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The season begins with tournaments in Adelaide, Chennai and Doha.
Adelaide is an appropriate place to start given the nature of the tournament
this year, the first to experience the Round-Robin format. - Can
Roger Federer be any more dominant?
Roger Federer states that his priorities for the season remain retaining
the number one ranking and winning Wimbledon (the first Grand Slam he got
his hands on). However, in order to differentiate this season from his
outstanding last three seasons (particularly the last two), Federer will
need to dominate on clay the way he has done everywhere else. In 2006, the
boy from Basel came three matches away from arguably the most incredible
year any individual or team has had in sports. Losing clay court finals to
world number two, Rafael Nadal, in Monte Carlo, Rome (Federer had two match
points) and Roland Garros (the Mecca of clay court tennis) prevented Federer
from completing what would have been a historic season that would surely
never be equaled and certainly not bettered.
Federer is 0-4 on clay v Nadal, he came as close as you can in Rome when
he held two match points, neither of which he was able to convert. Despite
beating Nadal since the Roland Garros final on two occasions (Wimbledon &
Shanghai), Nadal can still count on a psychological dominance over Federer
on clay, and one of the more intriguing storylines of 2007 will be whether
Federer can break this hold. Hopefully both players will be fit and healthy
come the European clay court season for us to be able to sit back, enjoy and
find out.
- Can Rafael Nadal reverse the slump?
It seems absurd to ask such a question of a twenty year old who has won
two Grand Slam titles, made another Grand Slam final and won six Masters
Series events in the past two seasons, and yet the question is being asked
by more than a few people. Nadal had a poor second half of the season in
2006. Having reached the Wimbledon final, Nadal’s season stalled completely
and he did not advance past the quarter finals of any tournament until the
season ending Masters Cup in Shanghai.
The Spaniard missed last year’s Australian Open, and it will be
interesting to see how he fares in
Melbourne in a few weeks on the reportedly speeded up courts. It won’t
be long before Nadal is on clay again, and as he did in 2006, he will face
the pressure of having to defend titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and
Roland Garros. Will he be beaten on
clay this year? Roger Federer is clearly the prime candidate. Post-Wimbledon
will be the true test of Nadal’s progression, and all eyes will be on him to
see if he has adjusted his style on hard and indoor courts to improve on the
poor results he achieved in the latter half of 2006.
- Can Andy Roddick continue the resurgence?
After a poor first half of the season in 2006, where he was
comprehensively outplayed by Scot Andy Murray, at Wimbledon, Roddick teamed
up with Jimmy Connors and experienced a revival in the second half of the
season. He won the Cincinnati Masters and followed that up with an
appearance in the US Open final. There is an apparent sting and zip back in
Roddick’s game and attitude that seemed lacking early in 2006. Unlikely to
ever achieve much on clay in the more high profile tournaments (Masters
events and Roland Garros), Roddick’s season will be judged on what he can
achieve elsewhere, and whether the fire that Connors has lit under him will
continue to burn or fizzle out.
- Can David Nalbandian fulfill his potential?
No longer able to call himself the reigning Masters Cup champion, the
Argentine ended the 2006 season by leading his nation into their first Davis
Cup final in twenty-five years. Nalbandian proved what many are already well
aware of, that he has the talent to be a Grand Slam champion, by beating
Nikolay Davydenko and Marat Safin in Moscow for the loss of just one set.
Whether Nalbandian will ever be able to translate his talent into a tangible
Grand Slam triumph and not simply a series of consistent showings that
result in semi-final appearances (he also made the Wimbledon final in 2002)
will likely be answered in the next two or three years. Each passing year
indicates that the potential will remain unfulfilled, and 2007 represents a
significant year in the career of David Nalbandian. Time is running out and
the window of opportunity shuts far quicker than it opens.
- Can the newcomers stick around?
2006 saw four new names end the year in the top ten of the men’s tour.
James Blake, Tommy Robredo, Mario Ancic and Fernando Gonzalez had career
years. Blake and Robredo particularly had outstanding years. Blake won five
titles and made the final of a Masters Series event and the Masters Cup.
Meanwhile, Robredo won his first Masters Series title in Hamburg.
Competition is fierce, and there are a number of very talented young players
maturing by the week and looking to break into the elite and turn these four
players into ‘one season wonders’. Sports Magician believes it will be a
tough ask for all four to still be in the top ten come the end of the season
and that rather than Blake or Robredo, Mario Ancic has the greater chance to
still be there. Ancic, a player yet to fully justify the hype around him in
previous years, had a quietly strong 2006 despite missing significant time
with injury.
- Can the young guns make some noise?
The ATP, as mentioned, has a number of very talented young players on the
verge of taking the step from promise to fulfillment. Marcos Baghdatis,
Tomas Berdych, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Richard Gasquet lie waiting
to jump into the top ten, all of these players currently sit between twelve
and eighteen in the rankings. In addition, there is Gael Monfils, currently
lower down in the rankings at forty-six, who will be hoping for an injury
free 2007 to show what he is fully capable of. Another name to bear in mind
that may not be able to make the impact that the already mentioned
youngsters might in 2007, but is certainly a player that will be likely to
in 2008, is Juan-Martin Del Potro, currently ranked ninety-second on the
tour. By the end of the season, his name will be far more familiar to you.
Sports Magician believes at least two of these youngsters will be sitting
in the top ten in twelve months, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic being the
likely candidates. |
