He hasn't played since retiring in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters in November, but the reigning US Open (and Rio and Miami and Barcelona and Madrid and Umag) champion took advantage of Djokovic's low tournament total to race to No. But that rival has to return from injury first.Ģ023 record (Australian Open result): 0-0 (withdrew because of a leg injury) With Nadal in such poor form, and assuming Djokovic's hamstring injury doesn't take a turn for the worse, it seems there might be only one possible rival for Djokovic in 2023. Only four went to even 5-all.ĭjokovic will turn 36 in May, but he has once again established his most dominant level. He lost only one set in November's ATP Finals, and after losing a second-set tiebreaker to qualifier Enzo Couacaud in the second round in Melbourne, he won the final 17 sets he played. He ground out his seventh Wimbledon title in the summer, and he won five of the six tournaments he has entered since the fall. Since losing in four sets to Nadal in the French Open quarterfinals, however, he has lost just twice. He began 2022 in (completely self-inflicted) scattershot form, winning in Rome and reaching the finals in Belgrade but falling in a few quarterfinals and clearly lacking the fitness levels we're used to seeing from him. With much of the world easing up on COVID-19 restrictions and vaccination requirements, Djokovic has been able to play enough tennis to find his top form again. No matter what approach we use, of course, there is only one possibility for the top name on the men's side.Ģ023 record (Australian Open result): 12-0 (champion) To determine the actual best players in the world at the moment, then, I'm going to use a combination of ATP/WTA points, my favorite publicly available predictive rating (the simple Elo rating system at Tennis Abstract) and a combination of my own eyeballs' impressions and a look at who performs best against other top players. 4 seed but obvious betting favorite, rolled to the title. They both exited in the second round, while Djokovic, the No. The second seed went to Casper Ruud, who entered having lost eight of 13. We know that ATP and WTA rankings - and the tournament seeds that are derived from them - are not necessarily predictive power rankings, and that was never more clear than in Australia, where the top seed on the men's side went to Rafael Nadal, who entered the tournament having lost six of his past seven matches while battling injury. The 10 best men's players in the world at the moment Here's what to expect, and what to follow, from the tennis months ahead. It's time to lay out who looks the best and who's most likely to make runs at future Slams. The Australian Open basically serves two primary purposes: Entertain us and set the table for the rest of the tennis season.įollowing a delightful two-week run that saw Aryna Sabalenka's first Slam title, plus some shocking mid-tournament plot twists, early-tournament Andy Murray heroics, strong showings from American males and - oh yeah, Novak Djokovic's 22nd Slam title - we can say that the tournament officially accomplished the former. Way-too-early tennis rankings, and Grand Slam predictions for the rest of 2023 You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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