Top Ten Players, And A Few Others: How Can They Improve? (Part 4)
The top ten players on the Association of Tennis Professionals, or the ATP, have a strenuous year to look forward to in 2011. Near the end of the current decade, all four Majors tournaments have been played out and the next competition to take place will
be the Masters, near the beginning of the New Year. The players will be fighting to maintain their points on the ATP ranking to keep from slipping to a lower position; this will require constant exercise, training and a gruelling practice regime. In this three
part feature, some things that the Top Ten of 2010 need to improve as soon as possible are discussed. In Part IV, World Number 10 Andy Roddick, Number 11 David Ferrer and Number 13, Jurgen Melzer are given some attention.
World Number 10, Andy Roddick: American Andy Roddick (the only professional tennis player from the United States of America who is currently on the World Top Ten) has advanced from Number 11 to one notch higher, despite a very inconsistent
set of matches all year round. He has almost no points left to defend for the remainder of this year; this may, as in the case of Nikolay Davydenko, be a blessing in disguise, as he was diagnosed with mononucleosis over the summer. Given that he covers in
the near future, fans may be seeing him once again in form at London. The most that Roddick can do at the moment is ensuring that his position remains steady by recovering as soon as possible.
Number 11, David Ferrer: At 5 foot 9 inches, David Ferrer is possibly one of the shortest players on the ATP ranking list. His career high ranking was number 4, and he first made Top 10 in 2006. He debuted as a professional tennis player
in 2000, and represents his country Spain. Ferrer has a fair chance of making it to the Top Ten once again – he only recently fell to 11 after Roddick climbed up the ranking. One of his main problems is linked to health; even Rafa with his trick knees, manages
to outlast Ferrer. The Spaniard’s second issue is something unchangeable; his height certainly puts him at a disadvantage. Despite these handicaps, if he manages to train hard and overcome his obstacles at the year-end championships, David Ferrer may have
a very good chance at overtaking Roddick to once again join the Top Ten, which would make him the third Spanish on the ATP Top Ten rankings.
Number 13, Jurgen Melzer: This year has been significant for Austrian tennis pro Jurgen Melzer. For several years, he was popular as the best player on the tour to have no record of proceeding to the fourth round of any Grand Slam tournament.
However, 2010 was the year, in which Jurgen Melzer broke this streak by reaching the semi finals of the French Open and claiming the doubles title match with Philipp Petzschner at Wimbledon. He also played Roger Federer in the fourth round of the US Open,
contending for a spot in the quarter finals. The Viennese 29 year old may yet have time to achieve a higher ranking and enter the revered Top Ten group, if he concentrates on improving his game for the year end championships.
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