Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPWorldTour.com looks at the best ATP World Tour matches in 2017, starting with Nos. 5 to 3.

5) Nadal d. Pouille, China Open, Beijing First Round, 3 October 2017 (Match Stats)
Rafael Nadal was on a roll, seven matches unbeaten and at his indomitable best. Against Lucas Pouille, in his first competitive match since lifting his third US Open crown, Nadal found a way to win as he and other great champions so often do when they aren’t quite at their best. The Spanish star avoided an early exit in Beijing by fighting off two match points to beat Pouille 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-5. Read & Watch Highlights

“He played well, I think, very aggressive. He’s serving well,” said Nadal, who at one point lost his shoe in a rally. “For me it was a little bit difficult at the beginning, then I started to play better. But still, I didn’t have the control of the match for almost all the time. I am very, very happy to be through.”

Pouille dictated the early exchanges with his forehand and it wasn’t until the second set that Nadal began to attack the net, to end long drawn-out points. Nadal was down 4/6 in the second-set tie-break, when Pouille struck a short forehand approach into the net. Nadal gained the impetus to win four consecutive points to even the match at one set-all. In the decider, Pouille kept attacking with a number of excellent low volley winners, but Nadal earned his lone break of the match in the 11th game and served out the contest a game later to 15.

Pouille, who had beaten Nadal at the 2016 US Open, struck 46 winners to 47 unforced errors in the encounter that lasted two hours and 31 minutes. “He had two match points, one of them with an easy forehand more or less,” said Nadal. “But it’s like this. I remember the match against him in the US Open that I had 6-all in the tie-break, an easy forehand I missed at the net, too. That time was for him, today was for me.”

Watch Full Match Replay At TennisTV

4) Djokovic d. Murray, Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Doha Final, 6 January 2017 (Match Stats)
Remember the dramatic end to the 2016 season? Just six days into the new year, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic clashed once again for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title. Murray appeared to have broken Djokovic’s psychological hold over him when he won their November 2016 meeting at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, when not only the prestigious title, but also the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings was on the line.

Djokovic, who saved five match points against Fernando Verdasco in the Doha semi-final, was hugely impressive in the title match — the 36th match of their FedEx ATP Head2Head series — out-hitting Murray for a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory over two hours and 54 minutes. It ended Murray’s 28-match winning streak. Read & Watch Highlights

“[It was] definitely one of the best ways to start a year,” said Djokovic. “When Andy turned it around I thought, ‘I hope this is not payback time’ [for the Verdasco comeback]. All the way to the last shot, you never know with Andy. It’s no strange occurrence for both of us to play three sets for three hours. It’s a very physical battle.”

Djokovic served for the match at 5-4 in the second set against Murray, and held three championship points but could not find a way through his opponent’s defences. Murray maintained his record of breaking an opponent’s serve in 112 consecutive matches since losing to Roger Federer in August 2015 at the Western & Southern Open, and at one point reeled off five straight games to a deciding set. Having stayed in touch for 30 minutes, Djokovic sensed his chance and pounced at 3-3.

“It means a lot to me,” said Djokovic. “Because the last three months of 2016 I haven’t felt that confident on the court and I didn’t play so consistent. To start off the year with a win over the World No. 1 and the biggest rival, it’s a dream start, so I am hoping I can get the best out of it.”

After this epic match, the tennis world thought that the No. 1 battle in 2017 would again be a two-man race. It turned out so different…

Watch Final Highlights

3) Monfils d. Nishikori, Coupe Rogers, Montreal Second Round, 9 August 2017 (Match Stats)
Gael Monfils’ 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(6) win over Kei Nishikori — particularly the final 14 points — showcased the very best of tennis as a sport. The match featured shifts of momentum and intensity to a player’s psychology and how the crowd reacted and felt. It was the kind of never-say-die comeback you’d long hoped for from the talented Monfils, who recovered from a set down against a Top 10 opponent for the first time in seven years and only the third time in his career (3-62). Read & Watch Highlights

Monfils appeared out for the count and staring at his fourth straight defeat to Nishikori, but at 2/6 down in the deciding-set tie-break, the enigmatic and athletic Frenchmen fended off four match points — two of which came on Nishikori’s serve — in a superb fightback.

“It’s a good victory for many reasons,” said Monfils. “It’s a big revenge, because last year around this time I had the same thing actually against Kei. I was up 6/2 in the tie-break in the [Rio] Olympics quarter-finals and I lost the tie-break. So I know exactly how he feels. Also, last year, a bit before, I played him in Miami. I also had five match points and I lost it 7-6 in the third. I’m more than happy because I fought through the toughness, because it was tough for me. It was a bit like a rollercoaster. I was a break down in each set.”

Monfils had trailed 2-5 in the second set, 3-5 in the third set and was 2/6 in the deciding tie-break. At 3/6, Monfils cleaned the line with a backhand winner to end a lung-busting rally, almost collapsing in exhaustion and disbelief. At 5/6 he sent a powerful forehand into the corner that drew another standing ovation and at 7/6 he snared a forehand winner — his 28th of the two-hour and 41-minute encounter — before letting out a celebratory scream. Nishikori had won more points (116-108), but it was the Frenchman who was clutch in the big moments.

Watch Full Match Replay At TennisTV

Come back on Tuesday for the Top 2 ATP World Tour matches of 2017

Five years ago, Matthew Ebden and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe were playing the best tennis of their careers. Both the Aussie and German had made the leap to the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time and were on the ascent as they continued to realize their dreams on the ATP World Tour.

But no path to stardom is identical and everyone takes a different route to the top. Ebden and Stebe would see their thriving careers cut down due to serious injury setbacks and after many years on the sidelines, both players would make triumphant comebacks in 2017 as the top performers on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Ebden and Stebe were the biggest movers to the year-end Top 100 this year, with the Aussie rising a staggering 619 spots to No. 76 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and the German soaring 381 positions to No. 82. Looking to translate their Challenger success to the ATP World Tour in 2018, both find themselves within just 15 spots of their career-highs attained in 2012.

On the comeback trail following knee surgery, Ebden not only enjoyed great success on the Challenger circuit as a two-time titlist in Canberra and Toyota, but the 30-year-old reached his first ATP World Tour final on the grass of Newport in July (l. to Isner). At age 27, Stebe, who underwent hip impingement surgery and pelvic surgery, won titles in Poprad Tatry, Slovakia, as well as Vancouver, Canada and Sibiu, Romania, in addition to reaching the second round at the US Open as a qualifier. He was a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year in the 2017 ATP Awards Presented By Moët & Chandon.

Ebden and Stebe were two of nine players to make leaps of 100+ spots to the Top 100 this year. Nicolas Jarry was the only other player to soar at least 300 places, while Rolex Paris Masters finalist Filip Krajinovic and #NextGenATP stars Denis Shapovalov, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas also enjoyed breakthrough campaigns.

Biggest Jumps To Top 100 Of Emirates ATP Rankings

In his return from a broken wrist, 22-year-old Jarry is wasting no time in picking up where he left off two years ago. On the heels of a trio of clay-court Challenger crowns, including one in his hometown of Santiago, Chile, he made his Top 100 debut after rising 300 spots. Meanwhile, Krajinovic, who led the ATP Challenger Tour with five titles, moved up 203 spots to No. 34, capping his campaign with a stunning runner-up finish at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Paris.

Shapovalov (+199 to No. 51), Rublev (+117 to No. 39) and Tsitsipas (+118 to No. 91), meanwhile, carried the teenage torch with their own Top 100 breakthroughs. Shapovalov thrust himself into the spotlight at the Rogers Cup, but the the Canadian had already began plotting his ascent with Challenger titles on home soil in Drummondville and Gatineau. Tsitsipas also notched his maiden crown, prevailing on the clay of Genova, Italy, in September.

Peter Gojowczyk and Blaz Kavcic are the only other players to rise at least 100 spots to the Top 100, with the German becoming one of six to win on both the ATP World Tour (Metz) and ATP Challenger Tour (Happy Valley, Australia) this year. Slovenia’s Kavcic led the Challenger circuit with 50 match wins, lifting trophies on Canadian soil in Winnipeg and Granby.

Significant Emirates ATP Rankings boosts weren’t exclusive to the aforementioned group, however, with many others making great strides on the ATP Challenger Tour. After five years of battling on the circuit, Tennys Sandgren finally made his mark in 2017. The American enjoyed a jump of 97 spots to year-end No. 96, behind titles on home soil in Tempe and Savannah. Germany’s Maximilian Marterer, aged 22, is contributing to his nation’s youth movement with an increase of 87 spots to a career-high No. 90. He capped his campaign with a 21-3 run and titles on clay, hard and carpet.

Notable movers poised to break into the Top 100 following impressive seasons include 22-year-old Cameron Norrie, who vaulted 164 spots to No. 114 behind a trio of titles, and #NextGenATP stars Sebastian Ofner and Matteo Berrettini. Ofner and Berrettini broke onto the scene in 2017 with moves of over 200 spots to the Top 150.

In addition to Marterer and Stebe, other Germans celebrating standout seasons were Yannick Hanfmann, titlist on home soil in Ismaning and runner-up at the ATP World Tour 250 in Gstaad, and Oscar Otte, who lifted his maiden trophy in Lisbon. Both players will look to complete their stunning climbs to the Top 100 next year, having combined to post just a 3-16 record in Challenger main draws entering the year. Hanfmann rose 195 spots to No. 119, while Otte vaulted 379 positions to No. 131.

Germans On The Rise