2017 ATP World Tour - gallery, fun facts, highlights, review

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Another season is over, talk about unpredictable. Nobody saw this happening in 2017. Probably the biggest change at the top of the men's game compared to the previous season that we ever had. Only two of the top 8 guys from 2016 remained there, the other six were all different faces. Some suffered injuries while some others had amazing comebacks after injuries. For the first time in the Open Era, the four Majors were equally shared between two players, and it's safe to say both of these players were written off by many when 2017 started.

Qatar Open, Doha
Novak Djokovic (def. Andy Murray 6-3 5-7 6-4)

Chennai Open
Roberto Bautista Agut (def. Daniil Medvedev 6-3 6-4)

Brisbane International
Grigor Dimitrov (def. Kei Nishikori 6-2 2-6 6-3)

Auckland Open
Jack Sock (def. Joao Sousa 6-3 5-7 6-3)

Sydney International
Gilles Muller (def. Daniel Evans 7-6(5) 6-2)

Australian Open, Melbourne
Roger Federer (def. Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3)

Open Sud de France, Montpellier
Alexander Zverev (def. Richard Gasquet 7-6(3) 6-3)

Sofia Open
Grigor Dimitrov (def. David Goffin 7-5 6-4)

Ecuador Open, Quito
Victor Estrella Burgos (def. Paolo Lorenzi 6-7(2) 7-5 7-6(6))

Rotterdam Open
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (def. David Goffin 4-6 6-4 6-1)

Memphis Open
Ryan Harrison (def. Nikoloz Basilashvilli 6-1 6-4)

Argentina Open, Buenos Aires
Alexandr Dolgopolov (def. Kei Nishikori 7-6(4) 6-4)

Rio Open
Dominic Thiem (def. Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5 6-4)

Open 13, Marseille
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (def. Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-4)

Delray Beach Open
Jack Sock (def. Milos Raonic w/o)

Dubai Tennis Championships
Andy Murray (def. Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-2)

Mexican Open, Acapulco
Sam Querrey (def. Rafael Nadal 6-3 7-6(3))

Brasil Open, Sao Paulo
Pablo Cuevas (def. Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4)

Indian Wells
Roger Federer (def. Stan Wawrinka 6-4 7-5)

Miami Open
Roger Federer (def. Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-4)

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

US Men's Clay Championships, Houston
Steve Johnson (def. Thomaz Bellucci 6-4 4-6 7-6(5))

Grand Prix Hassan II, Marrakesh
Borna Coric (def. Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7 7-6(3) 7-5)

Monte Carlo Rolex Masters
Rafael Nadal (def. Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1 6-3)

Barcelona Open
Rafael Nadal (def. Dominic Thiem 6-4 6-1)

Hungarian Open, Budapest
Lucas Pouille (def. Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-1)

Estoril Open
Pablo Carreno Busta (def. Gilles Muller 6-2 7-5(5))

Bavarian Championships, Munich
Alexander Zverev (def. Guido Pella 6-4 6-3)

Istanbul Open
Marin Cilic (def. Milos Raonic 7-6(3) 6-3)

Madrid Open
Rafael Nadal (def. Dominic Thiem 7-6(8) 6-4)

Italian Open, Rome
Alexander Zverev (def. Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-3)

Geneva Open
Stan Wawrinka (def. Mischa Zverev 4-6 6-3 6-3)

Lyon Open
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (def. Tomas Berdych 7-6(2) 7-5)

Roland Garros, Paris
Rafael Nadal (def. Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 6-1)

Stuttgart Open
Lucas Pouille (def. Feliciano Lopez 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4)

Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, 's-Hertogenbosch
Gilles Muller (def. Ivo Karlovic 7-6(5) 7-6(4))
http://www.**************.org/imgb/48735/atp-analysis-muller-edges-karlovic-in-the-oldest-atp-final-since-1977.jpg

Halle Open
Roger Federer (def. Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-3)

Queens Club Championships, London
Feliciano Lopez (def. Marin Cilic 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(8))

Eastbourne International
Novak Djokovic (def. Gael Monfils 6-3 6-4)

Antalya Open
Yuichi Sugita (def. Adrian Mannarino 6-1 7-6(4))

The Championships, Wimbledon
Roger Federer (def. Marin Cilic 6-3 6-1 6-4)

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport
John Isner (def. Matthew Ebden 6-3 7-6(4))

Swedish Open, Bastad
David Ferrer (def. Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-4)

Croatia Open, Umag
Andrey Rublev (def. Paolo Lorenzi 6-4 6-2)

German Open, Hamburg
Leonardo Mayer (def. Florian Mayer 6-4 4-6 6-3)

Atlanta Tennis Championships
John Isner (def. Ryan Harrison 7-6(6) 7-6(7))

Swiss Open, Gstaad
Fabio Fognini (def. Yannick Hanfmann 6-4 7-5)

Washington Open
Alexander Zverev (def. Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-4)

Los Cabos Open
Sam Querrey (def. Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3 3-6 6-2)

Austrian Open, Kitzbuhel
Philipp Kohlschreiber (def. Joao Sousa 6-3 6-4)

Rogers Cup, Montreal
Alexander Zverev (def. Roger Federer 6-3 6-4)

Cincinnati Masters
Grigor Dimitrov (def. Nick Kyrgios 6-3 7-5)

Winston-Salem Open
Roberto Bautista Agut (def. Damir Dzumhur 6-4 6-4)

US Open, New York
Rafael Nadal (def. Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-3 6-4)

St. Petersburg Open
Damir Dzumhur (def. Fabio Fognini 3-6 6-4 6-2)

Moselle Open, Metz
Peter Gojowczyk (def. Benoit Paire 7-5 6-2)

Chengdu Open
Denis Istomin (def. Marcos Baghdatis 3-2 ret.)
https://www.**************.org/imgb/52019/atp-chengdu-baghdatis-retires-to-hand-istomin-his-second-atp-crown.jpg

Shenzhen Open
David Goffin (def. Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3)

China Open, Beijing
Rafael Nadal (def. Nick Kyrgios 6-2 6-1)

Rakuten Japan Open, Tokyo
David Goffin (def. Adrian Mannarino 6-3 7-5)

Shanghai Masters
Roger Federer (def. Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-3)

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Kremlin Cup, Moscow
Damir Dzumhur (def. Ricardas Berankis 6-2 1-6 6-4)

Stockholm Open
Juan Martin Del Potro (def. Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-2)

European Open, Antwerp
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (def. Diego Schwartzman 6-3 7-5)

Vienna Open
Lucas Pouille (def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 6-4)

Swiss Indoors, Basel
Roger Federer (def. Juan Martin del Potro 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3)

Paris Masters
Jack Sock (def. Filip Krajinovic 5-7 6-4 6-1)

Next Gen ATP Finals, Milan
Chung Hyeon (def. Andrey Rublev 3-4(5) 4-3(2) 4-2 4-2)

ATP World Tour Finals, London
Grigor Dimitrov (def. David Goffin 7-5 4-6 6-3)

2017 fun facts:

8 players won their first titles this season:
Gilles Muller - Sydney International, Rosmalen Grass Court Championships
Ryan Harrison - Memphis Open
Borna Coric - Grand Prix Hassan II Marrakesh
Yuichi Sugita - Antalya Open
Andrey Rublev - Croatian Open
Peter Gojowczyk - Moselle Open
Damir Dzumhur - St Petersburg Open, Kremlin Cup
Chung Hyeon - Next Generation ATP Finals

On 6 occasions the defending champion successfully defended the title:
Novak Djokovic at Qatar Open
Victor Estrella Burgos at Ecuador Open
Pablo Cuevas at Brasil Open
Rafael Nadal at Monte Carlo Rolex Masters
Stan Wawrinka at Geneva Open
Juan Martin del Potro at Stockholm Open

On 17 occasions the tournament champion won the title without dropping a set:
Ryan Harrison at Memphis Open
Alexandr Dolgopolov at Argentina Open
Dominic Thiem at Rio Open
Jack Sock at Delray Beach Open
Roger Federer at Indian Wells
Rafael Nadal at Barcelona Open
Pablo Carreno Busta at Estoril Open
Marin Cilic at Istanbul Open
Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros
Roger Federer at Halle Open
Novak Djokovic at Eastbourne International
Roger Federer at Wimbledon
John Isner at Hall of Fame Tennis Championships
John Isner at Atlanta Tennis Championships
Grigor Dimitrov at Cincinnati Masters
Roberto Bautista Agut at Winston-Salem Open
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at European Open Antwerp

On 12 occasions the tournament champion saved at least one match point en route to the title:
Novak Djokovic at Qatar Open - Saved 5 MPs against Fernando Verdasco in the semifinal
Gilles Muller at Sydney International - Saved 1 MP against Alexandr Dolgopolov in the 1st round
Victor Estrella Burgos at Ecuador Open - Saved 3 MPs against Ivo Karlovic in the 2nd round and 1 MP against Paolo Lorenzi in the final
Andy Murray at Dubai - Saved 7 MPs against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinal
Roger Federer at Miami - Saved 2 MPs against Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinal
Borna Coric at Marrakesh - Saved 5 MPs against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final
Lucas Pouille at Budapest - Saved 2 MPs against Jiri Vesely in 2R
Lucas Pouille at Stuttgart - Saved 1 MP against Jan-Lennard Struff in the 2nd round
Feliciano Lopez at Queens - Saved 1 against Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinal and 1 MP against Marin Cilic in the final
David Ferrer at Bastaad - Saved 2 MPs against Henri Laaksonen in the quarterfinal
Alexander Zverev at Rogers Cup - Saved 3 MPs against Richard Gasquet in the 3rd round
Rafael Nadal at China Open - Saved 2 MPs against Lucas Pouille in the 1st round

10 minute highlights video:

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

World Tour Finals participants' season review:

He was truly catastrophic in a lot of parts of 2015 and 2016 and looked finished at the highest level. But once again this man has reminded us that we should never write him off. After adding Carlos Moya into his coaching team, fixing several parts of his game and having one of the most consistent seasons in his career, Rafael Nadal has returned to the top of men's game. It's been a truly great and in a way weird season for him, as he has been one of the fittest players throughout the whole year while showing admirable consistency on multiple surfaces. Great run in Melbourne didn't finish in a Double Career Slam fairytale as he lost to his great rival Roger Federer in tight five sets. The Spaniard continued to go far at other hard court tournaments, but lost another two finals in Acapulco and Miami. However there was always going to be one outcome when Rafa stepped on clay. 2017 has been the year of La Decima as Nadal got to double digits at three different tournaments. First at Monte Carlo Masters, then Barcelona, and after a record tying 30th Masters in Madrid and loss in Rome, he completely dominated Roland Garros, not losing a single set, and finally won the 15th Slam after a 3 year drought. A tight loss to Gilles Muller at Wimbledon and eliminations at Montreal and Cincinnati didn't stop Nadal either, as he went on to win his 3rd US Open and ending his 3 and a half years hard court title drought, further cementing himself as the 2nd most successful player of the Open Era, as well as his status as a great player on hard courts. After that he won another hard court title, in Beijing, and reached another final in Shanghai where he was denied by Roger Federer. He was forced to withdraw from Paris and World Tour Finals due to knee issues but that didn't prevent him from securing his 4th Year-End #1 crown and also setting a record as the oldest YE #1, a remarkable achievement given his early rise to the top and playing style, and also a great farewell year for his longtime uncle and coach Toni who will focus on working in the academy from now on.

This 35 years old guy was already on a Slam drought for over 4 years, then had to take a 6 month break due to his knee injury which resulted in a rankings drop bigger than any he’s ever had. He got a tough draw at the Australian Open, faced four top 10 players, played three five setters, went a break down in the 5th set against his great rival Rafael Nadal. But in the end he prevailed and at long last won that 18th Slam. This is the biggest story of the year and a remarkable return of the comeback player of the year Roger Federer. The Swiss Maestro made sure he produced great tennis at other events as well. After an early exit in Dubai he went on to win the Sunshine Double, beating Nadal again at both tournaments. After skipping the entire clay season, Federer played on grass, where he lost to Tommy Haas in Stuttgart but went on to win Halle convincingly, as well as the 8th Wimbledon, without dropping a set, putting him ahead of Pete Sampras at the All England Club, and more importantly extending his Slam record to an astonishing 19 Slams. Back issues denied him a chance to succeed during the North American hard court season as he lost the Montreal final to Alexander Zverev, skipped Cincinnati and struggled a lot at the US Open, where he was eventually beaten by Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinal, meaning a Fedal meeting in New York still hasn't happened. During the end of the season, Federer won two more titles. One was in Shanghai where he beat Del Potro and Nadal and the second one was in his hometown Basel, by beating Del Potro in the final and avenging the previous two losses at the same stage. The Swiss decided to skip Paris Masters which meant surrendering in the race for #1, while after another cruise in the round robin stages of the World Tour Finals, he ended his season with an unexpected loss to David Goffin in the semifinal. Nevertheless it's been a truly wonderful season for Federer who proved his doubters wrong once again and confirmed his status as the greatest player this game has ever had.

After very poor previous two seasons, when it looked like he could end up as the least successful of the LostGen trio, Grigor Dimitrov turned it around. A great start to the year where he beat several quality players to win Brisbane and end his two and a half years long title drought. He followed it up with the Australian Open semifinal where he was a point away from serving for the final but was eventually denied by Rafael Nadal. After that he won a tournament in his home country, Sofia Open, but then went through a slump. At Wimbledon the Bulgarian got to the second week but was denied by Roger Federer in straight sets. That didn't affect him however, as he went on to win his first ever Masters title by triumphing in Cincinnati, without dropping a single set. By adding some more points with the Shanghai quarterfinal and Stockholm final Dimitrov secured his WTF debut before any late drama. But once he stepped into the O2 Arena, he was flawless. 5 matches, 5 wins, and the biggest title of his career so far, as well as a career high ranking #3. Just like older guys Federer and Nadal turned it around after the previous seasons, Dimitrov made the same step and will now have Major titles as his next targets.

Right now it seems quite clear which young star will be the one to watch out for in the coming years. That's Alexander Zverev. The German who turned 20 this year has produced some impressive results. Minor tournament wins like Montpellier, Munich and Washington weren't his biggest highlights. In fact, Sascha managed to win two back to back Masters in Rome and Canada, beating Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the finals. The youngster secured his WTF spot quickly, got to a career high #3 and decided not to participate at the newly founded NextGen event in Milan which was held a week earlier. Sascha didn't get out of the round robin stage though, while he also needs to work on his performances in the Majors, as he is still in search of his first quarterfinal appearance. It's hard to see him without it for much longer though.

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

As previously mentioned, only two of last year's WTF participants have kept their place for this season. One of them is Dominic Thiem. The Austrian has found it more difficult to win titles this season, as he got only one in Rio. While he was struggling outside of clay, Thiem has definitely improved on his favorite surface. Going far at all the important events - Madrid final, Rome semifinal and Roland Garros semifinal, registering a win over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the process. Chances are high that he will be the next great clay courter. By the end of the year Thiem got to a career high ranking of #4. While he may not be the next legend of the game, Dominic will continue to appear regularly in final stages of some tournaments and give himself a chance to go one step further.

The other guy who has made it to both previous and this year's WTF is Marin Cilic. It's safe to say the Croat has settled as a regular, consistent top 10 player. By reaching the Roland Garros quarterfinal, Marin became one of few players who reached all four Slam quarterfinals. Cilic was very good during the grass court season as he reached the Queens final where he lost in a dramatic match to Feliciano Lopez. But the highlight of Cilic's year was his 2nd career Slam final. Wins over the likes of Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey gave him a chance to fight for the greatest trophy of them all - Wimbledon. He wasn't going to stop Roger Federer winning it but there is no doubt that Cilic will always look back at those two weeks as some of the finest in his career. With that as well as four deep Masters runs and an Istanbul title he climbed to a career high #4.

A pleasant surprise of this year was David Goffin. He was consistent throughout several parts of the year. Quarterfinal at the Australian Open, as well as a couple of minor event finals made sure he will enter top 10 for the first time. Semifinal and quarterfinal in Monte Carlo (beating Novak Djokovic) and Madrid respectively followed. After a slump, the Belgian went on to reach the fourth round at the US Open and also win two back to back events in Shenzhen and Tokyo. The former ended his 3 years long title drought while the latter was his first ever 500 title. These results made sure he would play at WTF as a regular competitor and not an alternate like last time, and it's safe to say Goffin used his opportunity. Although he lost to Grigor Dimitrov convincingly, Goffin defeated Dominic Thiem, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to reach the WTF final, sending all three players packing for holidays right after his wins. Despite great effort in the final, he was again denied by Dimitrov, this time in 3 tight sets. Still, after all the great moments and a career high #7, an excellent season for David who has certainly won a lot of people over with some of his performances.

Hardly anyone was paying big attention to him throughout the season, but Jack Sock managed to qualify to the World Tour Finals on the last day. Lost early in all Majors but deep runs in Indian Wells and Miami, titles in Auckland and Delray Beach, as well as a very surprising triumph at the Paris Masters got him to #8 in the race to London. To prove everyone that his participation wasn't a fluke, the American defeated Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev in round robin stage which was good enough for the place in the semifinal. He lost it in three sets to the eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov but Sock made a good impression on his WTF debut and will end the year at a career high #8.

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Other honorable mentions:

Even the greatest players of all time have to endure slumps at some point. This time, the man of 2010s is the one who learned the harsh truth. In a season where he made a change of sponsor and the coaching team, Novak Djokovic managed to win only two 250 events, in Doha and Eastbourne, the latter being his first grass title outside Wimbledon. Despite occasionally good performances like some in Rome where got to the final, it was evident that the level and consistency that helped him produce one of the finest dominances ever are gone. The elbow injury which has been bugging Novak for a long time only made things worse. Eventually, it forced him to take a six month break after Wimbledon retirement, meaning that in New York for the first time since 2004 we didn’t see Djokovic in the main draw of a Grand Slam. However, he will be back at the start of 2018, while his claims that the motivation issues after last year’s Roland Garros win is finally over will make all tennis fans excited to see the Earth’s Mightiest Warrior back again on the court, looking to do the same thing his great two rivals did – return to the top of men’s game.

The 2016 YE #1 was also unrecognizable for this whole season. After giving everything to achieve one of the biggest goals of his career, Andy Murray has slowed down significantly. Early losses started happening everywhere, to all kinds of players. Despite Novak losing early, Andy wasted an opportunity to win the Australian Open for the first time as he also lost early, to Mischa Zverev. Unfortunately that was far from the only early loss that he suffered in 2017. The Scot lost early at all the Masters too. The only great couple of highlights from him were the Dubai title where he also had to come back from the dead against Kohlschreiber earlier in the tournament, and the Roland Garros semifinal where he was denied a place in the final by Stan Wawrinka in 5 sets. As the season progressed, his hip condition got worse, and after the Wimbledon quarterfinal where he lost in 5 to Sam Querrey, Murray played no more tennis for the rest of the year. Unlike Djokovic, he didn't decide to take a long break immediately and was just going tournament by tournament. This kind of approach had an impact on the US Open draw as Murray withdrew after it was held. He managed to hold the #1 ranking for 41 weeks, a great achievement that improved his status among the other greats of the game. At the end of the season, he decided to part ways with Ivan Lendl for the second time. Just like other injured players, it's going to be interesting to see how will Murray respond in 2018.

Another star of recent years has had issues in 2017. That’s Stan Wawrinka. His first half of the season was very impressive as he got back to his career high ranking of #3. The Swiss reached the Australian Open semifinal and the Indian Wells final, losing both to his countryman Roger Federer. Due to other player’s injury struggles he was even seeded 1st at Miami Masters but that’s when less impressive results started and lasted for a couple of months. He returned to good form by defending Geneva, and most notably reaching another Grand Slam final, his second in Paris, after an impressive win over Andy Murray and a few other tough opponents. But he had to settle for the runner-up plate for the first time at this level because Rafael Nadal was once again too strong at the Chatrier. His grass season was unimpressive as he lost early in both Queens and Wimbledon. After that Stan the Man confirmed that he will take a break because of a knee injury and a month later underwent a surgery. Though he parted ways with Magnus Norman, we await Stan's return next season with excitement too.

Tough draws and injury problems are still following him occasionally but Juan Martin del Potro is still strong. In fact, he was just one win away from securing his ticket for the O2 Arena in London. What made it possible was his great run of form during the end of the season, most notably the run at the US Open. There the Argentine beat Dominic Thiem from two sets and match points down and beat Roger Federer just like in 2009. Unfortunately that's where he stopped as he was denied in 4 sets by Rafael Nadal in the semifinal. After that he went on to defend his title in Stockholm and reach the Shanghai semifinal and Basel final, where he lost to Federer on both occasions. At the last Masters of the season in Paris he needed a semifinal to get to the O2 but was stopped by another competitor in that race John Isner. Hopefully now that he is on the brink of returning to top 10, we will see the Gentle Giant in consistently good form next year.

We didn't see that coming but Pablo Carreno Busta has reached top 10. Deep runs at two Majors - Roland Garros quarterfinal and US Open semifinal were crucial in such a big jump in the rankings from the Spaniard. Indian Wells and a title in Estoril were the other two good highlights for him, and all of that got him in contention for the World Tour Finals. He didn't make it but after Rafael Nadal withdrew during the tournament, he got a chance to play two matches there as an alternate.

http://www.**************.org/imgb/51245/carreno-busta-having-a-compatriot-like-nadal-makes-you-have-less-pressure.jpg

He reached the top 10 during late 2015 and went through a big slump after that. However Kevin Anderson made a huge jump in the rankings during the North American hard court season. Washington final and Canada quarterfinal were great results after making the 4th round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but he even surprised himself in New York, where he went all the way to the US Open final where he was denied by Rafael Nadal. The South African even had a slim chance to play at the World Tour Finals but he didn't manage to go deep in any more tournaments for the rest of the year. Still, he will never forget 2017, the year he reached a Slam final and got to world #14, very close to his career high ranking.

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Despite turning 30 this year, the big serving American Sam Querrey reached a career high ranking of #13. Like Carreno Busta, he made two deep runs at the Majors. His Wimbledon journey was very impressive as he reached the semifinal after three consecutive 5 set wins, with victory over defending champion Andy Murray standing out. He lost to Cilic in the semifinal, while at the US Open he got to the quarterfinal where Kevin Anderson stopped him. Titles in Acapulco and Los Cabos were another two good highlights for Sam and he was also in contention to play in the O2 Arena, but an early loss in Paris put an end to those hopes.

Another American rediscovered great form this year. John Isner won two back to back events in America - Newport and Atlanta, and registered three Masters semifinals in Rome, Cincinnati and Paris. All of these results got him close to a first ever World Tour Finals appearance, and he only depended on himself. A Paris Masters title would have guaranteed that but he lost in the semifinal in a 3rd set tiebreak to Krajinovic. Still it was a great season for the big server, it's safe to say he exceeded the expectations.

Another older player has played tennis of his life in 2017. That's Gilles Muller. After several heartbreaks in tournament finals, the Luxembourgian finally won one, early in the season in Sydney. But he didn't stop there, as he registered another two final appearances, on two different surfaces, winning the grass event in 's-Hertogenbosch. But the moment of his career was definitely at Court 1 of Wimbledon, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in a memorable 5 setter. His run ended in the quarterfinal against Marin Cilic in 5 sets, and injuries denied him a chance to climb even higher during the indoor season, but no doubt that Muller will only look at the positives in 2017 as he finally won titles and climbed as high as world #21.

Some flashes of brilliance followed by some awful outbursts. When it comes to Nick Kyrgios, there haven't been many noticeable changes. Hasn't made any progress in the rankings, in fact he is only 20th compared to 13th this time last year. Only two match wins at Majors didn't help. But some deep runs at Masters - Indian Wells quarterfinal, Miami semifinal and Cincinnati final, his first ever Top Tier final appearance, still give some hope that the Australian will show more commitment and self control as he gets older.

Constant struggles with injuries, mostly playing challengers and qualifiers for ATP events... It looks like all of that is finally behind Filip Krajinovic. After qualifying for the main draw of Paris Masters, which was only his second main draw of the entire 2017, the Serb went all the way to the final, taking out players like Querrey, Mahut, Nadal w/o and Isner. Despite losing the final to Jack Sock, this result got Filip to world #33 which will not only give him direct entries to main draws, but it's now highly likely that he will be seeded for the next year's Australian Open.

The Most improved player of the year and the Star of tomorrow awards both went to the same guy. That guy is Denis Shapovalov. The left handed Canadian impressed at the Rogers Cup where he beat Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal, eventually reaching the semifinal. At the US Open he earned the main draw through qualifying rounds, and went all the way to the 4th round where he was denied in three tiebreaks by Carreno Busta. The 18 year old has caught the eyes of many and his progress will be regularly monitored.

Don't forget to stick around for 2018 too. With the injured players returning and some of the active ones improving, it's going to be an awesome season.

 

[mike danny]

@Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil, I believe it wasn;t Joao Sousa in the picture with Kohlschrebier, but Mathieu instead.

 

[Charleneriva]

Wow, such enthusiasm and love for the game. Need to log off now so will read the player review posts later. I'm intending to review the season (personally) myself. Thanks for the thread.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

Who is the "we" in the write-ups? Source? Or is this a team effort?

 

[Poisoned Slice]

Good work, my son.

The Chung and Rublev picture gives me the feels.

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

@Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil, I believe it wasn;t Joao Sousa in the picture with Kohlschrebier, but Mathieu instead.

Ooops. Fixed.

I struggled to find Kohli and Sousa together in a non-large picture. Kohli wore almost the same outfit in both finals and that made me rush when I ran into the pic with Mathieu, didn't even notice it wasn't Sousa.

Who is the "we" in the write-ups? Source? Or is this a team effort?

Another mistake. Fixed. It's just me.

 

[peakin11mugs]

Epic post many thanks for the effort

 

[Deleted member 743561]

Ooops. Fixed.

I struggled to find Kohli and Sousa together in a non-large picture. Kohli wore almost the same outfit in both finals and that made me rush when I ran into the pic with Mathieu, didn't even notice it wasn't Sousa.

Another mistake. Fixed. It's just me.

Comprehensive. Nicely done.

P.S. Berdych won a Ouija Board.

 

[Charlie]

You're insane, you know that? Go away! Out!

Kidding, great work. The gallery looks amazing. I bet it wasn't as enjoyable for you as it was when you made the gallery for last year considering how the seasons went, so kudos for continuing to work on this.

 

[Maestroesque]

Real MVP right here

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Amazing work, well done.

 

[Mainad]

Great thread and sterling work OP. Well done on admirably summing up the season's highs and lows for us!

 

[TheAssassin]

Stunning! Keep up the good work with these galleries man, they look fantastic.

 

[tennisaddict]

As usual great. Thumbs Up, Gentleman !!

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

France have won their 10th Davis Cup title and first since 2001. David Goffin played brilliantly to give his country a chance but in the end the hosts just had too much quality for Belgium as Pouille won the deciding 5th match.

Davis Cup
France (def. Belgium 3-2)
Match 1 - David Goffin (def. Lucas Pouille 7-5 6-3 6-1)
Match 2 - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (def. Steve Darcis 6-3 6-2 6-1)
Match 3 - Richard Gasquet/Pierre-Hugues Herbert (def. Ruben Bemelmans/Joris De Loore 6-1 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4)
Match 4 - David Goffin (def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(5) 6-3 6-2)
Match 5 - Lucas Pouille (def. Steve Darcis 6-3 6-1 6-0)

 

[Russeljones]

Really great to see those first-time winners. Great work!