How was the 2021 season for you as a tennis fan? What were the highs and lows for you?

How would you rank this season out of 10?


  • Total voters
    131
AO: Decent tournament but definitely worse than 2020 and a big part of it was how much of a letdown the final turned out to be
RG: Novak's run was spectacular to watch and a few other matches were fun enough
W: Probably the worst edition I've ever seen... but at least we had one, unlike in 2020
USO: The early rounds were great but there was really only one decent match from QF-on (Djokovic-Zverev)

ATP Cup: Decent
Olympics: I didn't have the chance to watch any of it except for bits of the final
ATP Finals: okay, but the 2019 and 2020 editions were way better

Indian Wells: Forgettable
Miami: Forgettable
Monte-Carlo: I was impressed by Tsitsipas here, but other than that, this tournament wasn't anything outstanding
Madrid: I enjoyed the final but I can't remember anything else about this one
Rome: Pretty good all around
Canada: Interesting for the novelty of Opelka's run to the final, but it wasn't much
Cincinnati: Plenty of fun upsets but nothing I remember
Paris: Good final

Other tournaments: Belgrade stands out the most here for the Djokovic-Karatsev match, and I think Barcelona, Dubai, and Doha also had some interesting things going on.

Pros:
- Next gen stepped it up this year compared to the previous one (although there's still some distance to go)
- Djokovic's RG run was one for the ages just for the sheer drama of it all
- Karatsev's rise in the first half of the season was quite a pleasant surprise and he produced some pretty nice displays of tennis in those few months (his demolition of Schwartzman at the AO, his Dubai run, and the aforementioned match with Djokovic at Belgrade)
- Fed came back for a few matches and it was nice to see him make it to the second week at RG and Wimbledon even in his compromised state
- We got to see some Murray action as well and he produced a few dramatic matches to boot
- Alcaraz!

Cons:
- Fed wasn't anywhere near what he used to be
- Thiem was AWOL the entire year
- Nadal was pretty much gone after the French Open
- Though the drama was there as always, the actual quality of the tennis continued the trend of not really being as impressive as in some previous years; there weren’t as many classic matches or even dominant, jaw-dropping displays of tennis
- COVID rankings screwed things up a bit even when they should have been abandoned at the start of the year
- Some of the tournaments got axed due to the ongoing pandemic; granted, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as in 2020, but we still lost a Masters and some other events

Gonna put it at a final rating of 6.5/10 (I probably would have put 2020 at a 6/10 and 2019 at a 7/10)
Great analysis. Agree 100%. I gave it a 7.
 
Low was definitely Wimbledon, with grass comp being the weakest right now, all the potential threats taken out in R4 in 5 sets, a lot of choking and underwhelming play QF-F...


USO had the most stalest, weirdest, unimaginative courts ever....

every rally was the same. Balls had no shape and allowed for no spin, all the flat hitters were rewarded.

But the SF-F were really interesting.
 
AO: Decent tournament but definitely worse than 2020 and a big part of it was how much of a letdown the final turned out to be
RG: Novak's run was spectacular to watch and a few other matches were fun enough
W: Probably the worst edition I've ever seen... but at least we had one, unlike in 2020
USO: The early rounds were great but there was really only one decent match from QF-on (Djokovic-Zverev)

ATP Cup: Decent
Olympics: I didn't have the chance to watch any of it except for bits of the final
ATP Finals: okay, but the 2019 and 2020 editions were way better

Indian Wells: Forgettable
Miami: Forgettable
Monte-Carlo: I was impressed by Tsitsipas here, but other than that, this tournament wasn't anything outstanding
Madrid: I enjoyed the final but I can't remember anything else about this one
Rome: Pretty good all around
Canada: Interesting for the novelty of Opelka's run to the final, but it wasn't much
Cincinnati: Plenty of fun upsets but nothing I remember
Paris: Good final

Other tournaments: Belgrade stands out the most here for the Djokovic-Karatsev match, and I think Barcelona, Dubai, and Doha also had some interesting things going on.

Pros:
- Next gen stepped it up this year compared to the previous one (although there's still some distance to go)
- Djokovic's RG run was one for the ages just for the sheer drama of it all
- Karatsev's rise in the first half of the season was quite a pleasant surprise and he produced some pretty nice displays of tennis in those few months (his demolition of Schwartzman at the AO, his Dubai run, and the aforementioned match with Djokovic at Belgrade)
- Fed came back for a few matches and it was nice to see him make it to the second week at RG and Wimbledon even in his compromised state
- We got to see some Murray action as well and he produced a few dramatic matches to boot
- Alcaraz!

Cons:
- Fed wasn't anywhere near what he used to be
- Thiem was AWOL the entire year
- Nadal was pretty much gone after the French Open
- Though the drama was there as always, the actual quality of the tennis continued the trend of not really being as impressive as in some previous years; there weren’t as many classic matches or even dominant, jaw-dropping displays of tennis
- COVID rankings screwed things up a bit even when they should have been abandoned at the start of the year
- Some of the tournaments got axed due to the ongoing pandemic; granted, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as in 2020, but we still lost a Masters and some other events

Gonna put it at a final rating of 6.5/10 (I probably would have put 2020 at a 6/10 and 2019 at a 7/10)

You find Opelka making a F interesting but MIA (Sinner's run, Hurkacz' break-out, Korda hitting the big time) and IW (Fritz-Zverev, Dimi-Medvedev, Basha's play, Norrie's insane form, 2 interesting Murray affairs) and Madrid forgettable? ^^ Those tourneys had much more going for tham than Toronto..
 
You find Opelka making a F interesting but MIA (Sinner's run, Hurkacz' break-out, Korda hitting the big time) and IW (Fritz-Zverev, Dimi-Medvedev, Basha's play, Norrie's insane form, 2 interesting Murray affairs) and Madrid forgettable? ^^ Those tourneys had much more going for tham than Toronto..
I found it interesting for the memes, not because it was actual quality tennis lol

I mean Opelka reaching a Masters final beating Tsitsipas the way he did is some funny stuff

IW was completely forgettable aside from the Dimitrov-Medvedev match although it would have been more interesting had Dimitrov won the whole thing. Nice little story.

I don’t remember much of Miami aside from it being a Sinner-Hurkacz final and thinking Hurkacz did a good job navigating through the draw.
 
For me.. I have no idea where to stand but I'm in the group that are nostalgic about the big 3.
I loved RG the most. the semifinal. And the huge Novak's quest and wondering if he makes it. It was so possible and the question was "with whom might he lose"? Wimbledon was terrible! I'd say the quality of the slams was not here. I missed Rafa Thiem Tsisipas after RG and I'm scared what's next.
Today's final was so disappointing. It's like.. It's so slowly changing. Will 2022 deliver?
Im with those who won't remember too many matches. It's strange when I don't watch/stop watching. I'm trying to be as objective. Huge potential and feel kind of bad that Novak didn't turn out to be superhuman. I would be a witness to history being made.
 
Best tournaments: Rome, Roland Garros, Vienna, Paris-Bercy.
Worst tournaments: Indian Wells and Grass Season.

Positive news: Alcaraz and Sinner, they are so good and so young. Zverev and Medvedev have made a step forward. Tsitsipas on clay.
Negative news: Too many injuries: Nadal, Thiem, Federer, Wawrinka, Del Potro, Coric...

On the whole: it was a good season, 8 out of 10. But I'm excited about 2022, I truly believe is gonna be huge!
 
Ultraboring. Other than Fed playing some low ranked noobs in 250s Djokovic was probably the only player that made me tune in from time to time. With him out I'll probably stop watching altogether.

I probably watched less than 30 matches this year tops. These new top players are just so boring it's beyond belief. Everyone plays the same way. The WTA tour is somehow even worse - that is just crapola x100.
 
Men's side was unfortunately incredibly boring bar the exception of Medvedev winning the USO.

The women's side continues to keep improving.

The return of Barty after missing most of 2020 was awesome with her winning a tour leading 5 titles including Wimbledon. Ash's rivalry with Sabalenka was fun to watch as well as Aryna's rise to #2.
The rise of a number of players from Krejcikova to Raducanu as well as Kontaveit, Sakkari and Badosa was also very fun to watch.
The complete change in the top 10 from last year to this year was huge. Only Barty, Sabalenka and Pliskova were in the year end top 10 in 2020 and 2021. Everyone else has fallen out from Halep to Svitolina to Kvitova etc.
 
As we have now pretty much come to the end of the 2021 season, as a tennis fan how did you find it? What things stood out for you? Any special or not so special moments that stick out? Finally out of 10, how do you personally rank this season.
3/10.

Glad to see some new guns trying to battle it out rather than those 3 old dudes. But not glad to see them choke again and again.
 
Somehow worse than 2020 due to the level, whic tbh was really impressive in how I didn't see that coming. However, there were some good matches that allow me to have some cautious optimism for tennis in the coming years. I gave last year a 3/10, therefore I'm forced to go lower than I thought possible this year with an indicting 2/10
 
Somehow worse than 2020 due to the level, whic tbh was really impressive in how I didn't see that coming. However, there were some good matches that allow me to have some cautious optimism for tennis in the coming years. I gave last year a 3/10, therefore I'm forced to go lower than I thought possible this year with an indicting 2/10

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Hoping to enjoy more snax next year ;)
 
Other than Wimbledon and Masters in North America it was stunning. I'll always look back at it fondly because of the outcomes and thrills of competing that led to them.
 
I started at 0/10 because of Nole dominating mugs and Fed not playing. But...

+1 losing Olympics
+1 losing USO
+ 1 losing WTF

So a solid 3/10.
 
High for me:
Got to travel to Indian Wells to witness my first ever in-person professional tournament

Low for me:
By the time I got there there was nobody in men's or women's ranked higher than 20

Other noteworthy items:
I used to really like Tissypass but he made some interest choices and seemed to lean into becoming the next bad guy

Kyrigios didn't show up much. Fed, Theim, Nadal, and more all MIA.
 
It was obviously a year that showed all round on all surfaces Djokovic was still the best but that the level is closing especially with Med and Zed.
Med winning the USO F and Zed beating Djokovic at OG and WTF also showed both coils beat him at the biggest events.
Them 3 especially Med on HC and Zed level was great but the rest where so inconsistent that the years gets a 7/10 max
 
Karatsev's emergence in the first half of the season (especially his match vs Djokovic in Belgrade and Dubai performance) and Djokovic's run at the FO were probably the best parts of the season for me. Also it was nice to see Fed back and I enjoyed his runs at the Slams he played, even though it was brief. Murray delivered some thrillers as well. Next Gen guys did better this year too(long way to go still of course).

Downsides would be the absence of Fed and Nadal for a majority of the season and Thiem being AWOL. The quality of tennis could have been better too.
 
AO - fail ending

Miami - mug event

MC - boring ending

Madrid - meh

MC - nice

RG - fail ending in all respects

WB - weaksauce

Lolympix - at least Zed was really cool

Canada - boring

Cincinnati - mug/boring

USO - bleh, the loss was only memorable for what it was

IW - mug

Paris - ok I guess

YEC - the "real final" was good, rest meh
 
High for me:
Got to travel to Indian Wells to witness my first ever in-person professional tournament
Low for me:
By the time I got there there was nobody in men's or women's ranked higher than 20
You made my day! I can totally relate to you! <3
 
AO - fail ending

Miami - mug event

MC - boring ending

Madrid - meh

MC - nice

RG - fail ending in all respects

WB - weaksauce

Lolympix - at least Zed was really cool

Canada - boring

Cincinnati - mug/boring

USO - bleh, the loss was only memorable for what it was

IW - mug

Paris - ok I guess

YEC - the "real final" was good, rest meh
Bit harsh on RG. I’d have thought that if there was any good tournament in 2021, RG would have to be it. Of course, you probably think there wasn’t one :D
 
But my low rating is not necessarily about tennis. It's just been an awful year. We are pushing into the 2nd year soon of Covid, and I see no sign that the nightmare is over. In general I find I just no longer care much about anything. It's just one dreary day after another with no freedom and endless depression. For me tennis is just part of a really bad year.
 
Bit harsh on RG. I’d have thought that if there was any good tournament in 2021, RG would have to be it. Of course, you probably think there wasn’t one :D

RG semi was obviously historic and kept us interested almost until the end, but level-wise it was not particularly epeak and ultimately not particularly competitive. If you ignore the occasion / player names, Stan's career array of RG five-setters (Tsonga, Tsonga again, Gasquet, Murray, Tsitsipas) was more interesting for example. The other semi was kinda mugfest and the final turned out an absolute bummer viz both the result and the tennis with one good set, one solid set and three mehs.
 
AO 2020 was leaps and bounds ahead of every Slam this year except for possibly RG imo. And that’s just a year ago.
2020 had a better AO. The rest, not so much. Would have to go even further back to find a matching RG and USO. Soliiiid.
I mean you don't have to go far back to see funner slams than this year's sheed. WB 19, USO 19, AO 20 all provided better satisfaction tennis-wise, disgusting endings aside.
Yeah I know, they didn't go according to your scripts. Heartbreaking.
 
2020 had a better AO. The rest, not so much. Would have to go even further back to find a matching RG and USO. Soliiiid.

Yeah I know, they didn't go according to your scripts. Heartbreaking.
It depends how you look at events. Some are just high quality others are exciting but not high quality.
RG21 Djokodal and then Tsitsipas going 2-0 up in F was exciting
 
2020 had a better AO. The rest, not so much. Would have to go even further back to find a matching RG and USO. Soliiiid.
Hmm, I thought you meant individual Slams and not collective ones. In that case, you probably would have to go back a bit farther. Probably 2019. Except for the AO (which was still salvaged because of Djokovic’s legendary performance) the Slams were pretty fun that year.
 
"The rest" consisted of two slams rofl. Both played just post-coweed break, no wonder they were a mess.
Do they come out above 2021 if we adjust all the recent chlems by coweed impact?
You literally don't care what it takes as long as BOATov1c wins.
I told you already that not everyone is so pure, well-intentioned and propaganda-free like the Rolex minions. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Do they come out above 2021 if we adjust all the recent chlems by coweed impact?

I told you already that not everyone is so pure, well-intentioned and propaganda-free like the Rolex minions. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you meant year by year as TS suggested, then 2019 is better than 2021 indeed. Only RG is worse (though higher winner's level of course).

Well duh, I am actually capable of being disgusted/bored when Federer's opponents are such mugs they just let him have it easily with clueless play and he's not even peaking (see Miami 2019 for what is now always going to be the most recent example :().
 
If you meant year by year as TS suggested, then 2019 is better than 2021 indeed. Only RG is worse (though higher winner's level of course).

Well duh, I am actually capable of being disgusted/bored when Federer's opponents are such mugs they just let him have it easily with clueless play and he's not even peaking (see Miami 2019 for what is now always going to be the most recent example :().
Consider me not so impressed by a good chunk of 2019...

Only takeaway from this is you being easily disgusted LOL if a non peaking player (whatever that means at this point) wins something. For me Fed lost a lot of that prettiness in his game a long time ago but that wouldn't make me less engaged in his matches if I were in his camp. Then again maybe I wouldn't have been as harsh with what I said about his tennis initially if that was the case...
 
AO was alright outside the final. The emergence of Karatsev in the spring was so fun. The clay season especially Rome and RG was top notch. One of the best in memory imo. Grass season was awful. One of the worst Wimbledons ever. The lead up to the USO was pretty boring but man was the 1st week of the USO amazing. One of the best 1st weeks in a long time and the highlight of the year for me. QFs on was pretty meh with Z-Djok being a fun match but man was that final a let down. IW lol. Indoor season was pretty good with good but amazing Paris and WTF. Overall, as a Djokovic fan hard not to like the season but in an objective sense only the clay season was something to write home about.
 
2019 was actually pretty fun even if the level was just average most of the time.

AO: not that good but Djokovic’s final performance certainly was

IW: decent tournament with a nice competitive final

Miami: meh

Monte-Carlo: meh tournament but Fognini almost bageling Nadal was scenes

Madrid: very solid tournament with some interesting showings from lots of players

Rome: also pretty good because of Djokovic’s matches with Delpo and Schwartzman.

RG: decent tournament; Fed’s mad dash to the SF was pretty neat and the Tsitsipas-Wawrinka match was one of the higher-quality ones in recent memory. Other SF wasn’t bad either, but there was little drama on Nadal’s end as usual

W: the situation was pretty dire for the first week and the level of play was generally pretty low but the Fedal SF and the final gave us enough drama to salvage the tournament

Canada: forgettable

Cincinnati: aside from Medvedev-Djokovic, there wasn’t much

US Open: the final was a really fun match (whatever the actual quality) but the rest of the tournament was pretty forgettable

Shanghai: I don’t remember anything about this tournament other than Med winning and Federer’s match with Zed

Paris: pretty forgettable

WTF: probably the best tournament of the season; there were plenty of fun matches to be found here, most notably Djokovic-Thiem

The level wasn’t really there most of the time but the drama was. I definitely enjoyed it.
 
Consider me not so impressed by a good chunk of 2019...

Only takeaway from this is you being easily disgusted LOL if a non peaking player (whatever that means at this point) wins something. For me Fed lost a lot of that prettiness in his game a long time ago but that wouldn't make me less engaged in his matches if I were in his camp. Then again maybe I wouldn't have been as harsh with what I said about his tennis initially if that was the case...

I like either excitement or brilliance. It's not fun when there's a mismatch without particular brilliance from the winning player. Djokovic's recent exploits would largely fit the bill of course.
 
But my low rating is not necessarily about tennis. It's just been an awful year. We are pushing into the 2nd year soon of Covid, and I see no sign that the nightmare is over. In general I find I just no longer care much about anything. It's just one dreary day after another with no freedom and endless depression. For me tennis is just part of a really bad year.

Next year will be better in all respects.
 
It was a meh year for me like 2006. Nothing exciting for anyone not a fan of the player winning everything. Only RG was remotely interesting because of the rafa-djok match and some youngsters showing some game.
 
It was a 5/10. Djokovic’s pursuit of the holy grail of tennis got quite interesting once he hit the QF of the USO. The semi vs Zverev was quite the match; most exciting match of the year.

Zverev and Medvedev have stepped up their game. Alcaraz was fun to watch. And I have some hope for Sinner too. We will see what happens with Shapovolov and FAA. I have a feeling that they aren’t done improving yet either.

So overall; not bad. It was an average year with some excitement. Hopefully, Thiem can come back with full steam to really make 2022 interesting. I have a feeling that 2022 is going to be an 8/10 type of year, ending with Federer giving his retirement speech
 
If you're a Djokovic, Medvedev or Zverev fan, how can you not rate it at least 8/10? It was an exceptionnal season for these 3, no doubt they would have immediately signed with both hands at the start of the year.
No slam for Zverev, but this Olympics gold medal was worthy of 2 slams for him. His tears and reaction said it all. It really moved me and he hasn't been the same player since Tokyo. With the exception of Fritz in Indian-Wells, he was very consistent and only Djokovic/Medvedev stopped him. Will they be able to stop him in slams in 2022, that's the question.
Djokovic failed to win the CYGS but let's be real. He finished his Fritz match in agony in AO. At this stage of the season anyone would have laughed in my face if I said he was gonna win more than 1 slam in 2021. His end of 2020 season was catastrophic and his level in Australia was very average until the QF. There were every reasons to think 2021 would look like 2017. And even before that RG SF against Nadal, how many people thought 2021 would turn out the way it did? Nadal beat him 3-0 in 2020, he won the Rome final in 2021. In most minds, it was going to be 21-18 after RG without a doubt. Even his fans know it deep down. It could have been 21-18, or worse. Now instead it's 20-20, with Djokovic finishing the year stronger than ever in Paris/WTF and a future that looks more and more doubtful for his injured rival.
Medvedev is the first of the "next gen" to win a slam and beat one of the Big-3 at the same time. Thanks to USO, his season is a success. He's beaten his main rival in a slam final and beat his other rival 3 times in 4 matches. Could he have done better? Yes, especially in Masters and in Wimbledon, but it remains a positive year for him.
If you're a Berrettini, a Sinner, Auger-Aliassime or Alcaraz fan I think it's a pretty good year too.
I honeslty didn't think Sinner would finish 2021 in the top-10. Top-20 was a realistic goal at the start of the season.
Berrettini had an incredible year in slams. Only 1 player beat him.
Same for FAA. 4th round in AO, QF in Wimbledo, SF in USO... ranked #11, it's better than expected. Only hole, still 0 title.
Alcaraz had potential, we all knew that but I didn't expect him to show up in a slam QF, win his first title and beat Tsitsipas, Berrettini, Sinner or Ruud. I foresee great things for him in 2022 and 2023... WTF next year and top-5 in 2023 is my prediction.

If you're a Nadal, Federer, Thiem, Delpotro, Wawrinka or Murray fan, I think it'd be hard to put more than 3/10.
Federer and Delpotro are most likely done, 2021 reinforced this feeling. They will still win matches but it's over in Majors.
The future doesn't look positive for Murray and Wawrinka ...Murray can get back into the top100, maybe top50 but it'll be his limit. Wawrinka hasn't touched a racket for too long. I honestly don't believe in some epic come back.
For Thiem is was nightmarish. He wins a slam and not even on his favorite surface, there was reasons to be hopeful. Wrist injuries are the worst. I hope he'll be back at the top soon but the future looks uncertain for him.
And for Nadal it's clearly a negative year too. After the blood bath in that French Open final last year, he was the HUGE favorite to win the slam race and put an end to the goat debate in 2021. Seeing how he ridiculed Djokovic in that final, there were even reasons to think he had chances to win slams off clay this year. If things turned out in a positive way for him, he would have currently 3 or 4 more slams than Djokovic. Everything was perfect until that 3rd set tie-break against Tsitsipas in AO. Everything went awry afterwards, even if he won 2 clay titles. The foot injury was not expected. He skipped the OG and Wimbledon but I still thought he'd come back for the US tournaments and in good form.

Regarding the WTA:
My Disappointments: Halep, S. Williams, Andreescu, Svitolina, Osaka
Halep started the year ranked #2 and she is basically at the top of women's tennis since 2014. She is now #20 with 0 title and her best result in slams is a QF in Australia.
For Willimas sadly it looks like she is done in slams, she will never tie Court and get the 24th slam she desperately wanted. She may have missed her very last chance in Australia this year. Her fall in Wimbledon against Sasnovic gave me chills. She hasn't showed up on a tennis court since then.
Osaka won her 4th slam in Australia and then it was just one bad thing after another for her. Mental breakdowns, polemics with the press conferences in RG, disastrous OG. She and Barty were supposed to dominate the Tour in 2021, but it became quickly one-sided.
Svitolina fell out of the top-10 for the first time since 2017. Only 1 WTA 250, poor results in slams again. It's getting harder and harder to believe she will ever win a slam.
And Andreescu: after seeing her in IW/Toronto/USO 2019, I expected a lot better from her. She was injured for most of 2020 but I thought we'd see her more in 2021. Her Miami final was the highlight of her season but the rest was mediocre.

My best surprises : Krejcikova, Kontaveit, Raducanu, Bencic, Badosa... and Barty
Barty for her consistency at the top. She finishes the year #1 for the 3rd consecutive time and except a few surprising defeats, it was an incredible year again.
Krejcikova because she was not even ranked #200 before RG 2020, she finished the year in the top-5 with 3 titles and a 1 slam. Most unpexted progression of the year without a doubt. And I really, really like her tennis.
Raducanu for obvious reasons... winning 10 consecutive matches and 20 consecutive sets in s slam at 18... Pretty sure we will NEVER see that again.
Badosa probably the 2nd best progression after Krejcikova. Great clay season, and highlight of the year in IW, she won the tournament with a brutal draw. I expect to see a lot more in 2022... maybe a slam?
Bencic for her gold medal in singles and silver in doubles. She was the least one I expected. She won almost all her single matches in difficult, long 3 sets, and her tears also moved be. And imo she played a good tennis even after Tokyo. I foresee a great season in 2022. She has everything to go deep in all the slams.

7/10 overall.
 
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