Happy New Tennis Year 2016
Six players on the ATP World Tour earned their first titles in 2015. At the time of their victories, they ranged in age from 21 to 34. Below are stories of the last three winners and how they fared for the rest of the season.
Dominic Thiem – Nice [Thiem Spotlight] Austria’s Dominic Thiem vaulted up the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2015, cracking the Top 20 for the first time behind a trio of clay-court crowns. The 22 year old’s maiden title came in Nice, turning in a stunning run that included four wins over seeded opponents. Thiem outlasted fourth seed Leonardo Mayer 6-7(8), 7-5, 7-6(2) in two and a half hours in the final, after toppling John Isner in the semis and defending champion Ernests Gulbis in the quarters.
“It’s really, really special; the first title ever,” said Thiem. “It’s not only this. The match today was a really high level. Leonardo played outstanding and I was fighting until the end. I think it was one of the best matches I’ve ever played. The first title, I will remember it forever, so I will also remember forever Nice.”
Thiem would not stop there, registering a 14-1 stretch on clay with consecutive titles in Umag and Gstaad in late July. He became the first Austrian to win in Umag since former World No. 1 Thomas Muster in 1995 and the fourth player born in the 1990s to lift three ATP World Tour trophies. A second consecutive third round appearance at the US Open months later would propel Thiem to the Top 20 and a career-high position of World No. 18. The Gunter Bresnik pupil also reached his first quarter-final at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level in Miami, upsetting 10th-seed Feliciano Lopez en route.
Denis Istomin – Nottingham [Istomin Spotlight] They say good things come to those who wait. For 29-year-old Denis Istomin, this couldn’t be closer to the truth. The World No. 61 survived a furious rally from Sam Querrey to capture his maiden ATP World Tour title on the lawns of Nottingham in late June. The Uzbek, who had been defeated in two previous finals in New Haven 2010 and San Jose 2012, was one of two players to save a match point en route to a title this year. He denied one in sneaking past Leonardo Mayer in the quarter-finals.
“I worked for it,” said Istomin. “I’m not coming here to win two rounds. I always come to try to win the tournament. I passed this step and will try to do the next step in going up in the [Emirates ATP] Rankings. In the (second set) tie-break, I forgot about the score and I just tried to play and fight. In the end it worked… It would have been unprofessional from my side to lose from 5-2.”
The first player from Uzbekistan to hoist a trophy on the ATP World Tour, Istomin also added a 10th title on the ATP Challenger Tour in his penultimate event of the year. He became the sixth player to win on both circuits with a title run on home soil in Tashkent.
Istomin won his third ATP World Tour doubles title as well, prevailing alongside Aliaksandr Bury in Gstaad.
Benoit Paire – Bastad [Paire Spotlight] The 2015 Comeback Player of the Year in the ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moet & Chandon was France’s Benoit Paire. The 26 year old became the first player to win titles on the ATP World Tour, ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures circuit in a single season since Steve Darcis in 2006, claiming his maiden tour-level title on the clay of Bastad in late July. A 7-6(7), 6-3 victory over Tommy Robredo in the final secured the trifecta.
“It’s a perfect week,” said Paire. “The conditions today were not easy, but I’m really happy to win against Tommy. He’s a very good player. To play against him in the final and to beat him is a dream, so I’m very happy. It was a lot of pressure, but I think I played well… I hope it’s not the last First-Time Winners: Thiem, Istomin, Paire for me.”
It did not take long for the Frenchman to regain his footing after struggling with knee issues in 2014. Arguably his greatest moment came at the US Open, where he shocked World No. 4 and last year’s runner-up Kei Nishikori in the opening round in five sets. It marked his third Top 10 win and first over a Top 5 opponent. In October, he fell short in his bid for second career title, losing to top seed Wawrinka in the Tokyo final. Paire enjoyed one of the biggest jumps inside the Top 50 of the year-end Emirates ATP Rankings, soaring 99 spots to a career-high World No. 19.
We could be on the verge of an absolute blockbuster season – the World No.1 going for more history, the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a whole host of challengers looking to make their breakthrough. Get ready for all of the action right here on wtatennis.com with 10 Things To Know about 2016!
1) Serena’s going for more history.
As if 2015 weren’t historic enough, there’s even more history on the line for Serena Williams in 2016, the biggest one being the Grand Slam record – if she wins all four majors she’ll get to 25, which will pass both Steffi Graf (22) and Margaret Court (24) to set the new all-time record, male or female.
2) It’s an Olympic year.
The Olympic Tennis Event takes place in Rio de Janeiro from August 6 to 14, sandwiched in between the summer hardcourt events. Who will win gold this year, and can anyone match Graf’s Golden Grand Slam from 1988? The Olympic teams will be announced after the French Open – watch this space.
3) Sharapova likes these even years.
It seems odd, but all five of Sharapova’s Grand Slam titles have come in even years – Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008 and the French Open in 2012 and 2014. She’s actually 5-1 in Grand Slam finals in even years (and 0-4 in odd years). Foreshadowing for 2016?
4) Can Venus win another Grand Slam?
In 2015, Venus Williams won three titles – two of them being her biggest in more than five years – to move back into the Top 10. Can the resurgent former World No.1 add to her seven Grand Slam titles in 2016? We asked you last week, and more than 60% of you said yes – see the voting results here.
5) The young guns are coming…
Serena’s sitting pretty at No.1 on the WTA Rankings, but Simona Halep, No.2, and Garbiñe Muguruza, No.3, are in the hunt. They’re the youngest players in the Top 10, they’ve both been to Grand Slam finals before and they’ve both beaten Serena before – can they win their first majors this year?
6) Is Radwanska on the verge of her first major?
The last time a player who didn’t have a Grand Slam won the WTA Finals, Amélie Mauresmo in 2005, she won two of the next three, the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. Agnieszka Radwanska is in that position right now – will the World No.5 build on her sensational run in Singapore in 2016?
7) Hingis is looking to join Mirza at No.1.
In 2015, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won nine doubles titles together and finished with the same ranking points from their best 11 results – Mirza was No.1, though, because she had more overall ranking points earned. By mid-January, it should all even out and Hingis can join Mirza as co-No.1.
8) Speaking of No.1s…
There are a lot of former No.1s hoping to return to the Top 10 in 2016 – Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki, who are at No.16 and No.17, and Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka, No.21 and No.22. They’ve all done very well in Australia before – can one of them rebound Down Under this year?
9) Genie’s back!
Eugenie Bouchard, who was sidelined for almost the entire fall season due to a concussion, will play a full Australian Open lead-up season at Shenzhen and Hobart. The Happy Slam is where she first burst into prominence in 2014 – can she do it again in 2016? Where are the other Top 20 players playing?
10) And finally, the WTA stars are going to some new cities…
There are a slew of new stops on the WTA calendar in 2016, most notably St. Petersburg, Russia, which will host a new Premier event, and Kaohsiung (Chinese Taipei), Mallorca (Spain), Nanchang (China) and Louisville (USA), which will all host International events. Check out the full calendar here.
As the youngest player in the Top 10, 22-year-old Garbiñe Muguruza is embracing her role as the future of tennis.
She’s dodged the dreaded second season syndrome and rattled off win after win against top players en route to her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, won her second career title at Beijing and challenged the world’s best at the WTA Finals.
On top of all that, the World No.3 has won the full backing of her home country: she’s Spain’s top pick for the 2016 Rio Olympics – where she’s tipped to play doubles with Carla Suárez Navarro and ATP player Rafael Nadal – and she’s been awarded the Bronze Medal of Royal Order of Sports Merit by the Spanish government.
“This year has been a great experience for me,” Muguruza said before the WTA Finals began. “Hopefully it can help me next year, especially in the tough moments like the ones that I’ve lived this year, to go through.”
Those “tough moments” are going to be Muguruza’s biggest challenges to overcome in the new year. The Spaniard’s 2015 was marked by seasons of success punctuated by long stretches where she was unable to win two matches in a row – from Doha to Madrid and again from Toronto to Tokyo.
The most important lesson Muguruza can take away from this year is the knowledge that she can dig herself out of those slumps and find her game again.
“I learned that in bad situations, I’m able to calm down, clear my mind and start from zero,” Muguruza said. “I learned that I’m stronger than I thought in these moments.”
Muguruza will kick off the year in Brisbane, joining the Premier-level event’s stacked field that includes fellow Top 10 players Simona Halep, Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber.
ATPWorldTour.com pays tribute to the first-time winners on the ATP World Tour in 2015
Six players on the ATP World Tour earned their first titles in 2015. At the time of their victories, they ranged in age from 21 to 34. Below are stories of the first three winners and how they fared for the rest of the season.
Jiri Vesely – Auckland [Vesely Spotlight] Czech rising star Jiri Vesely began his ascent up the Emirates ATP Rankings in the second week of the 2015 season, capturing his maiden ATP World Tour title with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of Adrian Mannarino in Auckland. Vesely, who peaked at World No. 35 in late April, became the first Czech to win in the New Zealand capital since Jiri Novak in 1996.
“It feels amazing to be part of the ATP champions,” said Vesely. “It’s not something that everyone is [able] to achieve, so I’m very grateful for that. It’s a great start for me… I can really see that it’s possible to play with the best guys and I think that’s something very important for me for the future.”
The qualifier won seven matches in eight days, upsetting 13th-ranked Ernests Gulbis and World No. 16 Kevin Anderson en route to the championship. Vesely would reach a second final on the European clay of Bucharest three months later and equaled his best Grand Slam result in advancing to the third round of the US Open. On the ATP Challenger Tour, the 22 year old successfully defended his crown on home soil in Prostejov.
Victor Estella Burgos – Quito [Estrella Spotlight] At 34 years old, Victor Estrella Burgos became the oldest first-time ATP World Tour titlist in the Open Era with a thrilling 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(5) win over top seed Feliciano Lopez at the Ecuador Open Quito. The first player from the Dominican Republic to win a title on the circuit, Estrella Burgos also competed in his first ATP World Tour doubles final, falling with partner Joao Souza to the German team of Gero Kretschmer and Alexander Satschko.
“The truth is that Quito has become a very special city for me,” Estrella Burgos said. “It actually already was, as I’ve won Challengers here. Today has been a very tough day for me where I was a set up, and later I lost the tie-break. In the third set I was up a break, and I didn’t manage the nerves well.”
The 34 year old would contest his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event since 2008 a month later in Indian Wells, and notched his first match win on the lawns of Wimbledon, rallying past Igor Sijsling in four sets. Four of the six first-time winners in 2015 also emerged victorious on the ATP Challenger Tour, with the Dominican lifting the trophy in Morelos, Mexico. Estrella Burgos cracked the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time with his title run.
Jack Sock – Houston [Sock Spotlight] Rising Americans took charge in 2015, with three teens finishing in the year-end Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and Jack Sock leading the young gun surge at World No. 26. The 23 year old downed Sam Querrey on the clay of Houston in April for his maiden ATP World Tour crown. The first-time champion notched four-straight defeats of seeded players en route to the title, including second seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round, No. 5 seed Santiago Giraldo in the quarter-finals and third seed Kevin Anderson in the semi-finals.
“It feels incredible,” said Sock. “Clay is my favourite surface. It feels surreal. It feels incredible, and to have friends and family here to share it with me feels even better. I feel I competed well and took care of my serve very well. On this surface against these players and the tough field that it was, to only get broken a handful of times is not easy.”
A torn muscle in his pelvis forced Sock to sit out the start of 2015 and the American did not miss a step in his return in early March. An ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles crown in Indian Wells, alongside Vasek Pospisil, was followed by his maiden singles triumph in Houston, becoming the seventh player born in the 1990s to win on the circuit. Sock’s ascent to the Top 30 would culminate with a run to the fourth round at Roland Garros, semi-final finish on the grass of Newport and a final on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm (l. to Berdych).
Coming Thursday: Dominic Thiem, Denis Istomin and Benoit Paire
Η Αυστραλία ετοιμάζεται να υποδεχθεί τη νέα τενιστική χρονιά με μία κοσμική και παράλληλα φιλανθρωπική εκδήλωση στα πλαίσια του Brisbane International 2016. Το εορταστικό κλίμα των ημερών, μας επιτρέπει να αφήσουμε τη σκέψη μας να ταξιδέψει ως εκεί…
Οι διοργανωτές μας καλούν να ξεκινήσουμε το 2016 με στυλ, σε μια αξέχαστη Καλοκαιρινή βραδυά, το Σάββατο 2 Ιανουαρίου. Με Οικοδέσποινα την Αυστραλή τηλεπαρουσιάστρια, Johanna Griggs και λαμπερά ονόματα όπως ο Ρότζερ Φέντερερ, η Μαρία Σαράποβα και άλλες “A-list” προσωπικότητες ,με ζωντανή μουσική, δείπνο και ποτά. Ενημερωθείτε και αν σας βγάζει ο δρόμος περάστε μια βόλτα από το Queensland: A Summer Night presented by Treasury Casino & Hotel
Από την Κυριακή 3 Ιανουαρίου οι αθλητές μπαίνουν στη μάχη στις εξαιρετικές εγκαταστάσεις του Queensland Tennis Centre στις όχθες του ποταμού Brisbane.
Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows that although his stats were off in 2015, Rafael Nadal remains among the sport’s elite
There’s no getting around it: Rafael Nadal’s numbers were below his customary high standards in 2015. As his Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers stats show (see chart below), the Spaniard’s performance fell nearly across the board.
But even in a down year — one in which he failed to win a Grand Slam for the first time in more than a decade — the 28-time ATP Masters 1000 titlist still managed to finish inside the Top 10 in several key categories, including first-serve percentage (68%) and second-serve points won (55%).
Looking at his return game, the Spaniard also posted Top-10 finishes in first-serve points won (33%), second-serve points won (53%) and return games won (31%).
All this kept him inside the Top 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the 11th straight year.
Rafa’s Return of Serve Statistics
| Year |
1st Serve Pts. Won |
2nd Serve Pts. Won |
Break Points Converted |
Return Games Won |
| 2003 | 33% | 56% | 41% | 27% |
| 2004 | 33% | 53% | 41% | 30% |
| 2005 | 37%* | 57%* | 46% | 38%* |
| 2006 | 32% | 54% | 43% | 28% |
| 2007 | 35%* | 54% | 44% | 33% |
| 2008 | 34%* | 55%* | 45% | 33%* |
| 2009 | 33% | 57%* | 47%* | 34%* |
| 2010 | 31% | 55% | 44% | 29% |
| 2011 | 34% | 57% | 46% | 34% |
| 2012 | 38%* | 55% | 49%* | 38%* |
| 2013 | 35%* | 54% | 47% | 34%* |
| 2014 | 35%* | 56%* | 48%* | 35%* |
| 2015 | 33% | 53% | 42% | 31% |
Bold = career high, * = ATP World Tour leader
Get more at Infosys ATP Scores & Stats.
