Nobody could have expected Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to finish No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings, respectively, at the end of 2017–and with plenty of room to spare. After all, the two all-time greats went into the season ninth (Nadal) and 16th (Federer) in the world, seemingly on the way down instead of on the way up given that they were already into their 30s. Expecting them to combine for one of the four Grand Slam titles would have seemed fair, if not generous. But all four? Absolutely not.
At the other end of the spectrum, no one could have anticipated the brutal injury luck suffered by other top players–namely Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, and Milos Raonic. All five of those men easily played their way into the 2016 World Tour Finals; not one of them appeared at the O2 Arena this time around.
It’s safe to say this past season was full of surprises on the ATP Tour. If it can be taken as a harbinger of things to come, we should expect the unexpected in 2018. As we learned from 2017, nothing–and no one–is certain. Nadal is 31 and Federer is 36; at what point will injury issues finally turn their nibble into a bite, as they did for younger competitors in 2017? How will Murray, Djokovic, and the rest of the infirmary patients bounce back in 2018? Will Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, and David Goffin continue to rise? Is Juan Martin Del Potro ready for a return to the upper echelons of the sport? Can Nick Kyrgios live up to his incredible but currently untapped potential?
Those questions will begin to be answered at next month’s Australian Open. Check out the Online Tennis odds for the Australian Open.
Federer is the oddsmakers’ current title favorite. And why not? The Swiss is the defending champion and coming off a season in which he compiled a 52-5 record with seven titles (two majors: Aussie and Wimbledon). Federer also finished it in good health, despite losing to Goffin at the Nitto ATP Finals.
“Roger has won five titles from the last nine tournaments he’s played and he can’t wait to come back, step out on Rod Laver Arena again,and begin his title defense,” tournament director Craig Tiley commented. “He loves playing here, loves the Aussie fans, and has said his Australian Open win this year was one of the most meaningful of his career.
Djokovic and Nadal are the next two favorites, followed not too far behind by Murray before a big gap separates those four from the likes of Wawrinka, Zverev, Dimitrov, and Kyrgios.
Nadal, who finished runner-up to Federer in Melbourne this past year, has won three of the four slams at least twice. The one exception is the Australian Open, where he triumphed in 2009. The Spaniard played only one match last month in London before withdrawing due to a knee injury. Djokovic (a six-time champion) and Murray (who has never won the Aussie Open but has reached the final on five occasions) are obvious question marks. Kyrgios has already played his fair share of late-night Melbourne classics, but never in the latter rounds.
And with so many top contenders to be seeded lower than usual, we could be in for an especially wild ride Down Under. Fasten your seatbelts.
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Fed was damn right when he said he was surprised that he expected Rafa to skip Asian swing. I think Rafa would have done himself favors had he called it year after Shanghai final.
Rafa enrolled in Sydney because he was doubtful that he would play in Abu Dhabi and Brisbane.
We just have to wait and see how things unfold; Rafa may just have to skip AO again, but the most important thing is he has to be fit and healthy and be ready for the clay season.
I doubt that should he play at AO, he would play with aggression instead of the usual grinding. For him, when he’s in doubt (about his health and fitness), he tends to retreat into defensive mode, so it’s better that he skips AO when he’s not fit or ready for it.
If he’s fully healthy by the AO,he’ll have the first two or three rounds to put himself into form,because he will be facing less quoted players and he can pull them off even without his A-game. I agree that the main goal is the clay season,if he’s ready to go there he’ll be in the pole position to go for “La Undecima” at RG,it would incredible!
Rafa should pull a “Fed” and skip AO (like Fed skipped WTF final vs Nole and 2017 FO) when he knows he’s not ready to win.
https://tenngrand.com/2017/12/09/federer-early-australian-open-favorite-ahead-of-nadal-and-djokovic/comment-page-1/#comment-289187
https://tenngrand.com/2017/12/09/federer-early-australian-open-favorite-ahead-of-nadal-and-djokovic/comment-page-1/#comment-289237
I hope my Rafito recovers fully, wishing him the very best.
Rafa will play Australian Open.
Maybe.
K. Anderson is playing P. Carreno soon.
*Rolls eyes*, too much speculation, i really wish people would let the guy decide for himself whether he should play ….
Why does the main part of his season have to be about clay, the main part of his season is about the here and the now, which is the AO, he made the final last year, hes made the final 4 times, whos to say he cant or wont make another final ??
Coz his wobbly knees Al!..last year he’s healthy and this year he’s not…
Coz he has plenty of points to defend on clay, any slip up he’ll fall in the rankings, making life difficult for him for the rest of the season, where surfaces favor his main rivals more.
Playing with not yet fully healed knee would risk further injuries and jeopardizes his 2018 season. I hope his knee will be fully healed by the time AO starts, I certainly hope Rafa retains his YE no.1 ranking, for he’ll be YE no.1 for two consecutive years, something he has not done before in his career.
Winning 11 FOs would be incredible, like 10 isnt already hmm ….
He will want to practice a lot before returning to play. He gave himself 2 months (same as just now) off last year and his first matches back were amazing so he doesn’t NEED match practice. He will play AO, he wouldn’t say when he would arrive if he wasn’t playing
Hi MiraAndi i suppose i just get irritated that he gets written off before hes even played, not capable of winning unless his rivals are not at their best, lucky in this match, lucky in that match, he wont be the same player because Novaks back, too many points to defend, cant back up one great season with another, the usual Rafa cliches
Hi MiraAndi i suppose i just get irritated that he gets written off before hes even played, not capable of winning unless his rivals are not at their best, lucky in this match, lucky in that match, he wont be the same player because Novaks back, too many points to defend, cant back up one great season with another, the usual Rafa cliches ….
Hahaha….that’s okay Al!…I understand your reasoning…But,let’s take a look at my reason why i have doubt over him now…
First and foremost..he’s not healthy…sure,when he’s landed in Melbourne on 4th he will practice & practice till AO start..but,practice & playing in real match with a bunch of high quality opponents are 2 different matter Al..he can’t prepare himself fully when he’s enter AO this year..and this will lead to my second reason..
2nd…Rafa when he can’t practice like he used to do,he will doubting himself..especially so when his knees is still very much in doubt whether they can sustain in a BO5..playing 7 matches in 2 weeks..
3]..When Rafa has a doubt,his confidence will suffer too..and he will start playing 6,7 meters behind the baseline..and i guess will play a little bit defensively..and playing like this will only open the door to all players..any players even the speedy Gonzalez Diego Schwartzman to attack him senseless by moving him around non stop & bombarded him with winner’s from all places..and we’re not talking about the hard & big hitter’s yet Al..and when this happen,can u imagine what his knees would feel let’s say in his 2nd or 3rd match?Tho,i can’t wait to see how his knees will respond in his 1st match..if it’s okay,then Rafa will gain confidence from that..if not..well..let’s see the 1st match first…
Sorry for the double post, dont know how that happened ….
The FO is five months away, im interested in what Rafa does now right at this moment in time ….
MA whos says hes not confident though ?
Al…My take,his confident will not be 100% going to AO this year…but like i said up there..if his knees is okay in his 1st match & he win,the confidence will start coming back bit by bit by winning every match after that…
MA i think i got out of bed on the wrong side this morning lol, im full of cold, probably why im getting overly irritated, getting messages on FB from a certain person has cheered me up though, missed me he says 😉
Hahaha..That’s okay Al!…This is what the forum are for..we can discuss just about everything…
Btw….Happy that person can cure u from the irritated bugs Al!…I don’t know what will happen to TG & TX if he’s not Al!!..Hahaha…
My boi did it, that’s right my boi(Kevin Anderson), at 1.40 not bad people not bad.
He won in straight sets, the 2nd set was tough but he won😂.
My boy missed a chance in the 2017 USO but that’s ok, I forgive him lol!
I never thought he would win(USO) just so you know.
Hopman cup would be interesting don’t you think?
MA lol, as long as we can continue with our long distance on line love affair, and the A on his wedding finger is for Alison not the other woman 😉
Don’t worry, Rafa will be fine and would be ready OK.
Love U all.
Al…YESS MA’AM!!..Woohoo!!
MA oh yeah baby lol 😉
And we just had a chat on FB 🙂
Ive just been watching Abu Dhabi. Rublev v Bautista , the Spaniard was just too solid.
Djokovic tomorrow.
You later watched it, R. Bautista is really good.
I hope N. Djokovic is fit and ready because R. Federer can’t wait, he can’t wait to win it all 🤣😂✌👌.
Novak OUT of Abu Dhabi! He says in the past few days he has been feeling “severe pain in his elbow” and will make decisions on next few tournaments in the “next couple of days”
That’s not good at all! I don’t care (much) for Djokovic but he’s a great player and I’d like to see him back at it.
Why does Djokovic have so few fans?Must be because he beats the other Big 3,who are hugely popular.