Best Of 2015 Second Quarter
Best Of 2015 Second Quarter
Dec242015
When Lucie Safarova upset the odds – and a couple of former champions – to reach the final of this spring’s French Open, few in the tennis world would have begrudged her this long-overdue moment in the spotlight.
In a sport where the margins between winning and losing are invariably razor-thin, there is little room for niceties. However, Safarova has always been as charming and grounded off the court as she is intense on it. Never one to short-change fans, media or her fellow players, the 28-year-old is universally loved.
There has been no doubting Safarova’s ability on court either. A regular scourge of Top 10 opponents and a major semifinalist, in the first half of 2015 the Czech finally started to add the much-sought-after consistency to her game.
While a dip in form at the start of the summer and a bacterial infection threatened to undo her earlier good work, Safarova regrouped to book a place at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Although unable to make it out of the round robin stage in Singapore, she bounced back a few weeks later to help the Czech Republic regain its Fed Cup crown.
Now with the belief to go along with her talent, it will be interesting to see where Safarova and her larger-then-life coach Rob Steckley go next. Ill health has thrown a spanner into her pre-season training, but with relatively few points to defend Down Under, the mercurial left-hander has an opportunity to consolidate her Top 10 spot.
In the first part of a three-part series, ATPWorldTour.com examines the stories behind the numbers in 2015
Singles Title Leaders By Surface
Not only did Novak Djokovic secure a tour-high 11 titles in 2015, he was also one of two players to win at a title on each surface.
|
Player |
Total |
Clay |
Grass |
Hard |
|
Djokovic, Novak |
11 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
|
Federer, Roger |
6 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
Ferrer, David |
5 |
1 |
|
4 |
|
Murray, Andy |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Wawrinka, Stan |
4 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
Nadal, Rafael |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
Nishikori, Kei |
3 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
Thiem, Dominic |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
Berdych, Tomas |
2 |
|
|
2 |
|
Garcia-Lopez,Guillermo |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
Gasquet, Richard |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
Outside Top 50 Winners (8)
American Rajeev Ram was the lowest-ranked player to capture an ATP World Tour title on the year, serve-and-volleying his way to the Newport title on grass in July.
|
Player, Tournament |
Ranking |
|
Rajeev Ram, Newport |
No. 161 |
|
Nicolas Mahut (Q), ‘s-Hertogenbosch |
No. 97 |
|
Denis Istomin, Nottingham |
No. 92 |
|
Viktor Troicki (Q), Sydney |
No. 92 |
|
Victor Estrella Burgos, Quito |
No. 73 |
|
Jiri Vesely (Q), Auckland |
No. 63 |
|
Benoit Paire, Bastad |
No. 62 |
|
Thomaz Bellucci, Geneva |
No. 60 |
Youngest Finals:
|
Gstaad |
Dominic Thiem (21) d. David Goffin (24) |
|
Auckland |
Jiri Vesely (21) d. Adrian Mannarino (26) |
|
Estoril |
Richard Gasquet (28) d. Nick Kyrgios (20) |
Oldest Finals:
|
Kuala Lumpur |
David Ferrer (33) d. Feliciano Lopez (34) |
|
Quito |
Victor Estrella Burgos (34) d. Feliciano Lopez (33) |
|
Newport |
Rajeev Ram (31) d. Ivo Karlovic (36) |
|
Kitzbuehel |
Philipp Kohlschreiber (31) d. Paul-Henri Mathieu (33) |
|
Halle |
Roger Federer (33) d. Andreas Seppi (31) |
Singles Final Record By Country
Djokovic powered Serbia to a 12-5 final record in 2015, while Dominic Thiem single-handedly helped Austria improve from 0-2 in 2014 to 3-0 this year.
|
Country (’14) |
‘15 W-L |
Winners |
|
Serbia (7-1) |
12-5 |
Djokovic-11, Troicki |
|
Spain (11-13) |
10-11 |
Ferrer-5, Nadal-3, Garcia-Lopez-2 |
|
Switzerland (8-6) |
10-5 |
Federer-6, Wawrinka-4 |
|
France (2-7) |
6-8 |
Gasquet-2, Mahut, Paire, Simon, Tsonga |
|
Great Britain (4-1) |
4-3 |
Murray-4 |
|
United States (2-0) |
3-6 |
Isner, Ram, Sock |
|
Czech Republic (3-5) |
3-4 |
Berdych-2, Vesely |
|
Japan (4-2) |
3-1 |
Nishkori-3 |
|
Austria (0-2) |
3-0 |
Thiem-3 |
|
Croatia (4-5) |
2-1 |
Cilic, Karlovic |
All-Countrymen Finals (4):
|
Marseille |
Gilles Simon d. Gael Monfils (FRA) |
|
Houston |
Jack Sock d. Sam Querrey (USA) |
|
Metz |
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Gilles Simon (FRA) |
|
Kuala Lumpur |
David Ferrer d. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) |
30 & Over Winners (25)
Tour veterans aged 30 and over combined for 25 titles in 2015, tying an all-time record set in 1975.
|
Roger Federer, Brisbane |
33 yrs, 4 months |
|
David Ferrer, Doha |
32 yrs, 8 months |
|
Victor Estrella Burgos, Quito |
34 yrs, 6 months |
|
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Zagreb |
31 yrs, 8 months |
|
Ivo Karlovic, Delray Beach |
35 yrs, 11 months |
|
Gilles Simon, Marseille |
30 yrs, 2 months |
|
Roger Federer, Dubai |
33 yrs, 5 months |
|
David Ferrer, Rio de Janeiro |
32 yrs. 10 months |
|
David Ferrer, Acapulco |
32 yrs, 10 months |
|
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Bucharest |
31 yrs, 10 months |
|
Roger Federer, Istanbul |
33 yrs., 8 months |
|
Stan Wawrinka, Roland Garros |
30 yrs., 2 months |
|
Nicolas Mahut, ‘s-Hertogenbosch |
33 yrs., 4 months |
|
Roger Federer, Halle |
33 yrs., 10 months |
|
Rajeev Ram, Newport |
31 yrs., 4 months |
|
John Isner, Atlanta |
30 yrs., 3 months |
|
Philipp Kohlschreiber, Kitzbuehel |
31 yrs., 9 months |
|
Roger Federer, Cincinnati |
34 yrs., 15 days |
|
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Metz |
30 yrs., 5 months |
|
David Ferrer, Kuala Lumpur |
33 yrs., 6 months |
|
Tomas Berdych, Shenzhen |
30 yrs., 18 days |
|
Stan Wawrinka, Tokyo |
30 yrs., 6 months |
|
David Ferrer, Vienna |
33 yrs., 6 months |
|
Tomas Berdych, Stockholm |
30 yrs., 1 month |
|
Roger Federer, Basel |
34 yrs., 2 months |
Born in 1990s Winners (7)
Jiri Vesely became the youngest champion in 2015 with an early-season win in New Zealand, while Thiem was the most consistent of the Young Guns with three titles.
|
Jiri Vesely, Auckland |
21 yrs., 6 months |
|
Jack Sock, Houston |
22 yrs., 6 months |
|
Dominic Thiem, Nice |
21 yrs., 8 months |
|
Bernard Tomic, Bogota |
22 yrs., 9 months |
|
Dominic Thiem, Umag |
21 yrs., 10 months |
|
Dominic Thiem, Gstaad |
21 yrs., 11 months |
|
Milos Raonic, St. Petersburg |
24 yrs., 9 months |
Repeat Winners (18)
Djokovic continued his dominance in Beijing and in London, defending titles at both tournaments for a fourth consecutive year.
|
Stan Wawrinka |
Chennai |
|
Kei Nishikori |
Memphis (three-peat) |
|
Roger Federer |
Dubai |
|
Novak Djokovic |
Indian Wells |
|
Novak Djokovic |
Miami |
|
Kei Nishikori |
Barcelona |
|
Novak Djokovic |
Rome |
|
Roger Federer |
Halle |
|
Novak Djokovic |
Wimbledon |
|
Bernard Tomic |
Bogota |
|
John Isner |
Atlanta (three-peat) |
|
Roger Federer |
Cincinnati |
|
Novak Djokovic |
Beijing (four-peat) |
|
Marin Cilic |
Moscow |
|
Tomas Berdych |
Stockholm |
|
Roger Federer |
Basel |
|
Novak Djokovic |
Paris-Bercy (three-peat) |
|
Novak Djokovic |
ATP Finals-London (four-peat) |
This year’s Most Improved Player finishes his required military training in South Korea
Has Hyeon Chung made a career change?
The 2015 Most Improved Player of the Year recipient made quite the transition this off-season, but don’t worry, the 19-year-old Korean will be back with a racquet come January.
Thanks to his success at the 2014 Asian Games (Chung won gold in doubles with partner Young-kyu Lim) the teen only needed to participate in four weeks of basic training for the South Korean Military instead of the required two years.
In November, the Korean was voted by his peers as the Most Improved Player of the Year Award, part of the 2015 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon. Chung ended the tennis season at a career-high No. 51 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The Suwon native found considerable success on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, winning titles in Burnie (d. Bolt), Savannah (d. McGee), Busan (d. Lacko) and Kaohsiung (d. Bhambri).
Swede formally retires after long layoff
Robin Soderling, formerly No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has retired from professional tennis. Soderling announced his retirement via Twitter on Wednesday.
Thank u so much for all your kind words.So sad I won’t play professional tennis again, but reading all ur msgs makes me feel a lot better❤️
— Robin Söderling (@RSoderling) December 23, 2015
The Tibro, Sweden native had not taken part in an ATP World Tour event since 2011 due to mononucleosis. In his 10 years on tour, Soderling compiled a 310-170 match record and captured 10 ATP World Tour titles.
A big server equally comfortable on fast indoor courts and on outdoor clay, he enjoyed his best results in Paris, France. At Roland Garros, he made history by handing Rafael Nadal his first loss at the event in 2009 and upset Roger Federer on the same court in 2010. Later that year, Soderling secured his lone ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Masters.
The 31 year old ended his ATP World Tour career with a win. Soderling entered the 2011 Bastad tournament as the top seed and defeated David Ferrer in the final before being forced to the sidelines.
Magnus Norman, who coached Soderling to consecutive Roland Garros finals, and Christian Lindell, who was in the draw for his final tournament, took to Twitter to pay homage to their compatriot:
I always get emotionally touched when athletes are forced to leave their career. Congrats to a great tennis career @RSoderling
— Magnus Norman (@normansweden) December 23, 2015
Congrats @RSoderling for an amazing career.You will be missed! Iam so lucky that i got the chance to practice with you many times.
— Christian Lindell (@chlindell91) December 23, 2015
And wishing you best of luck in whatever comes in the future! @RSoderling #top4 #2RGfinals #10ATPtitles #harderstrokesever
— Christian Lindell (@chlindell91) December 23, 2015
Former world number four Robin Soderling has retired from tennis after suffering glandular fever since 2011.
The 31-year-old Swede, who became the first man to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open in 2009, has not recovered sufficiently to return to the sport.
Soderling reached the French Open finals of 2009 and 2010.
“I’ve realised that I will not be healthy enough to be able to play tennis at the level I demand of myself,” Soderling told tennis.se.
“For that reason I have decided to end my career as a professional tennis player.”
The Swede, who also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, had hoped to return to competitive action but has finally admitted defeat.
“A few weeks before the Swedish Open in Bastad in 2011 I became ill with glandular fever,” added Soderling.
“Since I was not aware of the seriousness of this, I made the mistake of continuing to train and compete with the virus in my body, which resulted in a sharp overtraining syndrome. I have since struggled to recover completely from this.
“With the disease it has been impossible for me to train 100% and I was forced to rest after any physical effort. In some periods I felt so bad that I was completely bed-ridden.
“This past year, however, my health improved and I have been able to increase my exercise levels, but my recovery after exercise is unfortunately still not as I would like.”
Soderling played his final match in July, 2011, beating Spain’s David Ferrer to win the Swedish Open in Bastad.
A strange year of highs and lows has ended on a wonderful note after my boyfriend Radek took me by surprise and asked me to marry him, so Christmas will be even more special this year.
It’s a lovely end to 12 months that have seen me go from winning titles to struggling for motivation, suffering with glandular fever and then finding my form again.
In the last few weeks I’ve been able to enjoy some time at home with my boyfriend and see my brothers and their kids, and I even managed to get all my Christmas shopping done early, which makes me very happy.
I like shopping, but when I see so many people in the malls it’s not so appealing!
The last time I hit a ball in competition was at the Fed Cup final five weeks ago, but after resuming fitness training earlier this month I was back on the practice court in my home town of Prostejov on 16 December.
A new season is just around the corner.
I had three weeks off after the Fed Cup final and took my parents to Dubai for a few days. It was their first visit and really fun, although it flew past so quickly, but I’m glad they saw somewhere new and we were able to enjoy it together.
It was then time for me to start preparing for 2016 and I headed to Lanzarote for the first time with my fitness trainer, David Vydra.
We didn’t do a lot of running but instead tried pretty much everything else over the course of a week. In the morning we would go biking and then in the afternoon we did other sports like squash, badminton, swimming, paddle tennis, volleyball…
Playing other racquet sports is a very different experience and I must admit I didn’t like squash that much – I played for the first time and it was difficult for me. I prefer badminton.
We also bumped into my fellow Czech, Jan Zelezny, the three-time Olympic javelin champion who was out there coaching three or four guys. He’s very famous in the Czech Republic and a very good guy. Javelin and tennis are about the only sports I didn’t try in Lanzarote.
I did play an exhibition in Bratislava after the Fed Cup final but I stepped back onto court properly last week in Prostejov and just about managed to put the ball in the court!
You don’t forget that so quickly, although it does take a few days to get your rhythm and feel OK again with no pain in the arm.
As I said before, it was a strange season but one with plenty of highlights. There was Madrid, where I beat Serena – that was a great moment for me – and went on to win the title, and also the US Open was good for me this year as I reached the quarter-finals.
I’d never really played that well in New York and I finally had some good results. I hope to have more success there; I’m trying every year and despite it being difficult conditions for me, I now know I can play well there if I am healthy.
The high point of my year was the Fed Cup at the end of the season as we beat Russia in Prague to defend our title again.
Unfortunately I didn’t win my second singles match against Maria Sharapova, but I think it was really great tennis. The tie came down to a deciding doubles and it is difficult watching such an important match from the sidelines.
You really can’t do anything except support and be with your team-mates. Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova needed three sets and there were a lot of nerves out there, but I’m really glad that the girls made it.
It’s a team competition and we really showed that we won as a team and not one individual.
A few years ago I was kind of the big player in the Czech team and the one expected to win most of the points, and I think that was what Andy Murray experienced for Great Britain in this year’s Davis Cup.
When I see the Czech Davis Cup team it’s very similar, with Tomas Berdych leading the way like Andy does for Britain.
I watched a little bit of the final and it was very emotional how Andy won it. He was just great. But of course he needs the team to win the Davis Cup. He can’t win it by himself. And he plays with his brother, which is very unusual and special.
It is very different representing your country as a tennis player. The week is always great and we have a fantastic atmosphere in the Fed Cup team among the players and support staff, which I think not every team enjoys. As the girls we are a good group. Nothing there is a problem.
Whatever we go through during the week, by the time the weekend comes around we are supporting each other from the bench.
The tennis season is long and I think I lost a little bit of emotion for the sport at the beginning of this year. It was weird to be feeling empty on court and without any passion or love for the sport.
I took a month out and after the break I felt that passion again, which was a relief as I had been a little bit worried.
Tennis has been the major part of my life since I was 16 or 17 and moved to Prostejov, and I had to ask for an individual plan at secondary school so that I could train for tennis and play tournaments. I might have missed out on a few things along the way but I was OK with it.
It was difficult to finish school for sure, it was tough, but on the other side I’m really glad that I made it. That passion for tennis is still there, which is great.
Hopefully I can put my health issues behind me as well. I could still play despite the glandular fever but not practise as much as I wanted – but then I’m not a player who needs to practise for four hours a day. It was good that I was able to handle the situation mentally as well as physically.
I’m healthy right now and practising again, injury free, but we’ll see. Let’s hope it stays like this and 2016 can be a successful year.
Petra Kvitova was talking to BBC Sport’s Piers Newbery
Angelique Kerber spent much of 2015 making up for lost time – or should that be titles? – triumphing in Charleston, Stuttgart, Birmingham and Stanford. The next test is replicating this form at the Slams.