Biggest ATP Upsets Of 2015

Continuing our Season In Review Series, ATPWorldTour.com revisits the biggest ATP World Tour upsets of 2015:

5. Taylor Fritz d. Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-4/R64/Nottingham

Armed with an unflappable serve and stoic demeanor, American upstart Taylor Fritz is keeping his cards close to his chest as he continues his dramatic ascent up the Emirates ATP Rankings.

The 17-year-old from Rancho Santa Fe, California, got off to one of the most impressive starts to a pro career, ousting Pablo Carreno Busta on the grass of Nottingham 6-1, 6-4 in the very first ATP World Tour-level match of his young career.

Fritz, a lowly No. 761 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, smacked nine aces and won 74 per cent of his first-serve points (25 of 34) in upending the No. 66-ranked Spaniard.

“My physical level is getting a lot better and the confidence I have from winning all these matches is helping me a lot knowing that I should be here,” said Fritz, the son of teaching pros. “It’s reassuring because I had a tough decision to make between turning pro and going to college.”

He would go on to win the US Open Junior title, and add ATP Challenger Tour trophies in Sacramento and Fairfield in his home state. His formidable form put him in elite company, becoming the ninth player to win multiple titles while under the age of 18, joining the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych.

4. Lamine Ouahab d. Guillermo Garcia-López 6-3, 6-3/R16/Casablanca

Lamine Ouahab was a guy who had spent most of his career playing ITF Futures and Challenger-level events, hoping to gain enough points to start getting main-draw qualifying nods at ATP World Tour events. He started the year at No. 586 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and came into his Round-of-16 match-up with top seed and defending champion Guillermo Garcia-López at No. 313, a sentimental home-country wild-card with virtually no shot at victory.

But the 30-year-old would reach his first tour-level quarter-final with a shock straight-sets one-hour and 29-minute upset of the heavily-favored Spaniard.

Showing great variety and touch, Ouahab claimed his 22nd straight win on home soil after claiming three Futures/Challenger titles in Casablanca and Safi.

“I went on court in order to win the match,” he explained. “You need to have this intention, otherwise it doesn’t make sense to compete. Of course, Guillermo was the favorite, but during a match everything is possible. You need to believe in yourself trying to play your own game, so your opponent doesn’t get the chance to find his rhythm. It’s great to see the people are happy. I really feel how the crowd backs me during the matches. Their support is great and gives me more energy.”

3. Simone Bolelli d. Milos Raonic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3)/R16/Marseille

It was without a doubt the biggest win of Italian Simone Bolelli’s career, a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) upset of No. 6-ranked Milos Raonic that broke the longest losing streak (0-35) against Top-10 opponents in the Open Era.

The second longest losing streak versus Top-10 opponents (since 1968) was 26 losses in a row, a mark shared by Nicolas Almagro and Bolelli’s countryman Andreas Seppi.

Raonic smacked 21 aces to Bolelli’s seven, but converted just one of eight break point opportunities in the Round of 16 loss.

“There were many close games, but I couldn’t make the most of my chances,” said Raonic, who suffered his first opening-round loss since October 2014 in Moscow (l. to Ricardas Berankis). “I served better as the match went on, but he made it through when it mattered the most.”

Bolelli would add to his Top-10 scalps in St. Petersburg, outdistancing No. 5-ranked Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6(5), 6-4.

2. Michael Berrer d. Rafael Nadal 1-6, 6-3, 6-4/R32/Doha

Rafael Nadal would be the first to tell you: his 2015 didn’t exactly go the way he had intended it to. It wasn’t until the second half of the season that the Spaniard truly found any rhythm, any sense of comfort on the court. By then, it was too late, at least as far as the Grand Slams were concerned. Rafa would go without a major for the first time in more than a decade.

If you had to pinpoint where things started to go wrong for Nadal, Doha would be a good place to start. That’s where he was shocked by a 34-year-old qualfier ranked 127^th in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Germany’s Michael Berrer took down the defending champion in the opening round of the Qatar Open 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Nadal, 28, had two chances to break with Berrer serving for the match, but the veteran held his nerve to seal the contest in just under two hours.

“I have made an agreement with my wife that I am allowed to play one more year, so I am really enjoying every single day on the tour,” said an ecstatic Berrer. “There was not a lot of pressure today, so closing it out was not the most difficult thing.  I mean, if I would have lost, nobody would have blamed me. Everybody would have said, ‘Hey, great match, thank you, good‑bye.’ I stayed calm. I mean, must have been some benefit to study sports psychology.”

“It helps if you do your Master’s degree in sports psychology,” said Berrer, who earned a BA in psychology from the University of Phoenix in 2014.

1. Albert Ramos-Vinolas d. Roger Federer 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3/R32/Shanghai

What a way to get your first Top-10 win! Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas stunned Roger Federer in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, beating the second seed 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3.

Heading into the contest, the No. 70-ranked Ramos-Vinolas was 0-15 against Top-10 competition and had won just two sets. But the 27-year-old Spaniard played fearless tennis as he shocked defending Shanghai champion in just over two hours.

Federer failed to convert two break points in Ramos-Vinolas’ opening service game and would rue his missed opportunity as Ramos-Vinolas went on to sneak the first set in the ensuing tie-break.

The Swiss hit back strongly in the second set, breaking in the fifth and seventh games to level the match, but could not carry his momentum into the deciding set. Ramos-Vinolas earned a crucial break in the eighth game and went on to serve out victory to 30.

It was in Shanghai last year that Federer produced one of his greatest escapes, beating another lower-ranked player, Leonardo Mayer, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(7), rallying from a 2-5 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker and saving five match points.

But there would be no comeback in 2015. 

“I’m really happy to beat Roger Federer,” said Ramos-Vinolas. “I didn’t expect it during the match. After the second set I thought I would lose. But I played really good. I was very solid with my serve in the third set. I am very happy because it’s the most important victory for me.”