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It has been an incredible year on the ATP tour this year. We saw two new Grand Slam champions being crowned at the Australian Open and the U.S Open. The Big four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray did play their part, but several young players showed they were ready to win matches on the big stage.It wasn’t an easy choice to pick the comeback player of the year. There were a lot of contenders, but we took into consideration the improvements they made over the past one year and their performances on the tour.Here’s my pick of the Top 5:
#5 Pablo Cuevas
Pablo Cuevas was ranked 220 in the world at the end of 2013. He registered impressive results this year. He beat Jeremy Chardy, Fernando Verdasco and Joao Souza to clinch his first ATP 250 tournament at the Swedish Open. This win catapulted him to No. 61 in the rankings.
He went on to win the Croatian Open in Umag after qualifying for the main draw of the tournament with wins over Nikolas Walterscheid-Tukic, Nicola Cacic and Renzo Olivo. In the main tournament, he beat Mate Delic, Andreas Seppi, Teymuraz Gabashvili, Fabio Fognini and Tommy Robredo to claim his second ATP 250 event in two weeks. He was ranked inside the Top 40 for the first time in his career with this win.
He is currently ranked No. 30 in the world.
#4 Leonardo Mayer
Leonardo Mayer was ranked No. 94 at the end of last season. In February this year, he reached his first ATP final at Vina Del Mar, where he lost to Fabio Fognini in straight sets. After losing in the third round to Rafael Nadal in the French Open, the Argentinian reached the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships, his best result at a Grand Slam.
By virtue of reaching the Round of 16 at SW19, he was ranked in the Top 50 for the first time in his career. He beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Philipp Kohlschreiber and David Ferrer to win his first ATP title at the German Open. He lost in the third round at the U.S Open to Kei Nishikori. Roger Federer saved five match points against Mayer in the second round of the Shanghai Masters before beating the Argentinian.
Mayer also helped Argentina secure a place in the Davis Cup World Cup by winning his two singles matches against Israel. He is currently ranked 28 in the world.
#3 Roberto Bautista Agut
Agut was ranked No. 58 in the world at the end of the 2013 season. He began his Grand Slam campaign at the Australian Open this year and accounted for one of the biggest upsets of the tournament as he took out No. 5 seed Juan Martin Del Potro in a five-set thriller. He beat Tomas Berdych in the second round at Indian Wells.
He continued to cause upsets as he took out No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo in straight sets in the first round of the Madrid Masters. He eventually lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He was seeded 27th for the French Open where he lost in the third round to Tomas Berdych. Agut won his first ATP title at the Topshelf Open beating Benjamin Becker in the final.
He lost to defending champion Andy Murray in the third round at the Wimbledon Championships. The Spaniard won his second ATP 250 event beating Lukas Rosol in Stuttgart Open. Agut reached the Round of 16 at the U.S Open for the first time in his career. He lost to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Agut is currently ranked No. 15 in the world.
#2 Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic was suspended from the sport for four months last year after he failed a drug test. He appointed Goran Ivanisevic as his new coach in late 2013. Cilic was ranked 37 at the end of last season.
He started 2014 by winning 10th title of his career at the Zagreb Open. He went on to win the title at Delray beach, beating Kevin Anderson in the final. The Croat reached the third round at Roland Garros, losing to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in four sets. Cilic reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and lost an epic five-set match against eventual champion Djokovic.
He lost in the third round at both Rogers Cup and Cincinnati Masters before the U.S Open. He was seeded 14th at the last Major of the year. He beat Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals and then Roger Federer in the semifinals for the first time in his career to reach his maiden Grand Slam final.
He went on to win his first Major beating Kei Nishikori in straight sets. By virtue of winning the U.S Open, he qualified for the ATP World Tour finals for the first time in his career.
He is currently ranked No. 9 in the world.
#1 David Goffin
David Goffin ended last season ranked No. 110 in the world. He had a disastrous start to the 2014 season as he withdrew from qualifying for the Australian Open due to a left quadriceps injury. Goffin came back with a bang after Wimbledon by winning three consecutive Challenger titles and his first ATP World tour title at the Austrian Open.
The Belgian extended his unbeaten streak to 25 matches by qualifying and reaching the Winston-Salem Open quarter-finals. He lost in the third round to Grigor Dimitrov at the U.S Open. He did not let that defeat affect him as he compiled a 16-match winning streak by claiming titles at the Moselle Open and Mons Challenger. Goffin winning run came to an end at the Basel Indoors, losing to Roger Federer in the final.
He is currently ranked No. 22 in the world.
