Association of Tennis Professionals: Greatest Players of 2010 - Part 1
This year has been the year of the GOAT – Greatest Of All Time. Every fan, critic and online forum has been engaged in a ruthless debate about the greatest player of all time, and 2010 has been the center of focus. Where the competition first involved Pete
Sampras and Roger Federer, it has moved on to accommodate Federer against Rafael Nadal. Although, as of this moment both Rafa and the Maestro are still in the game; the GOAT cannot be determined till their respective retirements.
However, there is one other title which can be held without time constraints; the GOTY argument. GOTY stands for Greatest of the Year, and it is based on an all round system involving criteria such as ranking, tournaments won, Grand Slam events, broken records
and streaks. Tennis has become a two-man event – while occasionally some players beside Rafa and Federer may make it to the top, it is still an unusual event.
Let’s take a look at the top ten players of 2010, starting from the bottom.
Number 10: Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic
Serbia has definitely played a great role in the tennis world this year, and not just because of World Number 3 Novak “Nole” Djokovic. Two other Serbian players who have made their mark in 2010 are doubles team Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic. Nestor is
from Canada, Zimonjic is from Serbia and both of them share the same nationality. It is regrettable that this duo, who have worked so well as a pair, will be splitting their partnership to join other partners. Nestor will be teaming up with Max Mirnyi, while
Zimonjic will pair up with Frenchman Michael Llodra.
This illustrious partnership earned the players a trophy at the French Open in Roland Garros. They also managed to take away the title at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals last month, and participated in a successful Davis Cup campaign for their country
last weekend.
Number 9: Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish is one of the few American players currently on the Association of Tennis Professionals. He was also the best American tennis pro on the tour this year. Apart from the US Open, Mardy has had an exceptional hard court season in 2010.
He faced many difficult opponents this year. One of his highest-ranked challengers was World Number 4 Andy Murray, whom he competed against four times in 2010. He managed to win all of those matches, and can now boast of a flawless record against the British
Number 1 in 2010. Another one of Mardy Fish’s conquests is American Number 1, Andy Roddick. The World Number 8 was as blown away as Andy Murray in the face of Fish’s mental acuity and fast play.
Mardy Fish also reached the final of Queens, where he lost to compatriot Sam Querrey. He then competed in the Cincinnati Masters, where he beat all his opponents to reach the final of the event against World Number 2 Roger Federer. He was defeated by the
Swiss Maestro in a match with two tie-breaker sets.
Mardy also won a singles title at the Newport event. In doubles, he teamed up with fellow American tennis pro Sam Querrey to snag a doubles title in San Jose.
The second part of this series will discuss further players who have performed exceptionally well this year, regardless of their position on the top 10 ranking list of the Association of Tennis Professionals.
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