tennishead Volume 6 Issue 6

davis cup special issue

thE world’ s be s t tennis mag a zine

Great Britain win Davis Cup

WORLD CHAMPIONS

tennishe ad.net

january 2016

made in london

2015 in review

What’s new for 2016 Forced Errors

The statistic that demands attention

Daria Gavrilova // Kevin Anderson // Belinda Bencic Patrick Mouratoglou: On-court coaching

Dominic Thiem The benefits of hard work

Ivo Karlovic “Every day you have to find something that makes you happy”

january 2016

£4.99

january 2016

contents 08

36

4

28

74

42 82 18

20

upfront

features

academy

8

28 Gentle giant

50 Patrick Mouratoglou

18 Go Aussie

36 happy new year

20 2015 in review

42 Young gun

Adapting your game for left-handers

world champions

Stunning images from the 2015 Davis Cup final

Daria Gavrilova making big strides

The standout moments from a memorable season

Ivo Karlovic – the oldest man in the top 100 – on savouring every moment

Things to look out for in 2016

Patrick’s views on on-court coaching

54 Anderson ace

Kevin Anderson’s serve

58 Unlocking lefties

Dominic Thiem on national service and why hard work pays off eventually

60 time to detox?

74 Out of this world

62 Breaking the bank

Bjorn Borg: Blurring the boundaries between sportswear and fashion

82 my racket

Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic and her lifelong love of Yonex

The importance of flushing out toxins Making ends meet on tour

64 Opportunity knocks

Mats Merkel on scouting juniors

66 The forced error

Craig O’Shannessy on the vital statistic

98 last word

71

gear news

Wilson’s Pro Staff anniversary edition

78 Radical thinking

Murray’s HEAD racket gets an upgrade 81 Pro Shop

The latest kit from Pro-Direct

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84 results and rankings

WTA Finals and ATP World Tour Finals

contenTs

gear



Fast4 – the new faster format being piloted by the LTA

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5

Frame by Frame The Andy Murray GB victory roll

Andy Murray broke many records to lead Great Britain to victory Words Paul Newman • Photos Frank MOLTER 10



alongside him in his five triumphs; even last year Roger Federer could rely on Stan Wawrinka when he finally claimed the last major jewel missing from his crown. Murray had Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans and James Ward as his singles back-up and they won just one rubber between them this year.

In leading Britain to victory over the United States, France, Australia and Belgium, Murray broke a host of records established since the introduction of the World Group in 1981.

He became the first player to win 11 live Davis Cup rubbers in a single season and remain unbeaten through the year; the third (after John McEnroe in 1982 and Mats Wilander in 1983) to win all eight of his singles rubbers in a single calendar year; and the fourth to win 11 or more rubbers in a Davis Cup year (after McEnroe with 12 in 1982, Michael Stich with 11 in 1993 and Ljubicic with 11 in 2005).

A lucky draw and good fortune can produce some unlikely Davis Cup results, as Belgium showed with their run to this year’s final. The Belgians beat a Swiss team in which Federer and Wawrinka chose not to play, a Canadian team without the injured Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil, and an Argentinian team without its long-term absentee, Juan Martin del Potro.

Moreover, all four of Belgium’s ties, including the final in Ghent, were played on some soil.

Contrast that with Britain, who became the first country to beat the three other Grand Slam nations in consecutive ties since Perry and company overcame the same opponents en route to the title in 1933. If Britain had the benefit of home advantage in those three ties this year they did not have the same in the final as Belgium tried to make maximum use of their choice of surface by opting for indoor clay.

Ultimately, however, the surface proved an irrelevance. With the world No 2 in their side, Britain would probably have been happy to play on glass, ice or even water. There was a sense this year that nothing was going to stop Andy Murray.

tennishead.net

The Davis Cup has not eluded many of the great champions of tennis. Jimmy Connors, who only ever played in three Davis Cup campaigns, Ilie Nastase, who was three times a runner-up, Guillermo Vilas and Gustavo Kuerten are perhaps the most celebrated players of modern times never to have lifted the historic trophy. Nicola Pietrangeli also missed out on the ultimate team prize in the sport, despite playing in 66 ties and 164 rubbers for Italy over a period of 18 years.

Until this year it seemed that Andy Murray was destined to be part of that list, his fate apparently determined by the fact that he was Britain’s only top-class singles player. It had been 79 years since the last of the country’s nine Davis Cup triumphs; even in the days of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, the only nation that had played in every Davis Cup since its foundation in 1900 had struggled just to stay in the World Group.

Now, however, the wait is over. Just as Murray ended his country’s 77-year wait for a male singles champion at Wimbledon in 2013 when he became the first home-grown champion since Fred Perry, so the Scot stole another line in the history books from his famous predecessor by leading Britain to their 2015 Davis Cup triumph over Belgium. Perry had been the team’s inspiration when Britain won the historic competition four years in a row in the mid-1930s.

What made Britain’s victory this year so remarkable was the solo nature of Murray’s effort. Of the 12 points Britain won in 2015, eight were singles victories by the world No 2 and three were doubles wins in tandem with his brother Jamie.

There have been very occasional seasons in Davis Cup history when triumphant teams have been carried by one player – such as Croatia by Ivan Ljubicic in 2005 – but for the most part even the greatest champions have had talented team mates who could share the load. Perry had Bunny Austin, who won the opening rubber in all four finals between 1933 and 1936; Rod Laver had any number of great Australians to play

dav i s c u p

Murray's moment A victorious Andy Murray is hoisted up by his team after securing victory for Great Britain

11

2015

A year to 20

From near-invincible Novak to a Swiss SABR, to Flavia and Fabio and Rafa’s rollercoaster, it’s been another memorable year on tour

remember tennishead.net



2015

Words Lee GOODALL

21

Words Paul Newman Paul Newman is the tennis correspondent of The Independent, Independent on Sunday and i.

gentle GIANT At 36, Ivo Karlovic has had one of his best years on tour. And the Croatian ace machine says he has no plans to retire just yet

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29

36

2016

happy new year G e t r e a dy, s e t, g o … f o r a b lo c k b u s t e r s e a s o n o f t e n n i s

 tennishead.net

If 2015 is anything to go by, 2016 will be another year of breaking records. After claiming another three Grand Slam singles titles this year, Novak Djokovic’s first item on his new year ‘to do’ list will be a French Open title that would complete his career Grand Slam. Now with ten majors to his name, he sits in joint seventh in the list of ‘most Grand Slams won’, and is only four away from Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras. Whether the Serbian can reel in Roger Federer on 17 is anyone’s guess but if the last 12 months are anything to go by - and Nole can stay fit for the next two to three years - it seems entirely possible.

happy new year

Novak Djokovic

young gun Words Paul Newman

After six months' national service last year, Dominic Thiem, the youngest player in the world's top 20, has surpassed his own lofty expectations in 2015

42

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tennishead.net

ďƒ˜

Dominic Thiem

The forced error If forcing an error is an important component of winning matches, what tactics can you employ to draw mistakes from your opponent?

Words Craig O’Shannessy

T

he most important statistic in tennis is the one you never see. It’s what you try to do during every point, but you never really know just how effective you are at achieving it. It’s your primary goal, but it’s never recorded.

Look at any stat sheet from any match anywhere in the world – it’s invisible, but it’s the driving force behind every serve, every groundstroke and every volley. Tennis only records two ways a point ends – a winner, or an unforced error. The glaring omission is the third way a point ends – indeed more points end this way than either of the other two. The stat that absolutely, positively matters the most in tennis is the “forced error”.

Forcing errors means making your opponent uncomfortable, making them miss their shot because 66

of something special you did to make them miss.

In the men’s draw at the 2015 Australian Open, 70% (20,226) of points were errors (forced and unforced), and 30% (8,622) were winners. Forced errors were not recorded, but it’s easy to figure out by looking at total points, and subtracting winners and unforced errors. As it turns out, forced errors accounted for 42% (12,104) of all points, and unforced errors only accounted for 28% (8,122) of total points.

That means there were almost 50% more forced errors than unforced errors, and 40% more forced errors than winners. So if forcing an error is so important, how do you do it? There are eight ways to force an error, and they are found by looking at the court, the ball, the player, and a watch.

© Giubilo – Tennis Photo Network

brain game

academy

5

Spin

6

Power

7

Court position

8

Time

Heavy topspin and heavy slice can be a nightmare for an opponent to deal with. Nadal has a wicked heavy topspin forehand, while players like Federer have mastered an extremely low backhand slice that needs a lot of care and attention to simply get it back over the net.

When a ball is hit really fast, it weighs more on the opponent’s racket when they make contact. Big servers such as Ivo Karlovic, John Isner and Sam Groth make it extremely difficult for the returner to control the shot because of the velocity they are hitting at.

Think of players like David Ferrer and Lleyton Hewitt. These guys are simply not going to miss. They were born with ridiculous shot tolerance. You know they are not going to miss, and they force you to go for something you shouldn’t – and you miss.

2

Direction

3

Depth

4

Height

Let’s start cutting the court up, and begin with left and right. The ability to hit the ball where the opponent isn’t, or where they have just been, is a real strength.

This takes into account targeting a weaker side, and also breaking down an opponent’s legs and lungs with side-to-side, lactic acid torture.

Imagine a line half-way between the service line and the baseline. Any ball that lands past that line is considered deep, jumping sharply at someone standing around the baseline, pushing them back to a part of the court they can’t hurt you from. Depth also includes hitting short, such as drop shots.

A great example here is Rafael Nadal working the ball up high to Roger Federer’s one-handed backhand, so he makes contact up around his shoulders. Height is really high, and it’s also really low. Very few players like a high ball, or a low ball.

These eight ways to force an error don’t work in isolation – they are fluid, and typically work in unison. A good rule of thumb is that you want to get one of them working in your favour to wrestle control of the point. If you get two happening at the same time, such as court position and time, or consistency and direction, the opponent’s ball typically won’t land past the service line.

Get three working together, such as power, depth and spin, and the opponent’s ball will almost always be an error – a forced error.

All eight strategies are important at various times in a point, but the main one to focus on, the primary element that is the diamond in the list of precious jewels, is depth.

Getting the ball deep forces a bucket load of errors, as opponents don’t respect the depth and move back, and also don’t modify their stroke to deal with a sharply jumping ball.

biography Craig O’Shannessy is a tennis coach and strategy analyst for the ATP and WTA. Using Dartfish tagging software, he breaks matches down to specific patterns of play to uncover what works at all levels of the game.

Follow Craig on Twitter @BrainGameTennis

brain ga m e

Consistency



1

This last element refers specifically to the time it takes to get ready to hit the shot. Some backswings are a lot bigger than others, and some players require a fraction more time to get their hands and feet organised to hit a shot. Getting the ball back quickly robs the opponent of precious time to get fully prepared, forcing lots of errors.

t e nnish e ad . n e t

The stat that absolutely, positively matters most in tennis is the forced error – making the opponent miss

Where you stand on the court visually shrinks and expands areas of the court, and also has real ability to increase pressure hitting the shot. For example, when Federer steps in to chip-charge a second serve return, he will often elicit a double fault from the server.

Approaching the net will also shrink the court.

67

78

gear

Radical thinking HEAD has given Andy Murray’s Radical range the Graphene XT treatment – plus a little treat for those keen to play with their setup Words michael beattie

World No.2 Andy Murray is the face of HEAD’s Radical range of rackets

 tennishead.net

Frame game

rackets

W

hen HEAD designed the first Radical back in the early 1990s, Andre Agassi was the man they had in mind.

Brash, brilliant and with a style all of his own, the American was a marketeer’s dream, and HEAD’s gamble – signing Agassi while he dealt with a serious wrist injury and handing him their oversized black and yellow ‘bumblebee’ frame – paid off handsomely.

Little did they know then that Agassi would go on to be the oldest man to hold the world No.1 ranking, aged 33 in 2003 – and that his signature stick would remain at the top of the game for over a decade to come, in the hands of another player who has never been satisfied with simply running with the pack.

In Agassi’s wake, Andy Murray is now the face of the HEAD Radical, which has recently received its latest technological update with the introduction of Graphene XT, a new carbon configuration that makes the frame up to 30% stronger.

This strength allows HEAD’s engineers to redistribute the weight to the handle and tip of the frame, where it can have a greater influence on power and control, rather than around the typically weak throat, requiring less material to maintain the frame’s structural integrity.

The result, notable when Graphene was first introduced to the Radical in 2013, is a marked improvement in racket response and a rise in swingweight, the power-boosting force that the racket can impart on the ball at the point of impact, without a huge effect on manoeuvrability. HEAD boasts that the energy transfer when striking a ball is as much as 10% better compared to older models.

HEAD has released six different versions of the Radical, each with their own quirks. Grabbing the headlines is the introduction

79

wta rankings ďƒ˜

30.11 . 2015

RANKING

1

Serena WIlliams

2

simona halep

3

garbine Muguruza

4

maria sharapova

5

agnieszka Radwanska

6

petra kvitova

7

venus Williams

8

flavia Pennetta

9

lucie Safarova

10

angelique Kerber

down 2

94

PERSONAL

Points: 9,945

Points: 6,060

Points: 5,200

Points: 5,011

Points: 4,500

Points: 4,220

Points: 3,790

Points: 3,621

Points: 3,590

Points: 3,590

ACHIEVEMENTS

FORM

usa

This year: $10,582,642 Career to date: $74,083,421 Career-high ranking: 1 (08/07/02) Career titles: 69 Last title: Western & Southern Open, WTA Premier, Cincinnati, USA, August 2015

Did not play after agonising US Open defeat to Vinci. Called time on season to heal mentally and physically after missing out on calendar year Grand Slam.

Finished the year as No.1 for a fifth time after ending 2015 with a 53-3 win-loss record.

romania

This year: $4,568,127 Career to date: $11,127,535 Career-high ranking: 2 (11/08/14) Career titles: 11 Last title: BNP Paribas Open, WTA Premier, Indian Wells, USA, March 2015

Finished 2015 as world No.2 despite disappointing Asian swing. Fell to No.74 Allertova as top seed in Guangzhou and lost to No.66 Konta in Wuhan.

Lost to Arruabarrena in Beijing 1R and went 1-2 in Singapore RR to miss out on SFs.

spain

This year: $4,498,308 Career to date: $6,179,777 Career-high ranking: 3 (26/10/15) Career titles: 2 Last title: China Open, WTA Premier, Beijing, China, October 2015

Finished season strongly: made Tokyo QFs (l. to Bencic), Wuhan final (l. to V Williams) before winning second WTA title in Beijing (d. Bacsinszky in final). Went unbeaten in Singapore RR before falling to Radwanska in SFs.

russia

This year: $3,949,284 Career to date: $36,484,486 Career-high ranking: 1 (22/08/05) Career titles: 35 Last title: Internazionali BNL d'Italia, WTA Premier, Rome, Italy, May 2015

Retired in first match since July in Wuhan (l. to Strycova) but won all three RR matches in Singapore before falling in SFs to Kvitova. Won both singles rubbers (Kvitova, Pliskova) but could not guide Russia to Fed Cup victory v Czech Republic.

poland

This year: $4,412,293 Career to date: $21,777,713 Career-high ranking: 2 (09/07/12) Career titles: 15 Last title: WTA Finals, Singapore, October 2015

Enjoyed superb run of form to climb back up to No.5, winning titles in Tokyo (d. Bencic) and Tianjin (d. Kovinic) as well as run to Beijing SFs (l. to Muguruza).

Despite losing two RR matches went on to win biggest title of career in Singapore (d. Kvitova).

czech republic

This year: $3,288,722 Career to date: $20,391,180 Career-high ranking: 2 (31/10/11) Career titles: 17 Last title: Connecticut Open, WTA Premier, New Haven, USA, August 2015

Lost to Italians Vinci (Wuhan 3R) and Errani (Beijing 1R and despite winning just one match in Singapore RR reached final (l. to Radwanska). Lost three-set thriller to Sharapova in Prague but Czechs won Fed Cup title for fourth time in five years.

USA

This year: $2,404,419 Career to date: $32,608,015 Career-high ranking: 1 (25/02/02) Career titles: 47 Last title: : WTA Elite Trophy, Zhuhai, China, November 2015

Ends season in Top 10 for first time since 2010 after two titles in Wuhan (d. Muguruza) and Zhuhai (d. Pliskova). Lost to Ivanovic in Beijing 2R and Jankovic in Hong Kong SFs. Oldest player to be ranked in top 10 since Navratilova in 1995.

ITALY

This year: $4,406,005 Career to date: $14,197,917 Career-high ranking: 6 (28/09/15) Career titles: 11 Last title US Open, Grand Slam, New York, USA, September 2015

Her first - and last - season in Top 10. Struggled for form after US Open win - losing in Beijing 3R to Pavlyuchenkova and Tianjin R1 to No.414 Kichenkok.

Lost in Moscow QFs to Tsurenko but qualified for Singapore losing final match to Sharapova.

czech republic

This year: $2,946,261 Career to date: $8,603,907 Career-high ranking: 5 (14/09/15) Career titles: 6 Last title: Qatar Total Open, WTA Premier, Doha, Qatar, February 2015

Missed Asian swing after being hospitalised with infection.

Returned in Linz, but lost in R1 to Mitu and in Moscow R1 (l. to Pavlyuchenkova). Won final singles match of 2015 (d. Kerber) to go 1-2 in Singapore RR and send Kvitova into SFs.

Germany

This year: $1,898,047 Career to date: $9,185,169 Career-high ranking: 5 (22/10/12) Career titles: 7 Last title: Bank of the West Classic, WTA Premier, Stanford, USA, August 2015

Enjoyed decent results in Asia: Tokyo QFs (l. to Wozniacki), Wuhan SFs (l. to Muguruza) & Beijing QFs (l. to Radwanska).

Beaten by Jankovic in Hong Kong final.Beat Kvitova in Singapore RR but failed to reach SFs with 1-2 record.

Born: 26/09/81 Lives: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA Height: 5ft 9in Weight: 155 lbs

Born: 27/09/91 Lives: Constanta, Romania Height: 5ft 6in Weight: 132 lbs

Born: 08/10/93 Lives: Barcelona, Spain Height: 6ft 0in Weight: 161 lbs

Born: 19/04/87 Lives: Bradenton, Florida, USA Height: 6ft 2in Weight: 130 lbs

Born: 06/03/89 Lives: Krakow, Poland Height: 5ft 8in Weight: 123 lbs

Born: 08/03/90 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft Weight: 154 lbs

Born: 17/06/80 Lives: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA Height: 6ft 1in Weight: 160 lbs

Born: 25/02/82 Lives: Brindisi, Italy Height: 5ft 8in Weight: 128 lbs

Born: 04/02/87 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 5ft 9in Weight: 137 lbs

Born: 18/01/88 Lives: Puszczykowo, Poland Height: 5ft 8in Weight: 150 lbs

11-100 RANKINGS 11 Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 12 Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 13 Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 14 Belinda Bencic (SUI) 15 Roberta Vinci (ITA) 16 Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 17 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 18 Madison Keys (USA) 19 Elina Svitolina (UKR) 20 Sara Errani (ITA) 21 Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 22 Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 23 Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 24 Andrea Petkovic (GER) 25 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 26 Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) 27 Samantha Stosur (AUS) 28 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 29 Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 30 Sloane Stephens (USA) 31 Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 32 Sabine Lisicki (GER) 33 Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 34 Caroline Garcia (FRA) 35 Camila Giorgi (ITA) 36 Daria Gavrilova (RUS) 37 Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 38 Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 39 Monica Niculescu (ROU) 40 Madison Brengle (USA) 41 Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 42 Barbora Strycova (CZE) 43 Alize Cornet (FRA) 44 Alison van Uytvanck (BEL) 45 Mona Barthel (GER) 46 Teliana Pereira (BRA) 47 Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 48 Johanna Konta (GBR) 49 Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 50 Julia Goerges (GER) 51 Karin Knapp (ITA) 52 Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 53 Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 54 Misaki Doi (JPN) 55 Heather Watson (GBR) 56 Johanna Larsson (SWE) 57 Danka Kovinic (MNE) 58 Annika Beck (GER) 59 Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 60 Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 61 Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) 62 Denisa Allertova (CZE) 63 Christina McHale (USA) 64 Carina Witthoeft (GER) 65 Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) 66 Nao Hibino (JPN) 67 Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 68 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 69 Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 70 Timea Babos (HUN) 71 Tatjana Maria (GER) 72 Olga Govortsova (BLR) 73 Zheng Saisai (CHN) 74 Polona Hercog (SLO) 75 Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 76 Irina Falconi (USA) 77 Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 78 Mariana Duque-Marino (COL) 79 Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 80 Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 81 Kurumi Nara (JPN) 82 Ana Konjuh (CRO) 83 Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 84 Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 85 Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 86 Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 87 Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 88 Lauren Davis (USA) 89 Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 90 Magda Linette (POL) 91 Anett Kontaveit (EST) 92 Monica Puig (PUR) 93 Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) 94 Urszula Radwanska (POL) 95 Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 96 Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) 97 Andreea Mitu (ROU) 98 Alison Riske (USA) 99 Laura Siegemund (GER) 100 Klara Koukalova (CZE)

1

novak djokovic

2

andy rafael nadal murray

3

roger federer

4

stan wawrinka

5

rafael Nadal

6

tomas berdych

7

david ferrer

8

kei nishikori

9

richard Gasquet

10

jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Points: 16,585

Points: 6,860 Points: 8,945

Points: 8,265

Points: 6,865

Points: 5,230

Points: 4,620

Points: 4,305

Points: 4,235

Points: 2,850

Points: 2,635

ACHIEVEMENTS

FORM

serbia

This year: $21,592,125 Career to date: $94,050,053 Career-high ranking: 1 (04/07/11) Career titles: 59 Last title: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, London, UK, November 2015

Went unbeaten in 23 matches, winning titles in Beijing (d.

Nadal), Shanghai (d. Tsonga), and Paris (d. Murray) before defeat to Federer in London RR. Beat Swiss in final to win fourth straight title in London and 11th trophy in 2015.

great britain Spain Born:15/05/87 Born: 03/06/86 Lives: Lives: Manacor, Mallorca, London, England Spain Height: 6ft 3in Height: 185 6ft 1in Weight: lbs Weight: 188 lbs

This year: This year:$8,215,153 $5,714,859 Career to Career todate: date:$42,435,316 $55,776,687 Career-high ranking: Career-high ranking:2 1 (17/08/09) (18/08/08) Career Careertitles: titles:35 57 Last title: Cup, Grand Last title: Rogers French Open, ATP 1000, June Montreal, Slam,Masters Paris, France, 2013 Canada, August 2015

Reached Shanghai SFs and final in Paris, losing to Djokovic on both occasions. Finished 2015 as world No.2 for first time with career-best 71 wins - six of 14 defeats were v Djokovic.

Went 8-0 in singles to guide GB to first Davis Cup since 1936.

switzerland

This year: $8,682,892 Career to date: $97,303,556 Career-high ranking: 1 (02/02/04) Career titles: 88 Last title: Swiss Indoors, ATP 500, Basel, Switzerland, October 2015

Suffered shock defeat to Ramos-Vinolas in Shanghai R1 but bounced back to win 7th Basel title (d. Nadal). Lost to Isner in Paris 3R. Ended Djokovic's 23-match streak to go 3-0 in London RR - only to lose to the Serb in final.

switzerland

This year: $6,510,265 Career to date: $20,947,676 Career-high ranking: 3 (27/01/14) Career titles: 11 Last title: Rakuten Japan Open, ATP 500, Tokyo, Japan, October 2015

Retired in Metz with ankle injury but bounced back to win in Tokyo (d. Paire). Lost to Nadal in Shanghai QFs and lost in Basel 1R for fourth straight year (l. to Karlovic). Made SFs in Paris (l. to Djokovic) and SFs in London (l. to Federer).

Spain

This year: $4,421,513 Career to date: $75,888,125 Career-high ranking: 1 (18/08/08) Career titles: 67 Last title: bet-at-home Open, ATP 250, Hamburg, Germany, August 2015

Enjoyed return to form in Asia, reaching Beijing final (l. to Djokovic) and Shanghai SFs (l. to Tsonga). Reached final in Basel (l. to Federer) and Paris QFs (l. to Wawrinka). Went unbeaten in London RR but lost to Djokovic in SFs.

czech republic

This year: $3,717,921 Career to date: $23,804,551 Career-high ranking: 4 (18/05/15) Career titles: 12 Last title: If Stockholm Open, ATP 250, Stockholm, Sweden, October 2015

Won two titles in October in Shenzhen (d. Garcia-Lopez) and Stockholm (d. Sock). Fell in Beijing 1R (l. to Cuevas), Shanghai QFs (l. to Murray) and Paris QFs (l. to Djokovic) before failing to win match in London RR to go 6-13 in career.

spain

This year: $3,600,627 Career to date: $28,355,864 Career-high ranking: 3 (08/07/13) Career titles: 26 Last title: Erste Bank Open, ATP 500, Vienna, Austria, October 2015

Reached Beijing SFs (l. to Djokovic) and lost in Shanghai 1R (l. to Tomic) in between winning titles in Kuala Lumpur (d. Lopez) and Vienna (d.

Johnson). Reached SFs in Paris (l. to Murray) and lost again to Murray in 0-3 London RR.

japan

This year: $3,292,325 Career to date: $11,325,625 Career-high ranking: 4 (02/03/15) Career titles: 10 Last title: Citi Open, ATP 500, Washington DC, USA, August 2014

Failed to defend Tokyo title (l. to Paire in SFs) and lost to Anderson in Shanghai 3R. Retired from Paris 3R against Gasquet with abdominal injury but returned to action in London, beating Berdych to go 1-2 in RR matches.

france

This year: $2,511,995 Career to date: $13,484,902 Career-high ranking: 7 (09/07/07) Career titles: 12 Last title: Millennium Estoril Open, ATP 250, Estoril, Portugal, May 2015

Lost in Tokyo 1R to Bautista Agut and Shanghai 3R to Tomic but found form on return to Europe reaching SFs in Stockholm (l. to Sock) and Basel (l. to Nadal) and Paris QFs (l. to Murray). Travelled to London as first alternate.

france

This year: $2,186,220 Career to date: $16,686,474 Career-high ranking: 5 (27/02/12) Career titles: 12 Last title: Moselle Open, ATP 250, Metz, France, September 2015

Won 12th ATP title in Metz (d.

Simon) but fell in Beijing 1R (l. to No.64 Haider-Maurer.

Bounced back with run to Shanghai final (l. to Djokovic).

Lost to Rosol in Vienna 2R before defeat to Berdych in Paris 3R. Finished year 32-16.

Born: 22/05/87 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft 2in Weight: 172 lbs

Born: 08/08/81 Lives: Switzerland Height: 6ft 1in Weight: 187 lbs

Born: 28/03/85 Lives: St Barthelemy, Switzerland Height: 6ft Weight: 179 lbs

Born: 03/06/86 Lives: Manacor, Majorca, Spain Height: 6ft 1in Weight: 188 lbs

Born: 17/09/85 Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 6ft 5in Weight: 200 lbs

Born: 02/04/82 Lives: Valencia, Spain Height: 5ft 9in Weight: 160 lbs

Born: 29/12/89 Lives: Bradenton, Florida, USA Height: 5ft 11in Weight: 165 lbs

Born: 18/06/86 Lives: Neuchatel, Switzerland Height: 6ft 1in Weight: 165 lbs

Born: 17/04/85 Lives: Gingins, Switzerland Height: 6ft 2in Weight: 200 lbs

11-100 RANKINGS 11 John Isner (USA) 12 Kevin Anderson (RSA) 13 Marin Cilic (CRO) 14 Milos Raonic (CAN) 15 Gilles Simon (FRA) 16 David Goffin (BEL) 17 Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 18 Bernard Tomic (AUS) 19 Benoit Paire (FRA) 20 Dominic Thiem (AUT) 21 Fabio Fognini (ITA) 22 Viktor Troicki (SRB) 23 Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 24 Gael Monfils (FRA) 25 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 26 Jack Sock (USA) 27 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 28 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 29 Andreas Seppi (ITA) 30 Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 31 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 32 Steve Johnson (USA) 33 Joao Sousa (POR) 34 Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 35 Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 36 Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 37 Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 38 Gilles Muller (LUX) 39 Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 40 Pablo Cuevas (URU) 41 Jiri Vesely (CZE) 42 Tommy Robredo (ESP) 43 Martin Klizan (SVK) 44 Borna Coric (CRO) 45 Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 46 Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 47 Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 48 Donald Young (USA) 49 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 50 Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 51 Chung Hyeon (KOR) 52 Federico Delbonis (ARG) 53 Juan Monaco (ARG) 54 Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 55 Lukas Rosol (CZE) 56 Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) 57 Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 58 Simone Bolelli (ITA) 59 Sam Querrey (USA) 60 Sam Groth (AUS) 61 Denis Istomin (UZB) 62 Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 63 Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 64 Pablo Andujar (ESP) 65 Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 66 Robin Haase (NED) 67 Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 68 Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 69 Denis Kudla (USA) 70 Santiago Giraldo (COL) 71 Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 72 Inigo Cervantes (ESP) 73 Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 74 Guido Pella (ARG) 75 Daniel Munoz-De La Nava (ESP) 76 Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 77 Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 78 Lucas Pouille (FRA) 79 Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 80 Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 81 Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 82 Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 83 Alexander Zverev (GER) 84 Marcel Granollers (ESP) 85 Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 86 Steve Darcis (BEL) 87 Ivan Dodig 88 Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 89 Rajeev Ram (USA) 90 Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 91 Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 92 John Millman (AUS) 93 Yuki Bhambri (IND) 94 Illya Marchenko (UKR) 95 Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 96 Taro Daniel (JPN) 97 Benjamin Becker (GER) 98 Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 99 Thiemo de Bakker (NED) 100 Dudi Sela (ISR)

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30.11 . 2015

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