As Novak Djokovic continues to look unstoppable and Rafael Nadal a close second to him, will someone be able to challenge them at the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters? We look at who could push them and even prevent a Djokovic-Nadal one-two at those two Masters competitions.
As we enter the third month of the ATP season, it seems like it has been a busy and eventful season already, with all the on and off-court events that have unfolded. The ATP Cup, the Australian Open, and Frantic February have taken up most of the on-court time over the court of these past two months.
However, we have also had the bushfires that threatened the Australian Open, the knee surgery that is going to keep Roger Federer out of action till the grass swing, and are now faced with the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that is threatening to affect events the world over for the foreseeable future among other leading off-court matters.
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While Novak Djokovic has undoubtedly been the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of these two months, there are a few others who have scripted positive encouraging stories as well.
Having assisted Serbia in winning the inaugural ATP Cup, winning the Australian Open, the Dubai ATP 500 and getting back to world number one, with an 18-0 record for the year, Djokovic is scripting another sensational season for himself.
While Rafael Nadal was eliminated by him in the ATP Cup, and lost out to Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open, he did well to win the ATP 500 at Acapulco, and in the absence of Roger Federer for the next few months, this looks like another season to be dominated by Djokovic and Nadal.
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Below is a list of five players that TWL believes maybe viable competitors to the Big Two (Nadal and Djokovic):-
Dominic Thiem
Defending champion at Indian Wells and now world number three, Dominic Thiem is probably the biggest challenge to Nadal and Djokovic at the Sunshine Masters.
A clay court expert and earmarked as the successor to the ‘King of Clay’, Nadal, Thiem has increasingly shown his abilities on the faster hard courts. This was evidenced particularly with him winning the Indian Wells title in 2019, the Beijing ATP 500, and being a finalist at both the year end ATP Tour Finals in London, as well as this year’s Australian Open.
Although he has since talked of fatigue, and disappointed with a quarter-final loss at the ATP 500 in Rio, he remains one of the top contenders at the Sunshine Masters and can be expected to perform well through the US hard court season.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
When Tsitsipas ended 2019 as the winner of the ATP Tour Finals in London, he was noted as among the top players to challenge the Big Three in the new year. It has been a mixed 2020 for the young Greek.
His season Down Under was considerably disappointing and below expectations. A poor showing at the ATP Cup, was followed by an early loss at the Australian Open to Milos Raonic in the third round. February did not get off to the best of starts for him either, with the early Rotterdam loss, but defending his title at Marseille and being runner-up in Dubai again, definitely evidence that he is back in form and can be expected to take a lot of confidence from those performances over to the US hard courts.
In 2019, Tsitsipas alluded to too much tennis tiring him out by the Spring, but hopefully the ‘Next Gen’ 22-year-old will do a better job of balancing his workload this season. With a game well suited to faster courts, expect a much better showing from him this March.
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Gael Monfils
A veteran in this list among the other much younger crowd, Frenchman Gael Monfils sprung back into the top 10 in 2019 with some spirited performances. Monfils was successfully able to carry his form into 2020, and after a fourth round exit against Austrian Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open, he had one of the best months of his career this February.
The Frenchman captured the ATP 250 at Montpellier and defended his title at the Rotterdam ATP 500 looking in good touch throughout. Monfils carried his form over to Dubai and ran into world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. With three match points on his serve for a straight sets win, it may well have been a season and career changing moment for the Frenchman.
However, one never gives Novak Djokovic an opening and the Frenchman did just that, and there was no looking back for the Serb thereafter.
If Monfils is able to recover mentally and physically from the loss and the leg injury sustained, his current form will make him a strong contender on the US hard courts and not one to be ruled out as a dangerous proponent in the draw at Indian Wells and in Miami.
Alexander Zverev
Once the leader of the Next Gen, German Alexander Zverev had a poor 2019, but has looked to recover from it a couple times now. 2019 ended a lot better for him with good performances in Beijing, Shanghai and in London at the ATP Finals.
Although 2020 got off to a disastrous start at the ATP Cup, Zverev had his best major performance to date, being a semi-finalist at the Australian Open. Just when he looked to be getting back to consistent form, he was eliminated in a very poor outing against American Tommy Paul early at the ATP 500 in Acapulco and one does not know what form he will bring to the Sunshine Masters.
However, Zverev has done well in the past on the hard courts and at Masters 1000s ( Miami, Montreal among others) and if he can get his serve back on song, will definitely be a contender this March in the US.
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Daniil Medvedev
Earmarked by the end of 2019 as the ‘Next Gen’ member who was definitely going to take over the baton from the Big Three, it has not been the best of times in recent months for Russian Daniil Medvedev.
After a brilliant run in the Fall of 2019, where he made six finals and won two Masters 1000s and ran Nadal close in the US Open final, it has been a downhill road for Medvedev since. A poor showing at the Paris Masters in late 2019 and the Tour Finals in London was alluded to fatigue, as 2020 seemed to start off well for him.
Medvedev took Team Russia to the ATP Cup semi-finals, almost taking out Novak Djokovic and after looking strong in week one of the Australian Open, a fourth round loss to Stan Wawrinka from being up two sets to one was a disappointment.
Straight set losses to Vasek Pospisil in Rotterdam and Gilles Simon in Marseille in the early rounds were unexpected and one wonders if the Russian in the midst of a slump. Medvedev will need to look for means to motivate himself after these losses, but he has shown his abilities on these outdoor hard courts in general, and cannot be discounted among the contenders at both Indian Wells and Miami.
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