State of Play: Recapping the ATP World Tour in February
The ATP World Tour featured three 500 level tournaments, and a multitude of 250 point stops as well in a month of February that was exciting and unpredictable. Here is a look at top performers, and those who disappointed.
Bautista Agut, Troicki, and Klizan Continue Early Season Success
Roberto Bautista Agut, Viktor Troicki, and Martin Klizan are not household names on the ATP World Tour, but they have all started off the year with fantastic tennis and are playing well above their usual level. Bautista Agut is a remarkable 16-4 on the year and has burst back into the top 20.
The aggressive baseliner won the first edition of ATP Sofia without dropping a set, and then reached the quarterfinals in both Rotterdam and Dubai, all on hard courts. RBA has two ATP titles and wins over John Isner, Marin Cilic, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga this season, most notably. Given his all-court game, he should also pose a threat during the upcoming clay court season.
Troicki is 12-5 and has nearly made the top 20 himself. The Serbian #2 tends to be overshadowed by his superstar countryman Novak Djokovic but he reached the final in Sofia, and a quarterfinal in Rotterdam, after previously winning an ATP title in January. Troicki’s game is best suited for faster surfaces, but he’s a player to watch the rest of the season.
Martin Klizan reached a career high of 24 in the world last year, and after a semifinal in Sofia, and his first ATP 500 level title in Rotterdam, he’s well on his way to overtaking that ranking. Klizan beat both Bautista Agut, and Gael Monfils in three sets to capture the title, as all but one of his five wins in Rotterdam went the distance. His powerful game has also found success on multiple surfaces.
Cuevas and Thiem Dominate The Golden Swing
The South American Golden Swing was dominated by Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, and young Austrian Dominic Thiem. Cuevas is 11-1 on clay this season and pulled a Brazilian double, winning in both Rio and Sao Paulo, the former a 500 level tournament. The 30 year now has just three career ATP titles, but has proven himself as a dark horse for the bigger clay court tournaments to come in Europe.
Cuevas beat both Facundo Bagnis and Thiago Monteiro twice in a row, and he also stunned Rafael Nadal in three sets in Rio. His only loss on clay came in the quarterfinals of Buenos Aires.
Thiem won Buenos Aires with wins over Nicolas Almagro, and Rafael Nadal in three sets, two experienced clay courters. He then reached the semis in Rio with a win over David Ferrer, in dominating fashion. The biggest title of his career came at the 500 tournament in Acapulco, as he transitioned with ease to hard courts beating Grigor Dimitrov, and Bernard Tomic in a winding three setter to take the title. Thiem’s top 15 ranking and 18-4 record demonstrate he’s pushing for the top 10, and could soon be competing for Masters and Grand Slams, given he still has plenty of upside at age 22.
Veterans Lorenzi, Baghdatis, and Mathieu Turn Back the Clock
In 10 years with at least one ATP Main Draw match, Paolo Lorenzi has never finished with a winning record. The Italian journeyman doesn’t play the most entertaining style, and his skills are limited to clay, but a semifinal in Quito, and a quarterfinal in Buenos Aires demonstrated he’s having a career year already. The gutsy Lorenzi earned his first top 20 win when he defeated Bernard Tomic in a Quito three setter. Paolo just won a Davis Cup 5 set match today on clay, and the quest for a winning record on tour continues.
Marcos Baghdatis is back in the top 40, and appears to be experiencing a career resurgence. One of the best aggressive ball strikers on tour, Baghdatis isn’t near as quick or fluid as he was a decade ago, but he’s still just 30 and has years left in his career it seems. The fan favorite reached the quarterfinals in Montpellier, upset David Goffin in Rotterdam, and roared past four solid hard court players in Dubai to reach the final, his first since Atlanta last season. If the Cypriot can keep this up on hard courts and grass through the rest of the season, he will pose a threat to the top players.
34 year old Paul-Henri Mathieu also demonstrated he’s aging like a fine French wine. He’s lost more than a step, but he’s a much wiser player than ever before, and he demonstrated his baseline craftiness by reaching the final in Montpellier on home soil. The Frenchman beat Benoit Paire and Alexander Zverev rather easily en route, and is another dangerous unseeded player in upcoming ATP draws.
Young Guns Zverev, Kyrgios and Fritz Flash Promise
Young German Alex Zverev reached his third career ATP semifinal at 18 years old in Montpellier. Zverev stunned Marin Cilic, and also beat Gilles Simon in a third set tiebreak in Rotterdam to reach the quarterfinals. Zverev has a diverse all court game, and it’s clear he’s turning himself into a regular ATP competitor this season.
The mercurial Nick Kyrgios blossomed in Grand Slams, before being as consistent and accomplished on the week to week ATP World Tour. The Australian did make good on his promise finally and capture his first ever ATP title with consecutive wins over Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych, and Marin Cilic without dropping a set. Kyrgios’ big serve is a great fit for fast surfaces, and his forehand did a lot of damage as well. He followed up the Marseille title with a semifinal result in Dubai before succumbing to a back injury.
18 year old Taylor Fritz won the US Open junior title, and reached the French Open junior final last year. The young American wasted no time showing his promising in his ATP main draw debut. Fritz beat his higher ranked countryman Steve Johnson, and also slipped past Ricardas Berankis in three sets to reach the ATP final in Memphis after his first four ATP wins. He then put up a quality result against Kei Nishikori, though Nishikori was far better in the end.
Two weeks later in Acapulco, Fritz came through qualifying with limited fanfare, and then proceeded to reach the quarterfinals, earning a quality win over Jeremy Chardy in the process. Hopefully Fritz success isn’t an indication of too much to soon, and he’ll continue to develop into a great ATP player.
Mahut and Ram serve and volley to success
The dying art of the serve and volley made a comeback in the month of February. Nicolas Mahut reached the semis in Rotterdam as a 34 year old qualifier. Mahut didn’t drop a set before losing the semis, as opponents had no answer for his quick strike tennis.
Rajeev Ram, a career journeyman, reached his first ATP final off of grass in Delray Beach. Of all the Americans in the field, Ram was one of the most unlikely finalists, but neither Bernard Tomic, nor Grigor Dimitrov played well in their matches against him and his carved his path to a near top 60 ranking.
Isner, Anderson, Ferrer, Tsonga, Dimitrov, and Nadal Disappoint
Big men John Isner and Kevin Anderson were supposed to have good seasons this year in the prime of their careers. Anderson isn’t healthy however, as he retired from his first match in Delray Beach with a shoulder injury. Isner opted to play on clay for some reason, and didn’t win a single match, dropping two opening round contests to lower ranked opponents in third set tiebreaks. That decision gave him neither match practice, nor ranking points.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga started his clay court campaign for 2016 in poor fashion, dropping matches to the lower ranked Nicolas Almagro, and ATP main draw débutante Thiago Monteiro in Buenos Aires and Rio. Something was off for Tsonga in February, and the Frenchman will now return to hard court tennis, hoping for more success.
Grigor Dimitrov was supposed to be an ATP World Tour superstar, but he now finds himself ranked outside of the top 20 and has fallen short in all of the big matches he’s faced this season. Dimitrov hasn’t played poorly overall, but he’s played poorly when it counts, dropping matches to Rajeev Ram and Dominic Thiem in February. Thiem dismantled his game, and demonstrated how much the two have gone in different directions career wise.
Spaniards David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal were also unimpressive in February, if you hold them to their usually lofty standards as top 10 stars. Ferrer has six losses already and has yet to reach an ATP final this season, even though he normally plays more lower tier tournaments. He failed to win a set in losses to Nicolas Almagro, Dominic Thiem, and Alexandr Dolgopolov last month, as he lacked his trademark fight.
Rafa is losing his grip on the “king of clay” title, he dropped three set matches to Cuevas and Thiem in the Golden Swing tournaments he played, and was a shell of himself in terms of clay court ability. Nadal’s future is a grave one right now, and he could fall out of the top 10 at this rate.
Del Potro makes successful return
Juan Martin Del Potro made a healthy return to the ATP Tour, after last playing a match in early 2015. The former US Open champion has never been able to sort his wrist problems out for a long period of time, but he showed off a bigger serve than before, and his great forehand in Delray Beach. JMDP reached the semifinals without much of a backhand, and didn’t drop a set in three match wins. We’ll see what Del Potro can do the rest of the season, with the most important thing that he stays healthy.
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