Rafael Nadal Has Best Chance To End 2013 As no 1

The current world no 5 according to Emirated Atp Rankings for this week.  But Nadal becomes the first man to qualify for the year ending championship at O2 Arena.  He is no 1 as far as 2013 is concerned.  He has participated in 9 tournaments so far in 2013 and won seven of them.  In other two tournaments he was runner up.  His total points in 2013 is now 7000 after winning French Open in 2013.  He is far ahead of all men on tour.  At second is Djokovic who has 5 and half thousand points.

If we see Nadal's performance after his comeback.  It was an epic performance.  He has come back as stronger than ever.  He won seven titles out of which 6 titles are on clay and 1 title on hard i-e Indian Wells.  Now he has defended all those points that he gained in 2012.  Now this is time for Nadal to only gain points without losing anything.  His next tournament is Wimbledon.  Therer he has to defend just 45 points.  If he wins this tournament, his points will be above 8000 and he can become no 2 in the world.

After Wimbledon he has not to defend a single point.  But he can gain plenty of points after Wimbledon also.  So winning two or more tournaments in the second half of season will get him very closer to Djokovic.  Because Djokovic's second half of the season was very strong last year and he has to defend a lot of points. That's why one or more early exits of Djokovic will make it more easy for Nadal to catch Djokovic for world no 1.  But Nadal's big test will be Wimbledon because transition from slow dirt to fast grass is difficult to handle.  With Nadal playing no grass court warm up tournament, he has to maintain his focus on fast grass to maintain his momentum.

Best Returners In 2013 So Far

The best returner in the game of tennis is the athlete who returns those balls in the court and make the point playable, which is looking impossible to return.  The athlete who is best returner should possess the quality of breaking anyone's serve especially when it matters.  In 2013 season, here are given top returners in the tennis game.  In my previour articles i discussed best servers in 2013.  Let us now assess best returners in ascending order.

8) Jo Wilfried Tsonga:

The French veteran Tsonga is last in the top eight because he could not give good performance on return as he performed with his serve.  In 2013 Tsonga won 28% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 46% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 110 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 45% of break points.  He played 241 return games in total so far.  And won 20% of them.  He won 35% of the points which he played on return game in total.

7) Juan Martin Del Potro:

Juan Martin displayed a good tennis with his serve.  But his defeciency in return game is still there as compared to other elite players.  Anyhow, he won 30% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 53% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 151 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 40% of break points.  He played 251 return games in total so far.  And won 24% of them.  He won 39% of the points which he played on return game in total.

6) Roger Federer:

Roger Federer is considered as best servers in history of the game.  His return game clicks in a match very well, when it really matters.  This season his return game was not so impressive.  Anyhow he fulfills this defeciency with precise and good serve.  He won 31% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 51% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 152 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 37% of break points.  He played 222 return games in total so far.  And won 25% of them.  He won 39% of the points which he played on return game in total.

5) Rafael Nadal:

Rafael Nadal is probably one the best returners in the game of tennis.  He boost up his career with high level return game.  This season, he was at top of server in my last article.  He won 33% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 55% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 151 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 42% of break points.  He played 190 return games in total so far.  And won 33% of them.  He won 42% of the points which he played on return game in total.

4) Tomas Berdych:

Tomas Berdych is no 4 in the list because he is playing best tennis than ever.  And stats show this.  He won 32% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 181 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 45% of break points.  He played 292 return games in total so far.  And won 28% of them.  He won 41% of the points which he played on return game in total.

3) Novak Djokovic:

Novak Djokovic is top player in the world and there is a reason behind it.  He has mental toughness, huge serve and excellent return game.  All these things make an athlete a true champion.  Novak Djokovic won 34% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 179 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 47% of break points.  He played 245 return games in total so far.  And won 34% of them.  He won 43% of the points which he played on return game in total.

2) Andy Murray:

Andy Murray was last in top eight servers in 2013, but he made up that defeciency with his return game and won two titles and was runner in OZ open 2013.  He  won 35% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 200 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 49% of break points.  He played 268 return games in total so far.  And won 36% of them.  He won 44% of the points which he played on return game in total.

1) David Ferrer:

Here comes no 1 returner of 2013.  He is non other than David Ferrer.  He won two titles so far.  He was runner up Miami despite of getting championship point( unfortunate).  But he is displaying great skills on his return game.  He  won 37% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 282 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 48% of break points.  He played 329 return games in total so far.  And won 41% of them.  He won 46% of the points which he played on return game in total.

Best Servers Of 2013 So Far

The best server athlete is one who not only fires aces, but also wins most important points especially when it matters.  The following are top eight servers in 2013.  These positions are given purely on the basis of statistics.  Here are these big servers. 

8) Andy Murray:

Andy Murray has a pretty good season so far.  He has won at Brisbane and Miami.  He was also runner up in Australian open 2013.  In 2013 he fired 161 aces, committed 53 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 62%, out of which he won 75% points.  He won only 48% of points on his second serve.  Due to which he faced 129 break points so far, out of which he saved 65% of break points.  He played total of 266 service games, out of which he won 83% of service games.  He won 69% of total service points he played in 2013 so far.  Murray’s weak portion of serve was his weak second serve and many double faults, as compared to other top players. 

7) David Ferrer:

David Ferrer is displaying a good tennis with increasing age interestingly.  He has given no 7 position because of his grinding hard work on his service points.  He fights for each and every point.  Although Ferrer is not a big server yet he has 82 aces in 2013 so far.  His double faults are little behind Murray 51.  His first serve percentage is 64%, out of which he won 70% of points.  He also did hard work on his second serve point and won 52% of second serve points.  He faced 179 break points and saved 59% of them.  He played most of 350 service games and he won 79% of these service games.  Also he won 63% of total points on his serve.  He has won two titles and was runner up at Miami in 2013 so far. 

6) Juan Martin Del Potro:

Juan Martin Del Potro has huge serve due to his great height.  He is also improving day by day.  He won Rotterdam and was runner up at Indian Wells masters in 2013.  In 2013 he fired 156 aces, committed 39 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 65%, out of which he won 75% points.  He also won 55% of his second serve points.  He faced 103 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 72% of break points.  He played total of 249 service games, and won 88% of them.  He won total of 68% service points that he played. 

5) Jo Wilfried Tsonga:

Tsonga the French veteran could not perform well this year.  But he tried to maintain his good serve in 2013.  He fired 174 aces, committed 37 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 63%, out of which he won 76% points.  He also won 53% of his second serve points.  He faced 102 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 74% of break points.  He played total of 240 service games, and won 89% of them.  He won total of 68% service points that he played.

4) Roger Federer:

Federer is facing problems this season so far.  He could not qualify for a final in even a single tournament so far.  However he displayed good serve as compared to other player in era.  .  He fired 109 aces, committed 36 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 63%, out of which he won 78% points.  He also won 53% of his second serve points.  He faced only 77 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 66% of break points.  He played total of 226 service games, and won 88% of them.  He won total of 69% service points that he played.

3) Tomas Berdych:

Tomas Berdych is also improving this year.  He defeated Federer in Dubai by saving two match points.  He was runner up in Dubai and also performed well in Indian wells and Miami.  The big serving Czech fired 186 aces, committed 52 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 59%, out of which he won 78% points.  He also won 54% of his second serve points.  He faced only 136 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 71% of break points.  He played total of 299 service games, and won 87% of them.  He won total of 68% service points that he played.

2) Novak Djokovic:

Novak Djokovic is currently ranked no 1 and he finished 2012 as top player in the world.  Now he is in good position to maintain no ranking for coming few months at least.  He won Australian open 4^th time in his career this year.  The Serbian ace fired 117 aces, committed 32 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 64%, out of which he won 77% points.  He also won 60% of his second serve points.  He faced only 81 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 68% of break points.  He played total of 252 service games, and won 90% of them.  He won total of 71% service points that he played.

1) Rafael Nadal:

Rafael Nadal has come back in action this year after eight months rest.  He is performing very well this season.  He won three titles in 2013.  He won at Indian Wells by beating Federer and Berdych.  He is not a big server, he don’t fire big aces as other players but he plays each and every point with great courage.  He has huge heart.  Therefore he lost least service games this year so far.  He fired 48 aces, committed 32 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 68%, out of which he won 75% points.  He also won 56% of his second serve points.  He faced only 61 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 72% of break points.  He played total of 195 service games, and won 91% of them.  He won total of 69% service points that he played.

Why Rafael Nadal Is “King Of Clay”

Rafael Nadal is back in action on tour after shocking 2^nd round exit against Lukas Rosol.  He remained away from the court for plenty of months.  He came back and participated in three clay court events.  He won two clay title one 250 and other 500 level by beating David Ferrer.  His come back has given tennis a new life, because tennis courts were looking very dull without him.  Now he made a strong comeback and won Indian Wells master by beating Federer and Del Potro.  His successful comeback is a huge good news for tennis world especially Nadal’s fans.  Everyone who is attached to tennis by any mean knows that Nadal is king of clay and he is man to beat on clay.  This is not only the phrase but the stats on Nadal on clay speak themselves.  He is unbeatable there, he won 38 titles on clay.  His has 255-9 record on clay, amazing record that is.  It means that he played 264 matches on clay and lost only 9 matches, after his debut on tour in 2002.  Lets take a brief look at his amazing stats on clay. 

Frech Open:

Since Nadal participated in Frech open 2005, he lost only one time there in 2009 to Robin Soderling.  He has 52-1 record at French open.  It means that French open belongs to Rafael Nadal.  He will be again man to beat there in 2013.  He won record 7 French open titles breaking Borg record of 6 French open title.  In 2012 he became only man in tennis history who won French open 7 times.  Amazing record that is.  He is only 26 and hungry for more titles.  So won most of matches in French open in straight sets.  The only man who could take him to five sets after Soderling was John Isner in 2011. I think he will collect at least 10 French open title if he continue to perform like this.  Moreover he never lost a best of five sets match on clay outside French open.  And most of his wins are in straight sets. 

Masters 1000 Tournaments:

Rafael Nadal has an amazing record in masters 1000 titles played on clay courts.  He has appeared in 20 masters 1000 finals on clay tournaments.  Out of which he won 16 finals.  He lost only to Roger Federer twice at Hamburg and at Madrid in 2009.  He also lost twice to Djokovic in 2011 at Madrid and Rome finals.  No other man could catch Nadal on clay courts masters 1000 events.  He won Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 8 straight years and this streak is still alive.  He also won Rome in 2012.  He would surely won at Madrid if it were to play on red clay.  That event was played on controversial blue clay.  Where he was defeated by Fernando Verdesco.  He lost only this match on clay last season.  Now he will appear in Monte Carlo with 42 match winning streak.  No one was able to beat him on this slow surface since last 8 years.  Amazing! 

Other Clay Events:

Rafael Nadal never lost a Davis cup match played on clay.  And he is backbone of Spanish team in Davis cup.  Also Nadal has a 34 match winning streak at Barcelona and 32 match winning streak in straight sets.  He never lost in Barcelona for last 6 years.  Another amazing fact is that he never lost in April since 2005.  He has 77 match winning streak on tour in April.  Recently he lost in Brazil open final.  That was his only 5^th defeat in any clay court tournament final after Djokovic and Federer.  Also he is the only man who has won two titles 7 or more times(French and Monte Carlo).  He has also won at least two clay court titles since 2005.  I don’t think anyone can match Nadal’s records.  All these brief stats show that why Nadal in named as king of clay.  He will be man to beat on clay again.  Djokovic and Murray are the players who can stop him, but if he shows that level he had shown in previous years, no one will be able to touch him this year also.  I think he will again win at least three more clay court titles this year again( he has already two clay titles in his bag).  But this is just the beginning.

Andy Murray Wins Second Miami Masters

Andy Murray won Miami masters title for the second time in his career despite facing a match point against committed David Ferrer.  David Ferrer was pretty much disappointed because when he had match point there was a long rally, which David Ferrer stopped and challenged.  But that challenge proved as beginning of the end of David Ferrer.  Because the ball of Murray catches the baseline.  And Murray won the match in third set tie break.  Another good news for Murray is that he is now raised to no 2 in Emirates Atp ranking this Monday, overtaking the declining Federer.  He raised to no 2 spot for the first time since 2009, when he remained at no 2 for four weeks only.  Now he will try to catch Djokovic.    

There were a lot of twists and turns in this match.  This match was the second longest final in Masters 1000 three sets history.  This match continued about 2 hours and 46 minutes.  Before that the match between Djokovic and Nadal was about three and half hours.  Epic match that was.  Moreover this is the first match in Miami masters history that a player won the title by saving match point in the final.  Also Murray won semi final and final when he was a set down for the first time in his career.  This is his second title of the season, after winning at Brisbane.  And this is Murray’s first masters 1000 title after winning at Shanghai 2012 by beating the same man.  Murray beat David Ferrer  2-6 6-4 6-7(1). 

In the first set David Ferrer got an early break and lead by 2-0.  He continued his dominance in this set and took that set by 6-2.  In this set Murray committed 19 unforced errors and plenty of double faults.  In the second set Murray regroup as every champion do, and hold his serve pretty well and took the set by a break by 6-4.  In the third set the situation became more and more tense when both of players struggled to hold serves.  They exchanged the breaks of serves until they were at 3-3.  At last David Ferrer broke the ice and hold serve and lead 4-3 in the set.  Murray also raised the level of his game and took the next two games.  David Ferrer again came back and lead by 6-5 in the deciding set.  In this game David Ferrer had a match point but his challenge proved a huge bad luck for him, because by losing that challenge he lost the match.  Murray took the set in the tie break and took that tie break by 7-1.  With this victory Andy Murray is now 7-5 head to head against Ferrer.

Questions About Federer’s Future In 2013

The world no 2 Roger Federer is not playing at Miami masters 2013 due to limited tournament schedule of 2013.  He lessened the tournament of schedule to take more rest in order to give more impressive performance in 2013.  But tables have been turned when he suffered early exit against low ranked Julien Bennetau at Rotterdam, Tomas Berdych at Dubai semis despite of having match points and adding insult to injury Rafael Nadal ousted him in quarterfinals of Indian Wells masters. 

Now tennis world is again thinking that

1)aIs Federer’s gas in the tank has finished?.  

2) Is He no more the same player as he was three or four years ago? 

3)Another question tennis fans especially Federer’s fans are asking that will Federer add one or more grand slams in his already decorated CV?  All these questions are valid especially after the poor performance of Federer in 2013. 

The answer of the first question is “no”.  Because Federer’s gas in the tank has not finished yet.  He is still amoung the top players in the world and have no 2 ranking.  Moreover, the loss in two or three tournaments does not mean that all the season will continue in the same way.  Federer has achieved almost every thing that a tennis player or an athlete should win.  He has 17 grand slam titles in his exceptional career and he is reigning Wimbledon champion.  He cruise in the early rounds in every tournament despite of his old( so called) age.  He only susceptible to  the top player like Djokovic, Murray or Nadal.  All these and other top players have to work really hard to beat Federer.  So, Federer still has so much gas in the tank that he can achieve bigger goals (even grandslams)  at any stage.  He can never be counted out in any tournament. 

The answer of the second question is “yes”.  Federer is not the same player as he was in his prime.  His backhand is not as strong as once it was.  His serve and forehand are no more devastating as once they were.  But it does not mean that his serve, forehand and footwork are no more devastating.  They are still very dangerous.  He can still hit more winner from his forehand and can fire more and more aces from his big serve.  He can also get cheap points by his well pointed and heavy serves.  He can still manage to change the match from any moment  of the match.  Therefore Federer has to rest more and put his attention to his weak wing i-e backhand. 

The answer of third question is still yes.  He can win any grand slam at any stage.  We have to admit that Federer is king of open era and grand slam tennis.  He knows more than anyone that how to use better techniques to win a grand slam.  He can still show his master class performance to win another grand slam ( probably in 2013).  And as I said in my last articles that his best shot will be at Wimbledon 2013, where he is a defending champion also.  He is man to beat there. 

The bottom line is Federer has still two or three years to achieve more goals, break more records and make new records.  But tennis fans want him in action more and more they want that he should come back in action again.  Lets see what will happen at Madrid 2013.

Federer Will Come Back Strong At Indian Wells

Federer's 2013 start was not so appreciable for his fans.  But there is a lot of tennis to come in 2013 season.  Although Federer did not performed well so far, but his is still no 2 player in the world and has ability to come to the top.  Therefore it will not easy to count him out in any tournament.
The next tournament will be Indian Wells Masters event starting from the 7th of March.  Federer is defending champion here.  He defeated Nadal in Semis and John Isner in the final last to claim his 4th Indian Wells title.
Now he is bidding to win his 5th title here.  Despite his disappointing performance at Rotterdam and Dubai, he will come back stroger and will go deep into the draw.  In the draw there will be all top players waiting for him.
It is true that Roger Federer is not the same player that once he was, but he has enough gas in the tank that he can beat his top rivals.  His experience is more than any other players on the tour.  He is mastrer class and
he always proved his critics wrong, when they counted him out.  So lets see what will happen at indian wells, but Federer has ability to defend this title.