Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Wawrinka: 2015 in review

The Big 4 of 2015With the extravagant and star studded International Premier Tennis League currently underway, it is time to take a look at how the men’s tennis season went by.The 2015 ATP season was essentially dominated by Novak Djokovic, who held on to his No. 1 ranking and Swiss GOAT Roger Federer made history by becoming, at 34, the oldest player to finish in the Top 3.It was a year which saw Great Britain win the Davis Cup following a 78-year gap, as Djokovic ran away with a record 6 masters titles.Lets take a look at how the top 4, i.e Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka fared in 2015.

#1 Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic with the year end world no. 1 trophy

Novak Djokovic’s supreme 2015 season has made the G.O.A.T debate a three horse one. The dominance and excellence portrayed by the World no. 1 has left everybody dumbfounded. Unless Nadal makes a comeback next season, it is almost certain that Djokovic is going to overtake his Grand Slam tally very soon (the Serb is currently at 10, while the Spaniard has 14) and give serious competition to Roger Federer’s till now unprecedented 17 slams.

The 2015 season for the Serb is arguably the best season ever played in the Open era after Federer’s 2006 season. Just like the GOAT debate, fans are not going to stop arguing about which of the two seasons was better.

Breaking numerous records over the year, Djokvoic finished the year with a staggering 16585 points, almost double of the next in line Andy Murray.

He began the season on a low note as he was defeated by big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the quarter finals of Doha. It looks like that loss just spurred him on as he reached the finals of every other tournament he played in throughout the season.

He broke the record he shared with Rafael Nadal for most Masters 1000 level titles in a single season by winning six in 2015.He was world no. 1 for the whole year for the first time in his career. He was ruthless in the Grand Slams as well, winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S Open – all in 4 sets each.

The Serb’s chance at a Career Slam, which might have well been a Calendar slam, was stopped by an inspired Stan Wawrinka at Roland Garros, with the Swiss in beast mode for those 2 weeks.

Djokovic also had the opportunity to win a Career Golden Masters at Cincinnati, but was stopped by Switzerland’s (and the world’s) finest in Federer.

He sure did take his revenge on Federer by defeating him when it mattered most – in 2 Grand Slam finals - the US Open and the Australian Open – as well as the ATP World Tour Finals, which he won for a record 4th time in a row.

Djokovic has been a complete player on the court . He undoubtedly has the best defense on the tour and his ability to turn a point around in his favour has made it immensely difficult to break him down.

It will be a mountain of a challenge for him to defend all these titles next year, but by the looks of it, it sure as well looks like he is going to be up to the challenge

Djokovic’s titles in 2015:

Australian Open

Indian Wells

Miami Open

Monte Carlo Masters

Italian Open

Wimbledon

US Open

China Open

Shanghai Masters

Paris Masters

Win/Loss –

82-6

#2 Andy Murray

Winning the Davis Cup after 79 years

After his dismal performance in 2014 with a nagging back injury as well, many thought it was the end of the road for the Scot, but it was not to be. Much like Roger Federer who made a comeback from being world no. 6 at the end of 2013 to World no. 2 at the end of 2014, Andy Murray did the exact same thing this year.

He showed a few signs of brilliance towards the end of 2013, and it appears they carried forward to 2014. The big talking point of the season is the historic Davis Cup win for Great Britain after 79 years.

Murray was at the helm of this as he won all his matches which he played for Great Britain. Of course, James Ward deserves a lot of credit too for his epic match against American John Isner in the early stages of the tournament.

Murray had a poor showing against the top players. He lost to Novak Djokovic 6 out of 7 times and lost to Roger Federer twice, both times in straight sets. Barring those performances, Murray had a good run, especially on clay.

He created history after winning the first title on clay after Buster Mottram in 1976 . He also won the Madrid Masters where he defeated the king of clay Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the final. He also created history at Miami becoming the first British player to reach 500 career wins.

His good run at Wimbledon was stopped by a magical performance by Roger Federer in the semifinals. He reached the finals of the Australian Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in 4 sets.

The match looked like it was going to be an extremely close contest, but it looked like Murray could not handle the pressue after the first 2 sets, eventually fizzling out.

He lost to the Serb again in the French Open semifinals in 5 toughly contested sets. The U.S Open was a let down for the Scot as he was defeated by an inspired Kevin Anderson in the 4th round.

At the end of the year, Murray had won 4 titles, including 2 Masters and the Davis Cup.

Come 2016 and the temperamental Scot will be looking to add to his tally of 2 Grand Slams. There has been a lot of debate regarding the credibility of his world ranking, and Murray will be looking to prove his critics wrong.

Titles in 2015 :

Bavarian International Tennis Championships

Madrid Masters

Queen’s Club Championship

Montreal Masters

Win/Loss –

71-14

#3 Roger Federer

Federer with his 7th Basel Open title after defeating his arch nemesis Nadal in the final

At the age of 34, this man still continues to mesmerise with his performances. 2013 saw what can have been the end of the road for the Swiss, but he had other plans. With a change of racquet in 2014 and under Stefan Edberg and Severin Luthi’s guidance, Roger Federer has certainly gained a new found confidence. Its quite astonishing that the only competition Novak Djokovic has faced this year has been from a 34 year old.

Federer;s 2015 season has been quite akin to the previous season. He reached 11 finals once again this year surpassing a historic 1000th career win at Brisbane. He also went on to win his first clay title after 6 years at Istanbul.

Once again, he was ruthless at Halle and Cincinatti winning his 7th title at both the venues. 2015 also saw Federer use a new weapon – the SABR (Sneak attack by Roger ) as a way of putting his opponent off guard.

Wimbledon saw what was arguably the best match of the season when he turned back the clock against Andy Murray in the semifinals. He clocked a near perfect performance against the Scot allowing only one break oppurtunity against him, which Murray had failed to convert in the very first game of the match.

Despite Andy Murray being on top of his game, Federer was exceptional as he dispatched him in straight sets 7-5, 7-5, 6-4.

Unfortunately, he was unable to produce a similar performance in the finals against Novak Djokovic, hitting more than 30 unforced errors. Djokovic, thus became the first person to defeat Roger Federer at 2 consecutive Wimbledon finals.

The U.S Open saw the exact same thing happen with Federer being unable to reproduce his incandescent performance from the semifinals into the finals. Novak Djokovic got the better of him at the ATP World Tour Finals as well, defeating him comprehensively in the finals after losing to him in the round robin stage in straight sets.

There were a few low points for the Swiss this season. He was upset in the 3rd round of the Australian Open by Andreas Seppi. The clay season was quite lopsided for Roger. He won one title ( Istanbul ) and reached the final of the Italian Open whereas he was upset in the 3rd round and 2nd round respectively at Monte Carlo and Madrid.

The biggest upset came when he lost in the opening round of the Shanghai Open to Albert Ramos Vinolas, a title for which he was the favourite.

Overall, Roger Federer had quite a succesful season with a few ups and downs along the way. Come 2016, he will mainly look to achieve a few things apart from trying to win his 18th Grand Slam. The Monte Carlo Masters, Rome Masters and the coveted Olympic Singles Gold

Titles in 2015

Brisbane Open

Dubai Open

Istanbul Open

Halle Open

Cincinnati Masters

Basel Open

Win/Loss

63-11

#4 Stan Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka with the 2nd Gram slam title of his career at Roland Garros

Just like the previous season, The Swiss No. 2 and World No. 4 has had a remarkable 2015 season as well. Despite that, he continues to be one of the most unpredictable players on the tour, in terms of consistency with results. While he was on top of his game during the grandslams, his performances at the ATP 1000 Masters level have been quite poor.

The biggest highlight of Stan Wawrinka’s 2015 season is of course his “God Mode” performance at Roland Garros where he battled against the odds to beat the World no. 1 and favourite Novak Djokovic in 4 sets.

By doing so, he stopped what could have been a career grand slam for Novak. It also could have ended up being a Calendar Grand Slam for the Serb, something which has not been witnessed since Rod Laver’s calendar slam. He also proved all his critics wrong who cited him as a one slam wonder.

Stan kicked off 2015 in similar fashion as he lifted the Chennai Open spoils for the 3rd time in a row. Going into the Australian Open as the defending champion, he had a lot of burden to carry on his shoulders.

The burden was lifted off with some great performances by the Swiss, including a win over 2014’s US Open finalist Kei Nishikori. Wawrinka’s run came to an end at the hands of the eventual champion Novak Djokovic, in 5 sets at the semifinal stage. At SW19, he was stopped by an inspired Richard Gasquet in an incredible 5 set match at the quarterfinal stage.

The Swiss’ consistency has been questioned over the years, as it has this year as well. He had a string of poor performances at the ATP Masters 1000 level. He reached the semifinals of only two masters series ( Italy and Shanghai ). He had a good amount of success at the ATP 500 level, winning 2 titles. He defeated the big 4 each once this year and had the best win loss record of his career in 2015.

Stan must look to improve upon his consistency in 2016 if he wants to challenge the likes of Andy Murray and Roger Federer at the 2nd and 3rd rank respectively. After showing us what he is capable of on the slow courts, he will look to improve his game on the fast courts, and who knows, he might surprise us all at Wimbledon next year.

Titles in 2015:

Chennai Open

Rotterdam Open

French Open

Japan Open

Win/Loss :

55-18