2008 ATP Review

It's time to stack up the year's accomplishments for further inspection. Not that a magnifying glass is needed to determine who 2008's Player of the Year was. (Hint: It's not the same guy who was the easy choice the past few seasons.)

==PLAYERS OF THE YEAR==
1. RAFAEL NADAL, ESP

...just like with Federer in recent seasons, Nadal as PoY is etched in stone. Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Olympic titles would have been more than enough, but his putting of Roger the Great into his unaccustomed place at #2 makes 2008 the year of Rafa the Resplendent... even if he did physically run out of gas by the end of the year, again.
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2. ROGER FEDERER, SUI
...it says much about Federer that a "bad" year for him included the #2 ranking, the U.S. Open title and a more than supporting role in the "Greatest Match Ever Played." The aftereffects of mono might have slowed him through much of the season, while his back did the same in the final month. Still, we'll find out in '09 if this season was just a blip on the radar or the first chapter in the evitable crash that usually makes even the all-time greats appear more than mortal by the time they hang up their rackets.
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3. NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB
...he started (winning the Australian) and ended (Masters Cup, even though he never had to play Nadal, Federer or Murray) strong. In between, you never knew exactly what you were going to get from the Serb. If he can up his fitness and stamina, ala Murray, he could make an even bigger dent in the foundation of the Big Two.
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4. ANDY MURRAY, GBR
...Britain's long drought of grand slam champions might be ready to end soon. Murray's now made a slam final (U.S.), and he sort of had Federer's number ever before his "off" year.
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5. DANIEL NESTOR & NENAD ZIMONJIC, CAN/SRB
...supplanted the Bryans as the top-ranked doubles team for the first time since 2004.
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6. SPANISH DAVIS CUP TEAM
...the Spaniards didn't even need the injured Rafa to put away the Argentines in the final.
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7. GILLES SIMON, FRA
...he might be anonymous (for now) to many casual fans, but Simon won three titles in '08 and defeated the trio of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic a total of four times.
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8. JO-WILFRIED TSONGA, FRA
...he started like a house afire in Melbourne, wowing the crowd with Connors-esque flourishes while reaching the final. Then, injuries made him an afterthought for most of the season. But a great finish included his first Masters title in Paris and the hope that the excitement he brings to the court can be a full-time production in '09.
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9. JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO, ARG
...he might not be able to sustain great success over the course of a long season on all sorts of surfaces, but when del Potro was on a roll in '08 he was unstoppable -- to the tune of four straight titles, and nineteen match wins with only two lost sets.
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10. BOB & MIKE BRYAN, USA
...by their standards, 2008 was their worst season in half a decade. Still, they very nearly finished the season at #1.
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HM- NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO, RUS
...cleared in the Sopot betting investigation, Davydenko asserted himself on the court and ended up with his fourth straight season ranked in the Top 5 and his first berth in the Masters Cup final.
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==RISERS==
1. Andy Murray, GBR
2. Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI
3. Gael Monfils, FRA
4. Tomas Berdych, CZE
5. Nicolas Almagro, ESP
6. Robin Soderling, SWE
7. Mariusz Fyrstenberg & Marcin Matkowski, POL
8. James Blake, USA
9. Ivo Karlovic, CRO
10. Paul-Henri Mathieu, FRA
11. David Ferrer, ESP
12. Dmitry Tursunov, RUS
13. Igor Andreev, RUS
14. Fernando Verdasco, ESP
15. Julien Benneteau, FRA
HM- Andreas Seppi, ITA

==FRESH FACES==
1. Gilles Simon, FRA
2. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA
3. Juan Martin del Potro, ARG
4. Ernests Gulbis, LAT
5. Marin Cilic, CRO
6. Kei Nishikori, JPN
7. Philipp Kohlschreiber, GER
8. Eduardo Schwank, ARG
9. Simone Bolelli, ITA
10. Sam Querrey, USA
11. Jeremy Chardy, FRA
12, Robin Haase, NED
13. Viktor Troicki, SRB
14. Sanchai Ratiwatana/Sonchat Ratiwatana, THA
15. Donald Young, USA
HM- Chris Guccione, AUS

==JUNIOR STARS==
1. Grigor Dmitrov, BUL
2. Yang Tsung-Hua, TPE
3. Bernard Tomic, AUS
4. Henri Kontinen, FIN
5. Filip Krajinovic, SRB
HM- Ryan Harrison, USA & Devin Britton, USA

==SURPRISES==
1. Philipp Petzschner, GER
2. Sergiy Stakovsky, UKR
3. Eduardo Schwank, ARG
4. Pablo Cuevas/Luis Horna, URU/PER
5. Igor Kunitsyn, RUS
6. Denis Gremelmayr, GER
7. Marcel Granollers, ESP
8. Oscar Hernandez, ESP
9. Wayne Odesnik, USA
10. Bruno Soares/Dusan Vemic, BRA/SRB
11. Chris Eaton, GBR
12. Adrian Mannarino, FRA
13. Kevin Anderson, RSA
14. Fabio Fognini, ITA
15. Evgeny Korolev, RUS
HM- Stephen Huss/Ross Hutchins, AUS/GBR

==VETERANS==
1. Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic, CAN/SRB
2. Bob & Mike Bryan, USA
3. Nikolay Davydenko, RUS
4. David Nalbandian, ARG
5. Michael Llodra, FRA
6. Fernando Gonzalez, CHI
7. Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram, ISR
8. Jonas Bjorkman/Kevin Ullyett, SWE/ZIM
9. Lukas Dlouhy/Leander Paes, CZE/IND
10. Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra, FRA
11. Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles, IND/BAH
12. Jeff Coetzee/Wesley Moodie, RSA
13. Steve Darcis, BEL
14. Nicolas Kiefer, GER
15. Rainer Schuettler, GER
HM- Luis Horna, PER & Fabrice Santoro, FRA

==DOWN==
1. Ivan Ljubicic, CRO
2. Marcos Baghdatis, CYP
3. Marat Safin, RUS
4. Guillermo Canas, ARG
5. John Isner, USA
6. Frank Dancevic, CAN
7. Radek Stepanek, CZE
8. Tommy Robredo, ESP
9. David Ferrer, ESP
10. Bob & Mike Bryan, USA
HM- Roger Federer, SUI

==COMEBACKS==
1. Gilles Muller, LUX
2. Rainer Schuettler, GER
3. Nicolas Kiefer, GER
4. Xavier Malisse, BEL
5. Mario Ancic, CRO
HM- Younes El Aynaoui, MAR & Guillermo Coria, ARG



==BEST OF ATP TOUR '08==
**BEST PERFORMANCES**
1. Nadal wins Wimbledon
...after outlasting Federer in the Final to Beat All Finals, Nadal became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to sweep both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and the first Spaniard to win at the All-England Club in forty-two years.
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2. Rafa rules Roland Garros
...his SW19 win changed things forever, but don't take for granted Nadal winning the "most physical" grand slam for a fourth straight time, without dropping a set.
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3. Federer "saves" his season with U.S. Open title
...one wonders if even Roger was starting to doubt his ability to win another slam and inch still closer to Pete Sampras' all-time mark. Then came New York. Slam win #13 proved that the "old" Federer is still alive, and could maybe reassert himself next season.
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4. Novak Djokovic, Grand Slam Champion
...before all the shouting began in the ongoing Rafa-vs.-Roger tale, the first Serbian slam winner was crowned in Melbourne, ending the hegemony the top two players had had over slam championships at eleven.
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5. The Golden Spaniard
...a day before he replaced Federer as the #1 player in the world, Nadal added the singles Gold in Beijing to his incredible haul for 2008.
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HM- Roddick wins Dubai
...in a season of highs and lows, Andy Roddick soared sky-high in the Middle East, defeating both Nadal and Djokovic en route to his most impressive title of the year.
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HM- Del Potro is Perfecto
...the Argentine's four-tournament, nineteen-match winning streak was punctuated by a 134 mph ace on match point to claim the Washington D.C. event. Unfortunately, out of gas, he wasn't the threat at the Open that one would have hoped he'd be.
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==BEST MATCHES==

Wimbledon Final - Nadal def. Federer
...6-4/6-4/6-7/6-7/9-7. Just a few reminders. 4:48 on court, playing in fading light to 9:15 pm in the last roofless Wimbledon final. Federer's 65-match grass court (40 at SW19) streak ends in the pair's third straight meeting in the All-England Club's final, crowning Rafa the new King of men's tennis.
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Australian 3rd Rd. - Federer def. Tipsarevic
...6-7/7-6/5-7/6-1/10-8. In 4:27, Federer is taken deeper into a 5th set than he'd ever gone before after having entered the match against the world #49 having won thirty straight sets in Melbourne. As it turned out, it was the first of many surprising results for the then-world #1, many of which he'd lose as the season wore on.
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Beijing Olympic SF - Gonzalez def. Blake
...4-6/7-5/11-9. Gonzalez erases Blake's 6-4/5-4 lead, winning on a fifth match point. Of course, the only thing that anyone will remember about this one will be the shot that ticked off Gonzalez's racket at 8-9 in the 3rd -- the same one that ticked off Blake when the Chilean wouldn't admit that it had done so, as Gonzalez won the point on a ball that had been called out. Blake didn't win another game, slammed Gonzalez's integrity after the match, then topped it all off by losing the Bronze Medal match to Djokovic and going home with nothing (even after having gotten his first win over Federer in the QF).
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Cincinnati 3rd Rd. - Karlovic def. Federer
...7-6/4-6/7-6. The loss assured Nadal of rising to #1, even though Federer never actually lost his serve in the match.
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Australian Open 3rd Rd. - Hewitt def. Baghdatis
...4-6/7-5/7-5/6-7/6-3. It didn't start until 11:48pm and, most importantly, didn't finish until 4:33am after Baghdatis rallied from being down 1-5 and a match point in the 4th set.
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New York exhibition - Federer def. Sampras
...6-3/6-7/7-6. A good show, or an early warning sign? Early in the year, while still suffering the lingering effects of his illness, Federer wore himself down just a little bit more in a longer-than-expected match against Sampras and his still sometimes-lethal serve. Federer led 6-3/5-4, then fell behind Sampras 5-2 in the 3rd (Sampras won 18/22 points in one stretch, and served for the match at 5-3). Federer won the deciding tie-break 8-6 after coming back from a 5-3 deficit. Rarely does a current all-time great get to face a former all-timer when both are still able to produce such drama, but this was one of those rare instances... and one which will make people wish for a final competitive Wimbledon bow for Pistol Pete, just to see what would happen, if Federer heads to London looking to tie or surpass the all-time slam mark next summer. Of course, don't hold your breath waiting for even a two-week Sampras comeback to happen.
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==TOP BREAKOUT MOMENTS==
1. Tsonga's Australian Open run, which included wins over Murray, Gasquet, Youzhny and Nadal to reach his first slam final in just his fifth career slam appearance.
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2. Donald Young pushes James Blake to five sets under the lights on Ashe in the 1st Round of the U.S. Open.
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3. Kei Nishikori reaches the 4th Round of the U.S. Open, becoming the first Japanese man to ever go so far.
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==ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN... AND HERE'S PROOF==
Andy Roddick upset Roger Federer in the Miami QF, his first victory after eleven straight losses (and fifteen in sixteen matches) to the Swiss Mister.
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James Blake upset Roger Federer in the Beijing Olympic QF, getting his first win against him. Prior to this match, he'd won just one set against Federer in their other eight meetings.
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James Blake defeated Sebastien Grosjean in the 3rd Round of the Australian, making it the first time the American had ever come back from 0-2 sets down to win.
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Ukrainian Lucky Loser Sergiy Stakhovsky won the Zagreb singles title, defeating Ivan Ljubicic in the final.
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Gilles Muller became just the second qualifier in the Open Era to reach the men's QF at the U.S. Open.
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Then-world #244 Kei Nishikori, an 18-year old qualifier, won the Delray Beach title, making him the first Japanese man to win an ATP singles crown since 1992.
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**THE YANG TO THE WIMBLEDON FINAL'S YIN**
Nadal and Federer combined to produced intense drama in London, but just a few weeks earlier the Spaniard had handed the then-#1 his world slam loss ever in a 6-1/6-3/6-0 destruction in the Roland Garros final.

**THE GOOD**
Nadal takes over #1, ending Federer's record string of 237 weeks in the top position.
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Federer finally gets his Olympic Gold, in doubles with Stanislas Wawrinka
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Andy Murray: The post-Brad Gilbert Era
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The fond farewell to three-time Roland Garros champ Gustavo Kuerten.
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Gael Monfils finally comes close to reaching his potential, making the Roland Garros SF on the 25th anniversary of fellow Frenchman Yannick Noah's title run in 1983.
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**THE BAD**
Federer's mono
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Blake's big losses to players he should be able to overcome. THIS year it was Kei Nishikori in the Delray Beach final, then Marcel Granollers in Houston.
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Federer's bad back leads to his less-than-potent performance in the already Nadal-less Masters Cup.
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Andy Roddick, 75% of the time he opens his mouth.
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**THE ODD**
Mikhail Youzhny nearly double-bagels a tired Nadal in the Chennai final in the opening week of the season.
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In the Monte Carlo 2nd Round, Ivo Karlovic goes aceless against Gael Monfils, the first time the pulverizing Croat had done that in 255 matches.
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**THE UGLY**
Blake and Roddick disappoint again at Wimbledon, losing within hours of each other in the 2nd Round as no Americans reached the second week.
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The "pepper spray incident" during the Gonzalez/Econodimis match at the Australian Open.
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**AND, UMM, THE, WELL...**
Andy Roddick auctions off naked tennis lessons. Make of it what you will.(Doesn't he know the "New Balls, Please" campaign is old news?)

**AND, UMM, THE, WELL..., PART II**
When I cast my vote in the American presidential election on November 4th, I did so in an elementary school cafeteria. On the wall directly above me? Andy Roddick in a "Got Milk?" ad poster. Make of THAT what you will, too.

**HOW TO GET ON ESPN, WHICH TREATS TENNIS LIKE A SECOND CLASS SPORT UNLESS...**
After a bad shot, someone pounds his skull with his racket until he draws blood... ala Mikhail Youzhny. TV directors and segment producers love blood ("If it bleeds, it leads! Or least makes the broadcast, if "just" tennis in involved.)
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Or get engaged to a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model like Brooklyn Decker, ala Andy Roddick. TV directors and segment producers can't resist a shot of a beautiful model in between points (which their announcers usually ignore, or mangle the names of the players on the court, anyway)
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**THEN AGAIN, YOU COULD JUST PLAY AT THE 2009 U.S. OPEN**
...which, for the first time, will be covered by ESPN. Oh, may the Tennis Gods help us all.

All for now. See you in 2009.



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