Top 3 contenders to finish the year as the ATP World No. 1

With the arrival of October, we are into the last two months of tennis action before the 2018 season of tennis officially wraps up with the year-end ATP World Tour Finals. After 9 months of exhilarating and exciting tennis, it is somewhat clear that only 3 men have a chance to end the year as the World No.1.

The Big 3, as they are popularly known, are once again in the prime spot for a finish to the year as the World No.1. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal have all played some brilliant tennis this year, whose proof is clearly evident from the fact that they have shared all the 4 Grand Slams of the year. Federer started the Slam season by winning the Australian Open in January, then the French Open was won by Nadal, and then Djokovic won both the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open.

Nadal currently sits comfortably at the World No.1 position, followed by Roger Federer and then Novak Djokovic. On this note, let's check out each player's chances of finishing the year as the World No.1.

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3. Roger Federer

Roger Federer's start to the 2018 season couldn't have been better. He won the Hopman Cup (no points are awarded for it) with Belinda Bencic, then the Australian Open, and then won in Rotterdam as well, en route to which he secured the World No.1 ranking. It made him the oldest man to do so (a record which he broke again in June).

But, after winning Rotterdam, his performances went downhill. He somehow scraped his way into the final in Indian Wells, where he lost to Juan Martin Del Potro after having match point in the decider set. Then he lost to Thanasi Kokkinakis in his opening round match at the Miami Masters, where he again had match points.

After this, he skipped the entire clay court season in order to give his ageing 36-year-old body a rest so that he could better prepare for his favourite grass court season.

He came back at Stuttgart, where he won the tournament and replaced Nadal as the No.1. At Halle, he somehow managed to reach the final, where he was edged in three sets by Borna Coric. Then came Wimbledon, where he lost in a thrilling 5-set quarter-final match against the tall South African, Kevin Anderson. This was followed by losses in the final at Cincinnati (lost to Djokovic, looked old for the first time ever) and then in the 4th round at the US Open.

He now has 3 tournaments before the season ends, i.e. Shanghai (1000 points), Basel (500 points) and the ATP Finals (1500, if won without losing any match). So he can win a maximum of 3000 points. Considering the fact that he is 2680 points behind the current leader, Nadal, in the race to London rankings, it is almost next to impossible for him to finish the year as the No.1.

Prediction: Ends the year as the World No. 3

2. Rafael Nadal

In April this year, I wrote an article where I said it would be extremely difficult for Rafael Nadal to end the year as the No.1 as he had to defend almost 5000 points on clay, which would be very difficult for him. But oh boy was I wrong! He not only successfully defended his points in the clay season, but he has a pretty good chance of finishing the year as the No. 1 as well.

What's remarkable of Nadal is that, though his season has been plagued with injuries (at the beginning in his hips and right now in his knees), he still sits atop the rankings, and can even end as the No.1. But he will be missing some valuable tournaments in the Asian swing (notably Shanghai), owing to his knee injury, which flared up at the US Open.

He still has a lead of around 1000 points over Djokovic. If he can perform well in the tournaments he participates in after he returns from his injury, he can end the year as the No. 1, but according to me, it is somewhat unlikely for this to happen due to the current form Djokovic is in.

Prediction: Ends the year as the World No.2

1. Novak Djokovic

No one would've thought in their wildest dreams that Novak Djokovic might end 2018 as the World No.1. This guy was out of the top 20 in June!

But here we are, in October, and no one has a better chance at finishing as the year-end World No. 1 than this man. Djokovic's rise has been as dramatic as was his fall in 2016, where he shockingly went down after winning his first French Open title and becoming the first man after the great Rod Laver himself, to hold all the four Grand Slams together.

As soon as he announced his 'medical intervention' earlier this year, I had predicted that Djokovic will regain his form at Wimbledon. But I didn't expect him to win it altogether. Djokovic's form had returned in the French Open itself. In the match which he lost in the French Open, his game was pretty good. He only wasn't strong mentally due to which he lost.

But he regained that mentality and came all guns blazing at Wimbledon this year, where he defeated Nadal in the semi-finals, which is definitely in the top 3 Grand Slam matches this season. After that, he finally won the Cincinnati Masters, the only Masters level tournament that had eluded him (largely owing to Federer's success in the event). Then he went on to win the US Open as well, losing only 2 sets in the process.

He is now currently 1035 points behind Nadal in the Race To London rankings. Considering the fact that he is fit and has the form with him, I don't see anybody stopping Djokovic to end the year as the World No.1

Prediction: Ends the year as the World No.1