Tennis featured some great moments in 2015 so The Tennis Review enjoyed looking back and choosing our ten best. We decided Stan Wawrinka’s Roland Garros win was our number one moment, but what about the other nine? Let us know if you agree in the comments below.
1. Stan Wawrinka stuns Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros Final.
Stan Wawrinka’s aggressive dismantling of the heavy favorite Novak Djokovic in the 2015 Roland Garros final will go down as one of the greatest upsets, and greatest performances, in Grand Slam history.
Djokovic’s road to the missing trophy from his slam collection, the French Open title, was the Clay court season story, and his comprehensive quarter-final defeat of nine time Champion Rafael Nadal seemed like the penultimate chapter to his successful completion of the career slam.
Before the narrative’s climax, we still had two more matches to go, and against dangerous opponents- Andy Murray who was having his best ever run on Clay, and Stan Wawrinka who had been a tricky opponent for Djokovic in the slams over the last two seasons.
Neither though were expected to do anything more than provide a few twists and turns as Djokovic created history.
So the twist we got courtesy of Stan Wawrinka was one of the most shocking the tennis tour has been treated to in recent history. For while Djokovic managed to survive a tough scrap against Andy Murray, he was not able to get past the first time French Open finalist, who had never been beyond the quarters of the event, Stan Wawrinka.
The match started out as we expected as Djokovic took a nervy opening set. But the Swiss changed his strategy in the second, going all out on the attack, and hitting the world No.1 off the court, striking 60 winners to 45 errors over the course of the contest, while Djokovic went 30-41.
The sublime Wawrinka performance was the perfect response to an increasingly nervy Djokovic showing, and a lesson to all tennis players in how to wrestle a slam from the game’s dominant player on a surface he has mastered- take it to him and make him play his best.
Djokovic was unable to do so, and looked increasingly helpless as one Wawrinka winner after another flew past him, and he was deprived of controlling the baseline rallies with the rhythm he had worked so hard at perfecting all season.
Wawrinka leveled the match at a set all, and then grew in confidence as he went about adding another slam to his resume, and inflicting a painful defeat on the world No.1 .
Despite the disappointment, Djokovic accepted his loss with grace, and some tears as he was overwhelmed for the second time that day- the French Open crowd continuing from where Wawrinka had left off.
The sight of the world No.1 holding back the tears receiving the warm applause from a sympathetic Roland Garros crowd- a crowd hardly known for that quality- is one that will inspire many to cheer him on next year.
That is if they are not cheering for Stan, of course. The popular Swiss won even more fans than he already has with the win, one which showed exactly why trophies are not just handed to the favorite but are shed sweat, blood, and tears over.
2. Roger Federer produces superb tennis to defeat Andy Murray in the Wimbledon Semi-finals.
Roger Federer winning Grand Slam 18 is the stuff of many a tennis fan’s dream, and after Federer’s commanding performance over Andy Murray in the Wimbledon semis, many thought that elusive 18th win would finally make it into his hands.
All of Federer’s slam winning arsenal was firing- the serve, the net game, the creative flair- and on Federer’s favorite stage, the Wimbledon Center Court, before a crowd who were as keen for him to win as they were for their very own 2013 champion.
Those hopes, sadly, came crashing down, and the much longed for scene of Federer celebrating his 18th slam never happened- Novak Djokovic was always going to be a very different opponent than Murray, and even more so in a slam final, no matter how hard tennis fans world wide hoped otherwise.
Nevertheless, Federer’s semi-final remarkable performance versus Muray did happen, was a spectacle to savor and will go down as one of Federer’s finest in SW19.
3. Novak Djokovic battles from two sets to love down against Kevin Anderson in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
That Djokovic Wimbledon trophy win looked like it might not materialize at one stage when the defending champion trailed Kevin Anderson by two sets to love in the fourth round in London.
Anderson, who had never beaten a top tenner in a slam, looked like he was on the verge of doing so as his big serve and risky tennis posed too many questions for the world No.1.
The Serb has struggled in the past against the biggest serves in the game such as John Isner and Ivo Karlovic. For while Djokovic may have the best return in the game, he needs to get his racket on the ball and get some rhythm going to make it effective, and the likes of Anderson deny him that chance.
Djokovic found an answer, of course, as Anderson struggled with his service the closer he got to a career breakthrough win. As the Serb got more of his racket on the ball, and as Anderson’s level dropped, Djokovic got his rhythm going and battled back from two sets to love down to level things up.
At two sets all, night fell and the match was postponed to the next day. Djokovic was the one who the break benefited the most, and the world No.1 came back, took the deciding set, and went go on to win his ninth slam title and his third Wimbledon.
That win may have been a greater moment, but Djokovic’s fightback against Anderson, in which he demonstrated his resilience, fight and mental toughness was gave us a great insight into the mind of the game’s dominant player, and reminds us that behind every brilliant performance he produces in finals have been many less stellar ones quality ones but full of the grittiness that has taken him to the top of the game.
4. Alexander Zverev squeezes past Borna Coric in the Cincinnati Open first round
While the Nishikori generation seems to have declined since 2014, all eyes turned in 2015 to the current crop of teens (Zverev, Chung, Coric, Kokkinakis) making their way up the ATP’s top 100.
Two of that talented group, Borna Coric and Alexander Zverev, the ATP’s 2015 Star of Tomorrow winner, met in the first round match in Cincinnati, a match met with great interest by those desperate for the next wave of players to break though on the ATP tour.
The match did not disappoint those who tuned in to see what talents could be dominating in five seasons time. It may not have been the best quality, but there was no question about how much either player wanted the win.
The match went all the way to a third set breaker with Zverev’s greater willingness to make something happening trumping Coric’s consistency.
Though neither player is likely to break through and win a big title next year- the tour’s slower surfaces will hold them back much as they did the lost Nishikori generation-their rise up the rankings should continue (Coric is ranked 44, Zverev 83), and we look forward to being treated to even more down-to-the-wire contests.
5. Juan Martin del Potro returns to tennis at Indian Wells.
The Argentine met Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who would later reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2015, and lost 4-6, 6-7 (7).
Win or lose, the result was a win-win for del Potro and his fans. The 2009 US Open champion has been riddled with injuries since winning that slam trophy, yet he is committed to coming back, and frequently tweets to his followers his gratitude for their support and his strong desire to return to the tour.
Aunque la cima se vea lejos, cada paso me acerca más. Although the top looks far away, each step brings me closer. pic.twitter.com/arLN35o9u5
— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) November 18, 2015
Each tweet and update is welcomed with open arms as tennis fans look forward to the return of arguably the game’s most endearing and charming players.
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6. Marin Cilic makes a deep run into the US Open semis.
Marin Cilic’s 2014 US Open win may have been the biggest shock in tennis since Gaston Gaudio won the 2004 French Open as he confounded the doubters to prove he had the mental strength to fulfil his potential and win a slam.
Those doubters began voicing their disbelief in Cilic’s elite credentials a year later when injury sidelined the Croat from the WTF ’14 until Indian Wells ’15 and he struggled to put together match wins.
That loss of form led many to believe Cilic would make an early exit in the defense of his maiden slam win.
In fact, Cilic would go on to make his deepest run of the year so far at the US Open, winning five matches in a row to make the last four. On the way, he defeated Mikhail Kukushkin in a tough five setter in the third round, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an entertaining five setter in the quarters.
Cilic limped out the event a little tamely, suffering both a foot injury and a comprehensive loss to Djokovic, but he did prove something to his critics- he was a force to be reckoned with in New York and was anything but a one slam wonder.
7. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal renew their rivalry in the Basel final.
Tennis’s two greatest active players had not met since the Australian Open semis ’14 until they faced each other in the Basel final this seaon.
Since Nadal’s Melbourne win, their career have taken different turns. Federer’s has gone up- all the way to 2 in the world and making slam finals again- while Nadal’s has gone down and he his 2015 has turned into Federer’s ’13.
However, the Australian Open ’14 was a turning point for Federer whose newly-committed to attacking strategy was winning him big matches again. Basel this season was a little similar for Nadal in that respect. The Spaniard had shown improved mental toughness in his recent runs to the Beijing final, the Shanghai semis and now the Basel final in what had traditionally been his toughest stretch of the season.
This match, though, unlike their Melborune one, was a competitive return to their rivalry. Federer brought out some of Nadal’s best tennis, as always, and when the Spaniard fought back to take the second set, it seemed the match might be the one in which we could finally announce that Rafael Nadal was back.
Federer though, did not do what he had done in Melbourne all those years ago, which was to submit to Nadal’s plan A. Instead, he executed his own one, his attacking game, despite the number of balls coming back and flying past him at the net.
With the faster than usual indoor conditions and the motivation of playing before his home crowd, Federer’s game proved superior to Nadal’s and the Swiss earned his 11th win over the Spaniard in a match which was not one of the year’s best moments quality wise but stood out for its moments of tension and its sense of occasion.
8. Fabio Fognini becomes the first man to defeat Nadal from two sets to love down in a Grand Slam.
151 times Rafael Nadal has gone up two sets to love in a Grand Slam match, and each time he had gone on to get the win.
Fognini struck 70 winners in the contest under the lights on Arthur Ashe before a typically exciteable crowd, conditions which brought out the very best in the streaky Italian.
Nadal could do little to subdue Fognini’s shotmaking except fight, but with his confidence at an all time low, he did not have the killer punch necessary to put an end to Fognini’s inspiring performance, one which helped make this match arguably the contest of 2015.
Watch highlights of Fognini’s historic win over Nadal in the US Open third round below
9. Roger Federer injects life into the ATP WTF by beating Novak Djokovic in the round robin stage.
By the ATP WTF this season, tennis had become, shall we say, a little predictable. Novak Djokovic had not been beaten since Roger Federer defeated him in straight sets in the Cincinnati final, and had dropped a single set since the US Open.
So, it was a pleasant surprise to see Federer take a tight first set off him in the round robin stage of the World Tour Finals, and then overwhelm him in the second.
That victory got people asking a question that had seemed unthinkable a day before- would Djokovic qualify for the semis?
The Serbian did. The defeat, somewhat predictably, motivated him to produce even higher levels of tennis than we had already seen as he defeated Tomas Berdych, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer in straight sets matches which left spectators partly admiring such impressive displays of dominance and partly remembering fondly Federer’s rousing and boat-rocking round robin performance.
10. Kei Nishikori reaches No.4 in the ATP Rankings
2014 was a difficult year for Nishikori and his generation as injuries sidelined them and poor decision-making derailed them.
The Japanese, though, managed to put in the best showing of himself, Dimitrov and Raonic, and on March 2nd he reached a career high of No.4 on the ATP rankings, which was not just the highest placing of his generation, but of any Japanese player in the game’s history.
Though Nishikori could not sustain his ranking as injuries continued to derail his progress, he did qualify for the ATP WTF, stole a set from Federer in a fighting performance in the round robin stage, and finished the year at No.8, the only one of his generation to finish in the top ten.
That might not be what we had hoped for them in 2015, but at least Nishikori was still among the game’s best, and if he can sort out his physical troubles, we might see more impressive milestones in 2016, and a moment which could feature higher than number ten on our 2016 Top ten moments list.
What was your best tennis moment in 2015?
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