Association of Tennis Professionals: Greatest Players of 2010 Part III
The third instalment of this five part series will discuss David Ferrer and Robin Soderling as two of the best players in the year 2010. The series aims to take away the attention from the usual debates, and focus on players who have accomplished something
of note in their run this year. Players discussed in the previous two instalments are doubles team Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, American pro Mardy Fish, Czech Number 1 Tomas Berdych and doubles team Mike and Bob Bryan. Let’s take a look at the next two
players who have proved themselves in 2010.
Number 6: David Ferrer
This player is one of the two Spanish tennis pros in the Association of Tennis Professionals Top Ten, which leads to speculations about whether or not Spain may be the new breeding ground for tennis monsters. Apart from his nationality, another characteristic
he shares with Rafael Nadal is his prowess on the clay court; both players seem to make their mark on the red surface.
David Ferrer is one of the world’s best players, but because of his compatriot Rafa’s exceptional performance he himself is often overshadowed. However, his achievements are without a doubt exceptional. The Spaniard finished the year as World Number 7, which
consequently made him eligible for the Barclays Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour Finals. Although he was unable to win any of his round robin matches and suffered three losses; he was defeated by World Number 1 Roger Federer, British Number 1
Andy Murray and top Swede player Robin Soderling. Despite these losses, his achievements are by his standards magnificent, and they should not be downplayed.
Ferrer also finished the year with a win loss record of 60 matches won and only 20 lost. He is one of the leading players with this win loss record, and this record is one of the best ones on the tour this year.
Number 5: Robin Soderling
Swedish World Number 1 may have broken through on the Association of Tennis Professionals last year in 2009, but 2010 was the season in which he proved himself to be a serious opponent and a superb contender.
Last year, the tennis world was taken by storm as Robin Soderling ousted current World Number 1 Rafael “Rafa” Nadal at the clay courts of Roland Garros. Similarly, this year Soderling decimated Federer in a surprisingly simple match, once again at the French
Open during the quarter finals of the Grand Slam. He eventually reached the finals of the French Open, where Rafa took revenge on him for his 2009 defeat. He lost the match to Nadal.
A few weeks after this Grand Slam, Robin Soderling rallied once more. This time, he reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships and lost, once again, to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. After this, Robin Soderling continued the year to win each
match at the 2010 US Open until he reached the quarterfinals of the event. His run at Flushing Meadows ended here, with Roger Federer defeating him easily.
This year, World Number 5 Soderling won two tournaments. One of these was his first Masters 1000 vicotry at Paris near the end of the year, which pushed him to a career high ranking of World Number 4 past British Number 1 Andy Murray. After the Barclays
ATP World Tour Finals, Andy Murray regained the top spot.
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