While Novak Djokovic and a resurgent Rafael Nadal continued the status quo in the world of men’s tennis in 2013, we witnessed enough to suggest there could be some exciting times ahead in 2014.
For a number of years now we’ve become used to three players – Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer – dominating the men’s game. Over the past 18 months that has started to change a little bit with clear signs Federer’s long run at the top is coming to an end and Scotland’s Andy Murray finally fulfilling his potential with Grand Slam wins at the US Open and Wimbledon and gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
The battle for supremacy between these “big four” has been great to watch, but we could be in for something even better next year with as many as seven players heading into the Grand Slams with a genuine chance of winning. And by that I mean there are a handful of players who have been sitting just below the top three or four on the pecking order but could well be ready to move up alongside them in 2014. Can you imagine how great it would be for the truly epic battles to start taking place in the quarter finals rather than the semi-finals of final of each Grand Slam?
Juan Martin del Potro
Three players spring to mind. The first is Juan Martin del Potro. US Open champion back in 2009, del Potro has struggled with injury and indifferent form in the years since but 2013 saw him start to make inroads once again as he moved back up to number five in the rankings. His impressive year included wins over all the big guns – Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Federer among them – and he played one of the matches of the year to go down in five sets to Djokovic in the semi-finals at Wimbledon. He also happens to be one of the value picks for the Australian Open at around $13, so it could be worth jumping in early.
Tomas Berdych
Next on the list is Tomas Berdych. The hard hitting Czech is one of a handful of players on tour with the weapons to really hurt the big guns and although consistency remains his Achilles’ heel, he certainly made people take notice at times in 2013. Most notable has been the steady improvement in Berdych’s game over the past few years, and he is becoming a regular in the quarter-final stages of the Grand Slams. His goal in 2014 will be to start moving beyond that.
Stanislas Wawrinka
Finally, Stanislas Wawrinka. For so long left standing in the shadows of countryman Federer, 2013 saw Wawrinka break free from those shackles to achieve his current career-high ranking of world number eight. He reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, having beaten both Berdych and defending champion Murray along the way, before falling to Djokovic in a five-set thriller. It was his second narrow Grand Slam loss to Djokovic of the year after they did the same at the Australian Open in a match Djokovic described as one of the best he had ever played in. Wawrinka is only going to keep improving and he could well be closing in on a Grand Slam title in 2014.
While it seems Federer no longer has the fight in him to keep up with his rivals, let’s hope the looming season brings us a battle like never witnessed before as Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, del Potro, Berdych, Wawrinka and of course the relentless Spaniard David Ferrer take on the next challenge.
