Alexander Zverev finished 2018 in the best form possible, defeating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal en route to his first Nitto ATP Finals title, the biggest victory of his career. The German had claimed three ATP Masters 1000 titles, and climbed as high as No. 3 in the ATP Rankings. But this was a special performance that no one will soon forget.

Zverev will now hope that such a tremendous victory will serve as a springboard to major success. According to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, Zverev was one of the best performers on the ATP Tour at the Grand Slams in 2018, but he still has room to grow. Last year, Zverev was tied for 11th on the ATP Tour with a 10-4 record at the majors, equating to a 71.4 winning percentage.

At 2018 Roland Garros, the German became the eighth player in the Open Era to battle through three consecutive five-setters in Paris, and the first to do so since Tommy Robredo in 2013. He lost to eventual finalist Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals. But after his win at The O2, he is ready to take another step forward.

“I don’t think I struggled during the Slams. I think there’s been a few unlucky moments for me… I’ve done really well at the French, then I got injured. I don’t know how far I could have gone,” Zverev said after triumphing in London. “The other Grand Slams, I played against a very good [Hyeon] Chung in the Australian Open, which I lost a five-set match. Wimbledon I was not prepared to play because of the injury that happened in the French. US Open I had a bad match. These things happen. It’s fine.”

Another reason for optimism is that of Zverev’s 14 career Grand Slam losses, he has fallen after winning two of the first three sets just three times, with those defeats coming at the hands of Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic and Chung. Nadal and Raonic would go on to reach the final of the 2017 Australian Open and 2017 Wimbledon, respectively, while Chung broke through to last year’s semi-finals in Melbourne.

So it’s not as if Zverev has consistently lost advantages because of the extended best-of-five-set format at Grand Slams. And when the German has let slip leads, it has been against players who have advanced deep into the event.

To further his efforts to get over the proverbial ‘hump’, Zverev hired former World No. 1 Ivan Lendl ahead of the US Open. Lendl knows what Zverev is going through, as he reached four Slam finals before finally winning his first of eight major trophies at Roland Garros in 1984. So while their partnership didn’t yield immediate results in Flushing Meadows — Zverev lost in the third round to veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber — the German believes it might help him take the next step.

“He said that it’s a process of getting there. It’s a process of playing well at Slams,” Zverev said. “He told me before the tournament started that, Hopefully you’ll do very well at the US Open, but we’re more looking towards next year.”

One legend who is not concerned about Zverev’s results at past Slams is former World No. 1 Boris Becker, who first met the 21-year-old when Zverev was just 10.

“He played the past two years, apart from the Grand Slams [at a high level]. You wait as a young player to take the next step at the biggest of tournaments and at the Grand Slams, unfortunately, he hasn’t made a semi-final yet. But I think the way he performed throughout the whole week against the very best in tennis, looked to be very promising for 2019,” Becker told ATPTour.com after Zverev’s run at the Nitto ATP Finals. “It starts with yourself. If you gain a bit of confidence, if you start beating the best tennis players in the world day after day, you deep down start to believe that you really belong there. That’s why I think it was a big breakthrough.”

The Grand Slam Leaders
It’s no surprise that Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Nos. 1-3 in the ATP Rankings, had the best results at the majors in 2018. Djokovic, who triumphed at Wimbledon and the US Open, earned a 21-2 record, while Roland Garros champion Nadal was 21-3, and Australian Open winner Federer was 14-2 (Federer did not compete at Roland Garros).

Those three players will be the Top 3 seeds in Melbourne, just like they were as far back as 11 years ago, when Djokovic claimed his first Grand Slam title.

The trio’s success at the Slams also extends well beyond 2018, as Nadal (87.3%), Federer (86.3%) and Djokovic (86.3%) are all inside the Top 4 in career winning percentage at the majors during the Open Era, trailing only Bjorn Borg (89.8%).

Top 4 Grand Slam Performers In Open Era

Grigor Dimitrov, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion, decided towards the end of 2018 to make an addition to his team to perhaps spark an eventual return to the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. The Bulgarian hired former World No. 1 Andre Agassi as a new coach alongside Daniel Vallverdu.

After Agassi flew to Paris to help Dimitrov at the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the year, the pair retreated with Vallverdu to Agassi’s hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, where they prepared for 2019.

“We spent quality weeks, about three, three and a half weeks all together. It’s great to see that everybody is on the same page right now,” Dimitrov told ATPTour.com in Brisbane. “We see tennis, we see the game, we see sort of the whole big picture the same way. So that makes it more exciting now, and hopefully we have great success together.”

Dimitrov is not the only one excited about his partnership with Agassi. Patrick McEnroe, a 16-time tour-level doubles titlist and ESPN analyst, says that all-time great baseliner Agassi could make a real impact on the former World No. 3’s game. Agassi was known for maintaining his ground on the baseline, taking the ball early and pushing opponents around the court with his dictating style of play.

“I love to see Andre Agassi back in the mix. If he can get, what he would probably call himself, shot discipline, shot tolerance into the game of Grigor Dimitrov, that would be a huge positive because Grigor, in my mind, just has way too many options and has never really figured out how to just play meat and potatoes tennis, which is what Agassi did at his best in his prime, in his later years,” McEnroe said on a conference call. “Will Dimitrov ever be able to play exactly that style? Of course not. If Andre can get a little bit of that into his game, his mentality, that could absolutely help him.”

Chris Evert, an 18-time Grand Slam titlist, added to McEnroe’s sentiments by saying that the 20th seed at the Australian Open can benefit in more than just technique and on-court strategy from his time with Agassi.

“I think he can help Dimitrov tremendously with the mental side of the game,” Evert said. “Echoing the discipline that Agassi had, also the wisdom that he has, the training. When I think of Agassi, I picture him running up hills with sandbags on his back with [trainer] Gil Reyes [in Las Vegas]. I think he can up the intensity of the discipline and training. And Dimitrov is very respectful of former champions. I feel like he will be more motivated with Andre.”

Evert appears to be spot on with that, as Dimitrov arrived in Australia excited for what is ahead. It was as if his tough off-season work with Agassi and Vallverdu gave him a boost in every way heading into the new year. What was the experience like?

“Priceless. Nothing can put a price on that,” Dimitrov said. “We spent a crazy amount of time together, and it’s not just about the tennis, after all. The friendship and everything that we managed to build in such a time was beautiful for us.”

Dimitrov hopes that said beauty will translate into results.

For players battling on the ATP Challenger Tour, competing in the main draw of a Grand Slam is a special opportunity. It is often the reward for years of hard work and dedication to honing their talents. Nothing is taken for granted at this stage and the ability to clash with the game’s elite can greatly impact a player’s career.

This is the opportunity that awaits World No. 231 Mitchell Krueger and World No. 238 James Duckworth as they begin their Australian Open quests. Their first-round opponents? None other than the top-two players in the draw: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

When the former champions step foot on Rod Laver Arena to open their bids, the spotlight won’t only be shining on them. The world will be watching as Krueger and Duckworth enter one of the biggest stages of their careers.

Krueger will look to dent Djokovic’s impenetrable Aussie armour when he meets the six-time champ in Tuesday’s night session. For the 25-year-old, this will be his second Grand Slam main draw appearance after punching his ticket from qualifying. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, he is already battle-tested at Melbourne Park, with all three of his qualifying encounters having gone the distance.

Krueger has been plotting his ascent on the ATP Challenger Tour for more than four years and was finally rewarded with his biggest breakthrough at last year’s US Open. There, he qualified for his first Grand Slam after saving three match points in his second-round match and rallying from a set and a break down a day later.

Having won a pair of matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level – in Cincinnati (2017) and Indian Wells (2018) – he will be in search of his third tour-level victory and undoubtedly his biggest. 

While Krueger will face a Top 10 opponent for the first time, Duckworth has plenty of experience against top competition. His Monday afternoon meeting with Nadal will be his fifth against the Top 10 at a Grand Slam. In 2014, he squared off against Roger Federer in his opening match in Melbourne.

But his impending encounter against 2009 champion Nadal will arguably be his most rewarding of them all. A former top 100 stalwart, Duckworth’s story is one of unyielding determination. The Sydney native went under the knife on five occasions – all in the span of 13 months in 2017-18 – enduring three foot surgeries, as well as shoulder and elbow operations.

But, having made his return to the court in May of last year, it did not take long for Duckworth to return to the winners’ circle. After pushing Andy Murray in a tight four-set affair at the US Open, he secured his sixth Challenger title weeks later in Cary, North Carolina, prevailing as a qualifier. Having resided outside the Top 1,000 of the ATP Rankings upon his return, he has soared more than 800 spots to his current position of No. 238.

And Duckworth would go on to earn his spot in the Australian Open main draw after clinching the Wild Card Play-off in December. 

With Krueger turning 25 on Saturday and Duckworth turning 27 a week from Monday, both birthdays will be ones they won’t soon forget.

Roger Federer and Andy Murray have long been two of the leaders — along with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — of the current generation of ATP Tour stars. Murray at one point led Federer 6-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (Federer now leads 14-11), challenging the Swiss plenty over the years.

But as captivating as their matches have been, there has always been plenty of respect between the two greats. So it’s no surprise that after Murray announced on Friday at the Australian Open that due to hip pain he will retire, at the latest, at Wimbledon this year, Federer had nothing but support to give the Scot.

“I guess everybody can understand where he comes from. At some point when you feel like you’re never going to get back to 100 per cent, you’ve had the success that Andy has had, you can only understand the decision,” said Federer, who has won the past two Australian Opens. “I was disappointed and sad, a little bit shocked, to know now that we’re going to lose him at some point. But we’re going to lose everybody at some point. It’s just now that it’s definite.

“Of course, I hope that he can play a good Australian Open and he can keep playing beyond that, really finish the way he wants to at Wimbledon. That’s what I hope for him… It’s a tough one, but one down the road he can look back on and be incredibly proud of everything he has achieved.”

For his part, Federer is set for his first tour-level event of the year following an off-season full of training and preparation. The 37-year-old Swiss has been inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings since last week’s Sydney champion, #NextGenATP star Alex de Minaur, was just eight months old (11 October 1999). Yet Federer says he is not slowing down.

“I think I was probably even able to work a bit harder than I thought I was going to. I didn’t miss any sessions. I think I added on top of it. I came out of it actually strong,” Federer said of the off-season.

“I’m very happy with the preparation thus far. Super-excited that it’s just a day away now from my next match. This is going to be exciting.”

On paper, World No. 3 Federer is set to face a player, Denis Istomin, who is 96 spots below him in the ATP Rankings. The Swiss has won all six of their FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. But the six-time Australian Open champion is fully focused on the Uzbek, who stunned another six-time Melbourne titlist, Novak Djokovic, at the same event two years ago en route to the fourth round.

“I think the focus really is on those early rounds, especially tomorrow. It has to be. I know what Denis did to Novak. I watched basically the entire game a couple years ago when he beat Novak here,” Federer said. “I’ve had some tough ones against him in the past. He can play well on fast courts, and that’s what it’s going to be a little bit here as well.”

While Istomin has taken the opening set against Federer in their past two meetings, both of which occurred in the third seed’s hometown of Basel (2013-14), the 99-time tour-level winner is confident that he is well-prepared.

“I’m playing good tennis. I’m confident that, I think, it needs a good performance by my opponent probably to beat me. That’s always a good thought. But then again, I think I’m playing well,” Federer said. “Depending on how you match up with your opponent, who is going to win the big points, the margins are so slim nowadays that I’m just not thinking too far ahead. I don’t think I should because I think that would be a mistake. I hope I can put myself in contention as the tournament goes deeper, but we’ll see.”

Federer isn’t worrying about the possibility of earning title No. 100 this fortnight by lifting his third consecutive Australian Open trophy. All he sees is the one man across the net on Monday: Istomin.