I know it can be hard to believe what I am saying, but when you ask people, they will tell you Nadal was trash in 2015 from a general perspective, so by default he will lose every tournament to 'someone'
But then again, if I asked you to pinpoint who exactly would beat 2015 Nadal at RG and USO in 2017, I am not sure if you can tell.
I am done with predicting after seeing how this season turned out. Anyone remembers my sarcastic comment in 2016 how Federer was a lock for the AO title? Well that's it, no more.
Well except for 2006, 2007, 2015 when other GS went to just one player.
Nadal has never backed up his No1 the following year! What makes you think he will do it this time at 32 and now that he's quite a few steps slower than back in 2008/10/13?So, eventhough the top 8 of this year isn't certain yet nor the YE#1 (although good results in Asia would secure it), let's do some early predictions.
1. NADAL, biased or not, surely he is the favourite to do so, although he has never finished consecutive years as #1. I think he'll get loads of points from the first part and then do wel here and there. I predict another 1-2 slams and some Masters.
2. DJOKOVIC, he'll be back, eventhough that's not gonna be good for Rafa, it's excellent for tennis. We missed him in the second part, his name alone adds to the draw. I think he wins a major and some Masters and perhaps WTF. Not sure if he'll start well but he'll get there.
3. FEDERER, Rog wins another slam in 2018 I think, probably his last. Don't expect him to set foot on clay and don't expect him to play too much, maybe even less than this year. Still, his level is still there and I pick him to win a major and master(s) and always a favourite in London.
4. ZVEREV, Young Z will take another step forward. Personally I don't think anyone outside FEDALOVIC wins a slam but I do expect him to make a SF/F next year and continue his great results at M1000s.
5. MURRAY, Andy ended a year at #1 in the Fedalovic era, that'll be the pinnacle of his career. I expect him to make 1-2 deep runs in majors and probably win a masters. He too has been missed in the past few months.
6. WAWRINKA, the slam winning days are over I think, but we'll still see the Stanimal here and there. He'll beat some top players, he'll get upset here and there and we'll deffo see him in the latter rounds of slams.
7. KYRGIOS, probably wishful, Cilic would make more sense although he only has that WIM F and RG QF runs as "impressive" this year. Nick will continue the upsets and the controversy, only more upsets and less controversy.
8. THIEM, based on clay results again. I think he'll be ready to win a Clay Masters and do well at RG again. #2 on clay this year and he has a great clay-court game. Don't expect much elsewhere.
Others: Hopefully Delpo but I've given up on a full healthy year, Cilic will remain dangerous and hopefully someone like Shapo close to top 10.
Show me yours
This basically. Not sure Kyrgios will get that high though.
The big miss for everyone is Delpo who looks like a lock for WTF.
Isner and Anderson are high in the race, but they are likely to fade a touch unless Izzy snaps back to clean up early on hard courts.
Goffin surprised me making WTF last year and now he's in a similar spot in 2018; seemingly out of the running. 8th spot is wide open in ATP race.
1. Nadal R. 5760 +720
2. Federer R. 4020 +360
3. Zverev A. 3585 +90
4. Del Potro J. 3380 +360
5. Djokovic N. 3355
6. Thiem D. 2995 +10
7. Cilic M. 2915 +45
8. Anderson K. 2820 +1200
Off chance that Thiem could be knocked out if he continues to have horrible performance post Wimbledon. Thiem will attempt to vulture Hamburg in the next couple events and Austrian 250 on clay. (Thiem has done well this part of the year breaking out with several wins in July 2015). 750 points from those events and he's probably a lock for WTF.
I've got no idea who gets the 8th spot, but Nishikori is close and the most likely candidate.
Well Zverev is just 400 points behind Fed in the ATP race. If he does something at US Open he might slide into #2 ranking spot for a while.
Zverev has a lot to defend.Well Zverev is just 400 points behind Fed in the ATP race. If he does something at US Open he might slide into #2 ranking spot for a while.
He's had some good draws and didn't do much on outdoor hard earlier in 2018. Add to that the toll of the Isner match and he may not do all that well until the US Open. The bookies have him around 50:1 for US Open which is behind a lot of players including just behind Shapovalov believe it or not.
In the end he cleaned up on clay pretty well so its in the offing if Fed doesn't do any better than 2017. Zedrot is defending back to back wins at Citi and Rogers Cup so no way he can pass Fed before the US Open. Fed basically would have to not play and Zedzilla would have to sweep Citi, Rogers, and Cincy. Zverev backed up his 2017 clay run in 2018 winning Munich, Madrid, and nearly Rome in three straight weeks. It will be interesting if gets hot once again as he's got more stamina than last year and a pre-US Open sweep is not impossible.Ugh, just the thought of Zverev being ranked above Federer sickens me
I'll believe it when I see it because his leg injury really cut down on his grass play, but buckle up if he defends Citi Open again (Murray, Kyrgios, and Anderson headline plus a ton of other fine hard court players.)
