ATP upsets of the year - 2013

Tennis is one of those sports where normally results of the matches justify the rankings of the players. You do not often see unrealistic upsets happening in any of the major events where a person ranked outside the top 20 beats a player who is ranked well inside the top 10. Purely in terms of talent, there has always been broad daylight between the top ranked individuals and the lesser ranked players. Therefore, we were used to see such shocking defeats only once in a blue moon. The case was not the same this year though. This has to be construed as the season of upsets. In fact, scores of such shockers were witnessed in a span of two weeks in SW19 itself, leave alone the whole year.

None of the higher ranked players was spared. Even multiple Grand Slam champions like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had to undergo the trauma of being humbled by opponents who were not even half as good as them. Everyone ranked inside the top 10 had to face this ignominy. More importantly, the big four players who were considered as next to invincible on the ATP circuit had their respective rendezvous with disaster and humiliation at least more than once, getting tamed by unseeded thwarters.Without further ado, let us look into the major upsets which took place this season, and left us totally petrified

Roger Federer upsets

Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky (L) shakes hands with Switzerland’s Roger Federer (R) at the net after Stakhovsky won their second round men’s singles match on day three of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament at the All England Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 26, 2013. Stakhovsky won 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.

This was the worst year Federer experienced since 2002. To add to his woes, he crumbled to defeats even against players who were ranked above 100. As the saying goes – “Misfortunes never come single”, he was hit by first of those catastrophes at the most inconvenient of times when he was badly in need of a major title to save his decade old reputation of being the greatest player of his generation.

With a lone title under his belt he entered the grass courts of Wimbledon, where he had been a champion seven times before. After having squandered the opportunity of making it to the final at Roland Garros which offered a friendly draw for him, he found himself on a tight leash, learning that he had to lock horns with his nemesis and two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal. Luckily for him, the Spaniard suffered a stunning first round exit at the hands of little known Steve Darcis. Having seen the biggest barricade falling so early it should have spurred the Swiss to get himself hugely motivated.

So, when Federer was all set to meet the 116th ranked Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon, no sane tennis follower would have predicted his demise, no matter how logical the law of averages sounded. But, disregarding everyone’s opinion, the serve and volleyer from Ukraine latched on to the hapless Federer and had his confidence shattered right from the first set. Though losing just marginally in the tie breaker of the first set, the unseeded Stakhovsky exhibited a spirited fight back and handed the Swiss his worst ever Grand Slam defeat of the decade. The Swiss lost the match 7-6 6-7 5-7 6-7, making it one of the biggest upsets that ever happened at Wimbledon.

Other upsets of Federer

Vs Tommy Robredo in the fourth round of the US Open: It was a self destructive act which saw Federer losing to the Spaniard in straight sets 6-7 3-6 4-6. It was his first debacle against Robredo to whom he had never lost in his previous 10 meetings.

Vs Fedrico Delbonis in the semifinal of Hamburg: Cleaned up in straight sets by the left handed Argentine whose ranking as of today is 199.

Vs Kei Nishikori in the round of 16 of Madrid Masters: Tamed in three sets by a Japanese who was not even a clay court specialist.

Vs Daniel Brands in the second round of Swiss Open: A very ordinary performance which found him losing pretty badly in straight sets to the 55th ranked player 6-3 6-4.

Rafael Nadal upsets

Belgium’s Steve Darcis celebrates beating Spain’s Rafael Nadal during their men’s first round match on day one of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament at the All England Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 24, 2013. Darcis won 7-6, 7-6, 6-4.

This was one Wimbledon which was all set to witness a merciless south paw in action. He was expected to stream roll past anyone with vengeance having suffered a heart breaking second round loss at the hands of 100th ranked Lukas Rosol just last year. Add to that – his unflappable clay court season which saw him conquering Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros stood as great testimony to what was in store for the ensuing grass and hard court seasons.

Steve Darcis who???? It was the question which was in everyone’s mind when they saw him dominating the match with his powerful ground strokes all the way before inflicting an abasing loss on the two time champion. In the end, the man who has always been regarded as arguably the toughest individual to beat on ATP tour was shown the door quite easily in straight sets. That defeat raised lots of questions on his ability to play on grass courts with lesser bounce. Are these back to back losses in Wimbledon against Rosol and Darcis going to have any sort of impact on the Spaniard’s future in SW19? Only time will tell.

Other upsets of Nadal

Vs Horacio Zeballos in VTR open Chile: Though he successfully marched his way into the final of his first tournament post injury layoff, the rusty looking Rafa could not overcome a stiff challenge posed by Horacio Zeballos who was able to bundle him out in three sets 6-7 7-6 6-4.

Vs David Ferrer in Paris Masters Semifinal: After having been thrashed many a time by his compatriot, Ferrer finally had something to cheer for as he stopped Nadal in the semifinals of the Paris Masters 6-3 7-5, thereby undoing the latter’s quest for a “ Roland Garros-Paris” double.

Novak Djokovic upsets

Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria is congratulated by Novak Djokovic of Serbia after Dimitrov won in three sets during day four of the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament at the Caja Magica on May 7, 2013 in Madrid, Spain.

The season of Djokovic was quite a topsy-turvy one throughout the year. While he had his moments in Melbourne Park and Dubai he had to face indifferent results in Indian Wells and Miami. However, the Serb was able to set things right by winning his first ever title in Monte Carlo defeating eight-time champion, Rafael Nadal, in the final. So, the then World No.1 entered Madrid as a clear cut favourite as the fast paced surface in Spain was supposed to give him an edge over the others, including Nadal.

His opponent in the second round was Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria who has been regarded as one of the torch bearers of the future generation. The 21-year old was simply outstanding on that day and was able to stand toe to toe with the six time Grand Slam champion. After having marginally lost the second set, he registered a fine come back on the deciding set to nail the Serb 6-3. Djokovic was totally frustrated following his loss and was even booed by the Spanish crowd on seeing him taking medical time out during the crucial juncture of the match. This angered the Serb who left the arena antagonizing the live audience. This victory by Dimitrov over the in-form Djoker was really one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Other Djokovic upsets

Vs Tommy Haas in the fourth round of Miami: By beating the World No.1 in Miami 6-2 6-4, Tommy Haas notched up one of the biggest wins of his career, as the veteran himself has later admitted.

Vs John Isner in the quarter final of Cincinnati: The US hard courts are supposed to assist the Serb more than anyone. However, John Isner at his imperious best should be regarded as a potential threat to anyone facing him. So was the case in Cincinnati as he bludgeoned Djokovic, who was aiming to become the first person to win all the Masters 1000 series crown in his career, in three sets.

Andy Murray upsets

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland shakes hands at the net with Andy Murray of Great Britain after their men’s singles quarterfinal match on Day Eleven of the 2013 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 5, 2013 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Unlike the other three (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) Andy Murray did not suffer many big upsets. He had a couple of unexpected exits though, handed to him by Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and Latvian Ernests Gulbis during the US open series.

Bidding to win his third title in Montreal, he squared off against the talented Ernests Gulbis in the second round. The Latvian is one of those players who has not done any justice to the incredible gift of skills which he possesses. Rarely have we seen him exhibiting his tennis acumen. Strangely, he was in a murderous mood against the Scot in Montreal and the two time Grand Slam champion found himself on the receiving end right from the first point. In the end, Andy succumbed to a 6-4 6-3 defeat against Gulbis, in a very lopsided performance of the 2013 season.

Other Murray upsets

Vs Stanislas Wawrkina in the quarterfinal of the US Open: The Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka who was playing much improved tennis throughout the season deservedly received something to cheer for. Displaying a stellar performance in the quarter final of the US open, he crushed the defending champion Andy Murray in straight sets with the score 6-4 6-3 6-2. In the process, he also made it to his first Grand Slam semifinal.

Other notable upsets:

Here are some of the other significant upsets which happened during the season.

Lleyton Hewitt stunned 6th seed Juan Martin Delpotro 6-4 5-7 3-6 7-6 6-1 in the second round of US open.Jo Wilfred Tsonga beat Roger Federer 7-5 6-3 6-3 in the quarterfinal of French Open.Gael Monfills defeated Tomas Berdych 7-6 6-4 6-7 6-7 7-5 in the first round of French open.Jarko Nieminen beat Juan Martin Delpotro 6-4 4-6 7-6 in the third round of Monte Carlo.Lleyton Hewitt shocked Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 7-5 6-3 in the first round of Wimbledon.