2018 Men’s Tennis Progress Report
2018 started with a lot of promise and expectations. There was speculation as to whether Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would replicate their stunning 2017 season. 2017 saw the return of the Fedal duopoly. Would it carry over to 2018? There was anticipation to the returns of the injured Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, and Kei Nishikori. Would they make a strong return in the manner that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal achieved in 2017? There was curiosity as to whether Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro would become double slam winners. There was hope as to whether the young players, like Alexander Zverev , Grigor Dimitrov , and Dominic Thiem, who made a mark in 2017 be able to match or improve their performance in 2018. Let’s see how some of the big name players fared in the first half of 2018 as compared to this point in their 2017 campaign.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer appear to be carrying on from where they left off in 2017. At this time last year they had collectively won 8 tournaments including the first two Grand Slams of the year. The Fedal duopoly has somewhat sustained as they have won 7 titles, again including the first two Grand Slams.
Nadal started the year as World No. 1. He lost and regained the No. 1 ranking on three occasions. Nadal won the same number of tournaments with a much better winning percentage as he did not play as much as he did in 2017. The Spanish bull suffered a knee injury near the end of 2017 which was aggravated during the Australian Open leading him to retire in the quarter-finals. He did not play the Mexican Open, Indian Wells, and the Miami Open as he was recuperating. Considering that he came back from injury and was still able to repeat his 2017 clay court success including a record-extending 11th French Open, it has been an excellent year so far for Rafa.
Federer became the oldest World No. 1 of all time on three occasions so far. On paper the Swiss master is not doing as well as he was in 2018 and has defended only one of his titles so far while winning 2 different titles. Considering that the man is in his 37th year and one of the titles was a Grand Slam while also being a finalist in 2 other tournaments, it has been a good year so far for Federer.
There is no reason to think that these 2 superstars will not continue their success in the second half of 2018