Men's Tennis - End of Season Review

Photo: James Barrett

Roger Federer’s victory a week or so ago does not mean he is back to his best. Yes, Federer is still capable of playing exceptional tennis but with the game supposedly taken to a new level at the US Open this year, when Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in a thrilling final, I now question whether Federer plays better tennis than everyone else. Some have said that Federer’s victory in London proves he is back to his best. Federer is undoubtedly supremely talented and has a natural free flowing game but I think his match against Mardy Fish in London shows that he is still prone to a few too many unforced errors on the forehand side, compared to his most dominant years of 2004-2007. Many analysts looked to Federer’s 6-3, 6-0 over Nadal to prove that at his best he is still better than everyone else. I would argue that far too much has been made of this one victory, after the tournament Nadal admitted to lacking passion for the game after yet another long, gruelling season. This leads us to a very interesting question, how long will Nadal keep going, if at the age of 25, he is already feeling like this? Commentators for the past few years have said that due to the very intense and physical way that he plays his body will give out and he won’t have a particularly long career, perhaps now we are seeing that this is affecting Nadal mentally as well. How he responds to this next year will be fascinating.

The 2011 season was exceptional. Novak Djokovic won three grand slams, something no one would have predicted before the season started. Djokovic proved that he had the ability and nerve to take his game to the next level. He has though, suffered injury problems, specifically with back and shoulder injuries the last few months, and this cost him in London. I am not convinced he will find the same level of success next year; Federer will be hungry to add to his collection of grand slam titles and prove that his form in the latter part of this season can continue long into the next. I think Nadal fights back from adversity better than anyone on the men’s tour and I’m backing him to have a successful season.

One of the key benefactors of the lack of fit top players at the end of season masters was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who reached the final. Tsonga is a remarkably gifted tennis player. He has immense power of both the forehand and backhand sides, a very strong serve and the ability to mix his game up, he volleys surprisingly well for someone so powerful and he has charisma in abundance. He always strikes you as being very likeable, someone who on a night out would be a lot of fun, if a little bit crazy. In terms of talent Tsonga had enough to win in London, he took Federer close in a high quality three set final. I believe that he, like Andy Murray just lacks the mental strength to go and win the biggest tournaments, both Tsonga and Murray have beaten the top few players in the world several times over three sets but when big money and history is at stake, as it was in London when Federer won a record sixth end of season masters (and a cool $1.6million) they both ultimately seem to come up just short. If grand slams were best of three set events they would both have reached several more grand slam finals, and Murray would have won one, if not several. Both players need to find several great wins against the top players in succession, not having massive highs and lows in matches as both Tsonga and Murray seem to have when they are playing will ultimately benefit them.

I am convinced both Murray and Tsonga can join Federer, Nadal and Djokovic as grand slam winners. If they maintain concentration in best-of-five set matches against the top players and maintain enough intensity and aggression they will do join this group and challenge them for years to come. It is time for them to step up to the mark. I will put my neck on the line and say, that for at least one of them, that elusive wait for a first grand slam title will end in 2012.

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