The Top Three Male Tennis Players in Two Years

I thought it’d be fun to get out the crystal ball and predict the top 3 tennis jokers plus Federer in exactly two years’ time, and the new Slam titles held by each player. (Yes in my prediction, Fed’s not in the top 3)

 

Not having an in-depth knowledge of the points and race system, please forgive the use of fuzzy (non-existent) science!

 

Titles Available

Wimbledon – 2

US Open – 2

French Open – 2

Aus Open – 2

 

NADAL (1)

Nadal proves he is the task-master, beating all comers to a bloody pulp on clay once again in 2009, but not in 2010 when a massive blister injury forces him out in the 4th round. He continues running his muscular Majorcan a$$ off, and he gets back almost all the balls that dare enter his side of the court, whether or not he is standing on his head far behind the ball boys singing La Bamba when he hits them. He’s putting those goddamn balls back over the net, into crazy places, far far away from the sender. Despite this, he finds no hard court title, yet. Hard court tournaments prove his real achilles heel. On grass, though, he finds a true-calling and the potential for many more Slam titles in the future, because, in Wimbledon 2008, he bests Federer’s serve and volley game with his own surprisingly slightly better serve, volley plus consistency game, on the day. Plus Federer fluffs a few giveaways in his excitement and he finds to his dismay that Nadal’s packing a little more punch on his first and second serves than he remembers him doing before. All of this coupled with Nadal’s grit and stamina in every point proves a fearsome wall against which Federer’s deflated head bashes in 2008, and Djokovic’s inflated one bashes in the 2009 Wimbledon final.

 

DJOKOVIC (2)

Djokovic continues his headline-grabbing off-court rhetoric and continues to annoy the sh$t out of his opponents and most of the tennis fraternity, and thus wins two more titles in an irritating fashion. He does this mostly by shouting and glaring at opponents, and bouncing the ball a ridiculous number of times, taking uncalled-for toilet or injury time-outs, and generally disrupting his opponents’ concentrations at key moments even if they are his good pals. Strangely he also plays fine tennis in those key moments. Harsh, but fair In 2010 he wins the French – the one when Nadal goes out early due to injury. Djokovic finds waiting for him on finals day a flailing Federer who makes an uncommonly large amount of errors on his forehand and first serve (whilst his backhand is working perfectly), essentially handing Djokovic the match. In the US Open 2008 Djokovic also wrests the big golden pot from Federer’s grip – in a closely fought final against Tipsaveric (who had beaten Federer in the semis).

 

FEDERER (6)

Sadly for admirers of the beautiful game of tennis, Federer suffers a major two-year slump, having never found that elusive mental edge against Nadal for a start. And he never wins another Slam match against the Spaniard, except for one (which one?). He wins some minor tournaments, keeping his tournament seedings respectable, but a new predator, Tsonga, also hunts him now. Not to mention that Federer comes out worse off in occasional tussles with Djokovic, particularly memorably in the 2010 French Open final where, after cleverly noting that the injured Nadal was no longer in the draw, and making a mammoth effort to reach the finals, much to his chagrin Federer still cannot hold the trophy. There’s no doubt it’s a blow to him and contributes to a growing sense of helplessness which leads to him seriously consider semi-retirement. Plus there are a host of opportunities for well-paid exhibitions against tennis legends from the past beckoning him from the sidelines. He doesn’t take them, and he doesn’t retire, but neither does he enter Wimbledon in 2009, having lost a sense of purpose and motivation. And he still sadly remains stuck at two titles behind Sampras. He picks himself up though, and starts playing again. At times he shows flashes of the brilliance and confidence of his earlier years. Making a minor comeback, he plays well for long enough to wrest the US Open 2009 title back from Djokovic. Although not directly, as Djokovic himself falls out in straight sets (retiring half way through the third) against a still lowly-seeded Tsonga in the 3rd round, who then loses against Nadal in the semis, leaving Federer in the final to struggle with and finally put away a slightly tired Nadal. That’s the last Slam final he wins against the Spaniard. Nadal had played Tsonga, Davydenko, Karlovic, Blake, Hewitt, and Nalbandian (in no particular order) to reach the finals.

 

TSONGA (3)

In early 2009, now recovered from his major surgery and not stunned by the limelight, Tsonga beats Djokovic in straight sets in the Australian Open final. He had already defeated Federer in an epic five setter in the semis. Nadal got kicked out by a very in-form Murray in his semifinal. Although not reaching another final throughout 2009, Tsonga would again take the Australian Open in 2010. From there… well…

 

ATP Ranking – New Slams (Total Slams now held)

 

1. Nadal – 3 new (7 in total) 

French Open x 1 (because of injury – there’s no contenders unless he’s injured!)

Wimbledon x 2

 

2. Djokovic – 2 new (3 in total)

French Open x 1

US Open x 1

 

3. Tsonga – 2 new (2 in total) (because he’s recovering after his current injury) 

Aus Open x 2

 

8. Federer – 1 new (13 in total)

US Open x 1

 

 

P.S. I’ll be grateful for people to spot the errors in this article!

 

 

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