A year in review: Rhyne Williams – Tennis Special
American booming star, Rhyne Williams, displayed brilliant tennis throughout his 2012 campaign. As a result, he climbed more than 300 spots in the South African Airways ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Rankings and conquered the USTA
Australian Open Wild Card Play-offs in Norcross.
The American youngster started his 2012 campaign ranked around 500. He showed dismal performances in the opening few tournaments but managed to reach the main draw at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The youngster maintained consistency in his game
and after reaching far in several ATP Challenger Tour events, he ended the season inside Top 200.
When asked what caused this massive jump in the rankings in an interview to AtpWorldTour.com, Williams commented,
“When I left school, I was over 200 pounds. I could not really move around the court, so I think just my overall commitment to my physicality, becoming fit and working really hard off the court is the biggest thing that’s helped me. Without a high fitness
level these days, you’re not going to last. Everyone can play and you have to be an animal to even think about getting inside the Top 100. I’ve really worked hard on my off-court habits.”
The 21-year-old lifted his game at the Savannah Challenger where he secured a quarter-final berth through qualifiers (lost to seventh seed Ryan Sweeting). Williams carried his momentum at the Rome Challenger following month and repeated his journey. He made
a final eight showing through qualifiers before bowing out to Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz.
The Knoxville native eventually cracked the Top 300 with his impressive run of form in July. He made another quarter-final berth at the Binghamton Challenger before losing to New Zealand’s Daniel King-Turner.
In the following month, Williams made his first Grand Slam main draw appearance at the US Open. He cruised past his opponents in straight sets in qualifying rounds before bowing out to former world number one Andy Roddick in the first round.
Williams continued hitting angled shots and secured quarter-final berths in Tiburon, Charlottesville and Knoxville. In the last event he played in Champaign, the American made a final four showing before losing to sixth seed Tim Smyczek.
As a result, he ended the season standing at number 190 in the ATP World Tour Rankings.
Tags: