In 2018, Novak Djokovic completed his Career Golden Masters, John Isner struck his 10,000th ace, Roger Federer became the oldest No. 1 in ATP Rankings history (since 1973) at 36 and much more. Here are some of the milestones out there for ATP Tour stars to reach in 2019:

Titles
– Federer continues his pursuit of title No. 100, after earning his 99th in Basel. The Swiss fell just short of the century mark when he reached the semi-finals in both Paris and London.

– Federer can also capture his 10th trophy in Halle and Basel. He’d become just the second player to win 10 titles at a single event, joining Rafael Nadal, who has done so at three tournaments.

– Nadal, who owns 11 victories at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros, can become the first player to lift a trophy 12 times at a single event.

– Djokovic, who was victorious four times in 2018, is just three titles from becoming the sixth player to win 75 titles. The Serbian has earned three championships or more in 10 of the past 12 years.

– Mike Bryan, who finished at the top of the ATP Doubles Rankings for the 10th time in 2018, currently owns 121 tour-level doubles titles, 116 of which have come with brother Bob Bryan. While the twin brothers are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in that category, Mike Bryan can become the first player to win 125 titles in the discipline. He has captured at least four championships in a season 16 times.

– Andy Murray is looking to make a strong comeback in 2019, and what better way to do it than winning his 50th title? He currently sits with 45, but he has claimed five titles or more in a year four times previously.

– Juan Martin del Potro can become just the third Argentine to capture 25 titles. He needs to lift three trophies in 2019, a feat he has accomplished four times (2008-09, 2012-13).

– Marin Cilic (18 titles) has only captured four crowns in a season once before (2014). But if he manages to do so again, he will tie Goran Ivanisevic (22) for the most titles won by a Croatian.

Match Wins
– Nadal (918-189) can move past Guillermo Vilas (948-290) and become just the fourth player to crack the 950-wins mark. Ivan Lendl sits in third place with 1,068 victories (1,068-242).

– Djokovic (836-175) needs just 14 victories to become the seventh player to earn 850 wins. If the World No. 1 triumphs 46 times in 2019, he will pass Ilie Nastase (837-312), Andre Agassi (870-274) and John McEnroe (881-198) to move to the No. 6 spot.

– Murray (662-189) won seven matches in 2018, missing much of the year due to injury. But if the former World No. 1 bounces back, he can become the fifth active player (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Ferrer) to claim 700 wins.

– Tomas Berdych needs 12 wins to tie and 13 victories to pass Bjorn Borg for 20th place.

– Three players can reach the 500-wins mark in 2019: Stan Wawrinka (482-279), Cilic (479-252) and Feliciano Lopez (473-430). In 2018, Fernando Verdasco and Richard Gasquet hit the milestone, while recently retired Mikhail Youzhny fell just short at 499.

– Nicolas Almagro (397-278), John Isner (393-242) and Kei Nishikori (374-242) can all earn their 400th tour-level victories. Almagro would become the 14th Spaniard, Isner the 19th American and Nishikori would be the first Japanese.

– Jeremy Chardy (248-253), Roberto Bautista Agut (245-150), Ernests Gulbis (235-217), David Goffin (229-144) and Dominic Thiem (225-129) could all reach 250 wins.

Rankings Milestones
– Mike Bryan, who sits atop the ATP Doubles Rankings (479 weeks as of the week of 31 December), can become the first player to reach 500 weeks as World No. 1. If the American remains at No. 1, he can accomplish the feat as soon as 27 May.

– Djokovic can reach 250 weeks atop the ATP Rankings the week of 6 May. If the Serbian maintains top spot, he can pass Jimmy Connors (268 weeks) and Ivan Lendl (270) in 2019 to reach third place in weeks atop the ATP Rankings. He would trail just Federer (310) and Pete Sampras (286).

– If Nadal wrestles No. 1 back from Djokovic, he can reach 200 weeks on top of tennis’ mountain. The Spaniard has spent 196 weeks as World No. 1.

– Federer can finish inside the year-end Top 50 for the 20th consecutive year. The 37-year-old has finished 18 straight seasons inside the Top 20.

– Nadal can finish inside the year-end Top 10 for the 15th consecutive year (Federer had 14 straight from 2002-15).

– Murray, who currently sits at No. 257 in the ATP Rankings, can finish in the year-end Top 10 for the 10th time.

Did You Know?

Ivo Karlovic turns 40 on 28 February, and he will try to become the first 40-year-old to finish inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings since Jimmy Connors in 1992. Karlovic just missed out as a 39-year-old, finishing 2018 at No. 101. The Croatian became the oldest tour-level semi-finalist since a 40-year-old Connors at 1992 San Francisco in Houston this year.

The top of the list will sound familiar. The #NextGenATP players who made headlines in 2018 – Rogers Cup finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas; Denis Shapovalov, the youngest Mutua Madrid Open semi-finalist; Alex de Minaur, Newcomer of the Year in the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards Presented By Moët & Chandon; and Delray Beach Open titlist Frances Tiafoe – will again be contenders for the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals as all four were born in 1998 or later.

Read Flashback: 18 #NextGenATP To Watch In 2018

But the remainder of the names on the 2019 #NextGenATP to watch list might be first-time reads for some fans. Players such as Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia or Aussie Alexei Popyrin have climbed the ATP Rankings behind ATP Challenger Tour runs. But they combine for only one tour-level win.

Will that change in 2019, and which other #NextGenATP players could pull a “De Minaur” and raise their ATP Ranking 177 spots in 12 months? ATPTour.com previews the 2019 #NextGenATP class.

Potential Returnees

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Rank: 15; Age: 20): The Greek was the #NextGenATP standout in 2018. In Milan in 2017, he was an alternate, unable to qualify for the 21-and-under championships. But in 2018, he sprinted through the tournament unbeaten, beating Aussie Alex de Minaur in the final to finish 5-0.

Tsitsipas will be eager to make his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, but he’ll have to avoid the dreaded second-year slump to remain in the Top 15 in 2019, as more coaches and players will have more match film to analyse and study.

Denis Shapovalov (Rank: 27, Age: 19): Shapovalov nearly halved his ATP Ranking from 2017 (51) to 2018 (27). If he can do that again in 2019, he’ll be inside the Top 15. The left-hander has made a coaching change heading into his third year on tour. After working with Martin Laurendeau for years, in 2019, Shapovalov will work with Canadian Rob Steckley, who used to coach WTA player Lucie Safarova, and continue to work with his mother, Tessa Shapovalova, who has coached him all his life.

Alex de Minaur (Rank: 31, Age: 19): No other player should inspire #NextGenATP players more than De Minaur, who was No. 208 in January but finished the season No. 31. De Minaur reached the Sydney International final (l. to Medvedev), the Citi Open final (l. to Zverev) and the Next Gen ATP Finals title match (l. to Tsitsipas). His peers voted him the Newcomer of the Year.

How will De Minaur fare in 2019? He’ll start the year in friendly territory, in his native Australia, where he celebrated his first tour-level wins in 2017 and made his first tour-level final in 2018.

Frances Tiafoe (Rank: 39, Age: 20): Tiafoe had only nine tour-level wins before this season (9-29). But he went 28-26 in his breakthrough 2018, which included his maiden ATP Tour title in Delray Beach (d. Gojowczyk) and his first clay-court ATP Tour final, at the Millennium Estoril Open (l. to Sousa). Tiafoe also made his first third round at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon (l. to Khachanov) before making his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

Ugo Humbert (Rank: 84, Age: 20): Few players at any level finished the year better than Humbert. The Frenchman was ranked No. 257 on 16 July but, behind reaching the second round at the US Open, an opening-round win at the Moselle Open and three ATP Challenger Tour titles from six finals, Humbert landed at No. 84 in the year-end ATP Rankings.

Michael Mmoh (Rank: 103, Age: 20): Mmoh just missed out on qualifying for the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, finishing 88 points behind the final qualifier, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who will have aged out of the competition in 2019. But Mmoh still reached one of his other main goals for 2018: reaching the Top 100. The American cracked the century line in October after winning back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles (Columbus, Tiburon).

Read More: From Riyadh to Milan? Mmoh’s Journey Speeds Up

Felix Auger-Aliassime (Rank: 109, Age: 18): Auger-Aliassime might be the most intriguing name on this list. One day before his 18th birthday, at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, he knocked out No. 18 Lucas Pouille in straight sets to earn his second ATP Masters 1000 victory (2018 Indian Wells, d. Pospisil).

He ended the year 6-10 at tour-level, which included qualifying but losing in the first round to Shapovalov at the US Open. Auger-Aliassime also won his third and fourth ATP Challenger Tour titles. Only Richard Gasquet (7) and Tomas Berdych (5) won more Challenger titles before their 19^th birthday.

Read More: Felix Flies To Tashkent Challenger Title

Casper Ruud (Rank: 113, Age: 19): In February 2017, Ruud made the semi-finals of the Rio Open presented by Claro, an ATP Tour 500-level event. But after the run, he admitted to relaxing.

“I was really proud of myself, which you should be, but I was maybe a bit too happy with playing good that week… I wasn’t maybe greedy enough to go for many good weeks in a row,” Ruud told ATPTour.com.

He learned from that mistake, and in 2018, Ruud, whose father, Christian, reached No. 39 in the ATP Rankings, beat David Ferrer to make the quarter-finals of the SkiStar Swedish Open en route to climbing 26 spots in the ATP Rankings. 

Other #NextGenATP To Watch In 2019

Top seed Rafael Nadal could face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his opening match of the 2019 ATP Tour season after being handed a tough draw at the Brisbane International.

The 32-year-old, competing at the Queensland event for the second time, will meet the former World No. 5 or a qualifier after a first-round bye. In his first tour-level event since retiring from his US Open semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro in September, Nadal will be aiming to reach his second quarter-final in Brisbane.

On his debut in 2017, Nadal did not drop a set en route to the last eight before falling to defending champion Milos Raonic in three sets. The 80-time tour-level titlist’s appearance in Brisbane proved to be a solid starting block, with Nadal reaching his first Grand Slam final in almost three years at the Australian Open three weeks later.

If Nadal reaches the quarter-finals in Brisbane, he may need to overcome 2018 semi-finalist Alex de Minaur for a place in the last four. In 2018, De Minaur announced himself to the tennis world in front of his home fans, reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane (l. to Harrison) before advancing to his maiden ATP Tour final at the Sydney International (l. to Medvedev). The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up is joined in the top quarter by countrymen Alex Bolt, Jordan Thompson and Alexei Popyrin.

Also featuring in the top half of the draw is two-time champion Andy Murray (2012-’13), fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and 2016 winner Milos Raonic. Murray, who owns an unbeaten 9-0 record at the event, will open his 2019 campaign against Australian wild card James Duckworth in a repeat of their four-set encounter at the 2018 US Open. The winner of that clash will face Medvedev in the second round. The 22-year-old Russian lifted three ATP Tour titles in 2018, including his maiden tour-level trophy at the Sydney International.

Canadian No. 1 Raonic will begin his bid for a second Brisbane title against Aljaz Bedene. Raonic reached back-to-back finals at the tournament in 2015 (l. to Federer) and 2016 (d. Federer).

In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Kei Nishikori could meet Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals. Nishikori, who fell to Dimitrov in the 2017 championship match, will face Taylor Fritz or Denis Kudla for a place in the last eight, with former champion Dimitrov opening his season against Yoshihito Nishioka.

Third seed Kyle Edmund and defending champion Nick Kyrgios headline the third quarter of the draw. Edmund, who captured his first tour-level trophy at the European Open in October, will meet the winner of an all-qualifier first-round match, while Kyrgios will meet Ryan Harrison in a repeat of the 2018 final. Kyrgios overcame the American in straight sets to become the first home champion at the event since Lleyton Hewitt in 2014.

Nick Kyrgios will be hoping for a Peter Parker effect.

But in reality, a spider bite just before Christmas has hampered the Australian’s preparation to defend the Brisbane International title he won for the first time last season. The four-time ATP Tour title winner had not practised in recent days before stepping on court for a very light 15-minute hit Saturday.

“I didn’t take [the bite] seriously enough,” Kyrgios said at his pre-tournament press conference. “I felt some irritation on my foot a day before Christmas and then I woke up on Christmas Day and my foot was really swollen.

“I’ve been in the hospital the past couple of days on a drip, getting antibiotics. I think I’ll be okay but it’s definitely impacted my preparation and it’s still pretty irritated. I haven’t been able to step on court or do anything really the last couple of days. But it’s getting better, definitely progressing.”

Kyrgios, No. 35 in the ATP Rankings, grabbed the eighth and final seed and was drawn to meet Ryan Harrison, the American he beat in last year’s final. Kyrgios had already treated himself to a light pre-season before missing recent days due to the bite and admits that he may take time to find top gear in his season opener.

“I spent a lot of time in the gym and played a lot of basketball. The off-season for me is not about getting on court and trying to improve. I want to completely step away from the game and enjoy my time at home. I play enough tennis during the year. The last thing I want to do is go out and hit more balls. I’ll probably be rusty, to be honest.

“[But] I’m really looking forward to being in Australia the next month. I have very good memories in Brisbane. I feel comfortable here.”

Kyrgios is now the No. 2-ranked Australian behind 19-year-old Alex de Minaur and one of six Australians in the Top 100. The 23-year-old said that he is pleased with the collective success of his countrymen.

“It’s always great to see the other Aussies do well. I’m not the jealous or envious type. I’m happy they are having success. I look at Alex, who was orange boy for us at Davis Cup and to see him play so well on the big stage is great. I know he’s very excited for the Aussie summer and I’m sure he’ll do very, very well. It’s also good to see a guy like John Millman finally break through. His win over Federer at the US Open was a special moment for all of us.”

Did You Know?
Kyrgios reached a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 13 in Otcober 2016.

You are a righty about to hit a first serve against a lefty in the Deuce court. The serve should go out wide, right? Surely sliding the first serve out to the left-hander’s backhand return will deliver the highest win percentage…

No. It. Doesn’t.

An Infosys ATP Insights deep dive into the current serving patterns of the Top 10 players in the ATP Rankings against left-handed opponents in the Deuce court from 2011-2018 at ATP Tour Masters 1000 events and the Nitto ATP Finals identifies more first serves do go wide to the lefty’s backhand return, but a higher percentage are won serving right down the middle to the forehand.

Current Top 10: Location Of First Serves To The Deuce Court
• Wide to left-hander’s backhand = 74.2% won
• T to the left-hander’s forehand = 75.6% won
• Advantage = 1.4 percentage points.

What’s fascinating is that eight of the world’s Top 10 serve wide to the backhand more often with their first serve in the Deuce court, but six of those 10 players win more with their first down the T to the forehand.

2018 Top 10: Serve Direction In Deuce Ct vs. Lefties (2011-2018 Masters 1000s & Nitto ATP Finals)

Rafael Nadal, the only left-hander in the Top 10, directed by far the most serves down the T in the Deuce court to his left-handed opponents’ forehand than out wide to the backhand. Does the 17-time Grand Slam champion know something about playing lefties that the rest of the Top 10 do not, or is it simply a result of his natural lefty slice serve motion across his body which ends up down the T? Nadal hit 37 more first serves down the T than out wide, with Kevin Anderson the only other Top 10 player registering more first serves down the T – hitting 63 down the T and 60 out wide.

Roger Federer went with the traditional pattern of a wide slider to the backhand return the most, hitting 79 more first serves out wide than down the T (233 wide/154 T).

Win Percentage: T vs. Wide (2011-2018 Masters 1000s & Nitto ATP Finals)

The table above identifies that six of the top 10 had a higher win percentage serving to the left-hander’s forehand down the T than out wide to the backhand. Juan Martin del Potro led the Top 10 in a T versus wide comparison, winning 18 percentage points more (83.0% to 65.0%) down the T than out wide. The other players that won more down the T than out wide were Marin Cilic (+9.2), Dominic Thiem (+2.9), Anderson (+2.4), Federer (+1.5) and Nadal (+1.2).

There are two key factors that are driving these metrics:
• Serving down the T consistently elicits faster serves, delivering a higher likelihood of an ace or an unreturned serve.
• The element of surprise. Lefties will typically be sitting on a wide first serve.

The analysis certainly suggests that first serves can more than hold their own against a comparatively stronger forehand return. The secret sauce is undoubtedly in the mix.

Denis Shapovalov is just 19 years old. Sometimes that’s easy to forget given everything he has accomplished.

The Canadian made his first big splash not long after his 18th birthday, beating Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to the Coupe Rogers semi-finals, becoming the youngest player to reach an ATP Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final or semi-final since the series began in 1990.

“My whole life has changed in the past five days,” Shapovalov said at the time.

The teenager went from sleeping in a room at friend Felix Auger-Aliassime’s house with a poster of Rafael Nadal on the wall to being a household name himself. After becoming the youngest player to reach the fourth round of the US Open just weeks later, Shapovalov was a budding rockstar on the ATP Tour.

Shapovalov had plenty of eyes on him throughout 2018. And he did not disappoint, winning nearly triple the number of tour-level matches (35-28) as he did last year and reaching three ATP Tour semi-finals. The highlight of the year perhaps came in May.

When the Canadian arrived at the Mutua Madrid Open, he did not own a tour-level victory on clay. Yet Shapovalov broke Nadal’s record for youngest quarter-finalist and semi-finalist at the event by advancing to the last four, doing so for the second time at a Masters 1000 tournament. Any time you break one of Nadal’s clay-court records, that’s a special achievement.

“Some people would mention that I had a really unsuccessful year, and I’m just sitting thinking, ‘I’m 27 in the world, what are you guys talking about? I was 50 last year’,” Shapovalov said. “There are always people that are saying, ‘You should be winning titles. You should be doing this and that.’ I try to tell them listen guys I’m only 19 and everyone’s going at their own speed. Everyone goes at their own pace. It never got me down. I’ve always stayed motivated, positive and so has my team.

“In 2018, I think my results were really good, actually. I didn’t have anything unbelievable. I didn’t win any titles. But overall, I really progressed,” Shapovalov said. “Finishing [the year] 27th in the world was really a big step forward for me, and I hope that next year I can just keep going forward.”

Shapovalov began 2017 at No. 250 in the ATP Rankings. This year, he started at No. 51. And heading into 2019 as the World No. 27, he has certainly shown steady improvement. So people will be watching to see just how high he can climb.

“It’s a challenge for somebody so young to come out and burst onto the scene and all of a sudden have so many expectations. It’s inevitable,” said Shapovalov’s coach, Rob Steckley. “I think people can get lost in the expectations. So I think that’s the challenging part for an athlete and the team as well, to make sure that you don’t get sucked in. I think that he’s done a great job at being able to back his [freshman] year up with some incredible results and really proving to himself that he belongs there. I think that’s a big challenge for somebody his age.”

The best players in the world are also very aware that Shapovalov is coming, and quickly. Reigning Wimbledon finalist and Nitto ATP Finals qualifier Kevin Anderson needed five grueling sets that lasted three hours and 43 minutes to sneak by the Canadian at the US Open.

“He definitely didn’t make it very easy for me out there. I think so far in his pretty young career he has played great tennis, especially in the big stadiums in front of thousands of people,” Anderson said. That bodes very well for him moving forward. He’s a really exciting player. Obviously he’s going to continue to mature and get more experience. You’re definitely going to be seeing a lot of him in the future.”

It’s easy to forget that Shapovalov is the youngest player in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings. But what might be most impressive is that, despite being World No. 27 at 19 years old, he is nowhere near content. That’s why the left-hander spent three weeks at the IMG Academy in Florida training this off-season. Some days began as early as 6:00 am, and did not end until more than 12 hours later.

“I definitely don’t get excited for fitness. It’s not something I always look forward to, especially after four hours of court time. But that’s why you have a team to push you,” Shapovalov said.

At the end of the day, no matter how tough training gets, or the expectations Shapovalov faces, there’s a reason he is putting in all of the work.

“I just want to be the best,” Shapovalov said. “When I get tired, I just think, ‘I want to be lifting trophies next year’.”