. Federer struggled with injuries and called off his season in July. Nadal injured his wrist, recovered, and came back, but his form hasn’t brought many cheers to his fans. His performance has been that of a man who is broken down and a far cry of the level he once delivered.
The two stalwarts of the ATP Tour had a forgettable year. The ATP’s middle-aged generation (players in their mid-20s) was close at times but couldn’t break through. The next generation signaled its arrival, but these four guys separated themselves from the rest:
Novak Djokovic
Talk about being most impressive? Novak Djokovic sits unparalleled at the top of tennis mountain with frightening 30 Masters shields. Djokovic claimed his record 30th Masters title in Toronto and now is the head of the most successful Masters performers of all time. He has swept four of the seven Masters and completed the most difficult feats in tennis– Career Grand Slam. To capture all major titles in modern day tennis is considered to be the most challenging– one that only a handful of players have ever mastered. Djokovic became only the eighth man to achieve this extraordinary feat, emphasising on how daunting it is to master all four surfaces. Also, by winning Roland Garros, Djokovic completed another rare double– Australian Open and French Open. The Serb became only the first man to accomplish the near impossible double since Jim Courier achieved that feat in 1993. It’s one thing to be on a hot streak for a week or a fortnight but to continue that hot streak for five months is monumental.
Andy Murray
After heartbreaking defeats at the hands of world No. 1 in the final round of Melbourne and Paris, Murray got his act together and remained unflustered throughout Wimbledon, raising his third Grand Slam title count to three. Murray also became the first male tennis player in Olympic history with two tennis singles gold medals, winning his second in row. Murray’s impossible to pass, his consummate returning and his track-down-every-ball on court display able to achieve much this year. He may not have won the U.S. Open but he ends the year with 23 Grand Slam match wins—the most by anybody this season.
Dominic Thiem
This has been a long season for Dominic Thiem. He has already played a staggering amount of matches and is only behind Djokovic and Murray with a whopping 52 wins this year. Thiem has won four titles on three different surfaces and has cracked the top 10. He also reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros. One thing is clear– Thiem loves to play tennis. The Austrian has wins over Nadal on clay and Federer on grass. That just shows his pedigree as a tennis player. He overly exhausted himself coming into New York and it cost him big time. He has had a impressive year but if the young man yearns to contest big prizes, he’ll have to schedule his tournaments wisely.
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic begin his tour Down Under on a winning note. Raonic avenged his 2015 Brisbane final loss to Federer with a dominant straight sets victory in the finals of the same event this year. He narrowly missed out on the final berth in Melbourne but came back stronger and fitter to become the first Canadian man to advance to a Grand Slam singles final, (Wimbledon) beating Federer along the way, before going down in straights sets to Murray. The Canadian star has three top-five wins this year and is fast growing in stature. His generation is still fighting for a breakthrough at the Masters level and Grand Slams, and is often seen as a failure. However, Raonic is the leading light and looks the likely one to come good in 2017. Raonic had high expectations but came up painfully short in New York. Despite his early U.S. Open exit, he still had a memorable, impressive year. Now his task is to stay healthy.
