Top Ten Players Part II: How Can They Improve?
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 II, the World’s Number 4, 5 and 6 will be discussed.
World Number 4, Andy Murray: Scottish Murray seems to be a bit of a dark horse. One of his major problems which costs him major success at tournaments, is his inconsistency. His season this year has remained largely up-and-down. He played
exceptional tennis at the 2010 Australian Open, falling just short of the mark because of his defeat by Roger Federer at the final. Then during Wimbledon he was defeated by Rafael Nadal, World Number 1, in the semi finals. He won the Rogers Cup in Toronto
this year, and then suffered another hit at the US Open tournament, falling out of the competition in round three. The 23 year old Murray needs to concentrate on winning, and on doing so consistently. He still has an opportunity for a grand finale at the year-end
championships.
World Number 5, Robin Soderling: 26 year old Robin Soderling initially became famous for being one of the most aggressive, difficult players to combat in indoor matches. His claim to fame was his two time streak at the French Open finals,
and to add to that, he is one of the few players to take out Rafael Nadal at Paris; this is a difficult feat to accomplish, especially since Rafa’s prowess on clay is so advanced that he is known as the King of Clay. However, apart from that, the Swede tennis
pro may not be as good as advertised; another win over Nadal, or Federer, would promote his rankings and popularity considerably.
World Number 6, Nikolay Davydenko: This Russian player is one of the few men in the ATP rankings who has a winning record against Rafael Nadal. His 2009 record was a successful one, leaving him with titles and many points to defend for this
year; this is fortunate for him, because this year has been a massive disappointment where Davydenko’s game is concerned. In all fairness, he is not to blame – the 29 year old had his wrist broken early on in the season and it has proven particularly difficult
to mend. However, his amplitude of points should provide him with the required motivation to return to the game with refreshed fervour and enthusiasm to defend his position as World Number 6.
The third and second last installation of this series will discuss players such as Tomas Berdych, Fernando Verdasco and Mikhail Youzhny.
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