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The 2018 tennis season was a spectacular one which saw some mouth-watering encounters throughout the season.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic split the four Grand Slams amongst themselves, with Djokovic winning two out of the four.
The season concluded with the ATP World Tour Finals in London, which saw Alexander Zverev come out on top against Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win his first ever Tour Finals title.
There were plenty of amazing matches throughout the year and in this article, we take a look at the top 5 men's matches of the year.
Honourable mentions:
Rafael Nadal def. Juan Martin del Potro - Wimbledon Quarterfinals
Kyle Edmund def. Kevin Anderson - Australian Open Round 1
Kevin Anderson def. John Isner - Wimbledon Semifinals
Kevin Anderson def. Roger Federer - Wimbledon Quarterfinals
Alexander Zverev def. Damir Dzumhur - French Open 3rd Round
Now, with the top 5:
#5 Nick Kyrgios vs Grigor Dimitrov - Australian Open 4th Round
After winning his first title of the year in the first week itself at Brisbane, Australia's Nick Kyrgios was looking to get a big title under his belt in his home country.
After playing some sensational tennis in the first week, he was up against Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Dimitrov, who had won the ATP World Tour Finals just a few months prior to the match, continued his good run of form and played some exceptional tennis to send Kyrgios packing.
The shot-making between the two players was a sight to behold as they put on a show for the entire audience. Unfortunately, Australian hearts were broken as Dimitrov qualified for the quarterfinals where he ended up losing to Kyle Edmund.
Result: Grigor Dimitrov def. Nick Kyrgios 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6
#4 Roger Federer vs Juan Martin del Potro - Indian Wells Final
Roger Federer started off the year in a similar fashion as he did in 2017. After winning the Australian Open final in 5 sets against Marin Cilic, he was looking to win the Indian Wells crown for the second year running.
Up against Juan Martin del Potro, Federer was not at top of his game in the first set, which went to the Argentine. He came back fighting in the second set to win in the tie-break 8-6. Federer earned a break just in time to serve for the championship in the third set.
However, a few faults from his racket gave the break back to del Potro, who then kept his nerve to win his first Indian Wells title in the tie-break, which he won quite comfortably.
Federer would also go on to lose in the first round of the Miami Masters a few days later to Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Result: Juan Martin del Potro def. Roger Federer 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(2)
#3 Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic - Paris Masters Semifinals
After making a sensational return back into form, Novak Djokovic was looking unbeatable. He was on a 21-match win streak and was the heavy favourite against Roger Federer.
Federer himself was on an 8-match win streak but despite that, was not looking on top of his game. However, a different Federer turned up in the semifinal encounter against Djokovic. The Swiss Maestro regained his lost form and was going toe-to-toe with the Serb, who himself was in glorious form.
The first set went right down to the wire with Djokovic sealing it in the tie-break. The second set was going on serve until the 12th game, which saw Federer break Djokovic's serve for the first time in the tournament to win the second set. The third set, once again, saw no break of serve and it was Djokovic who came out on top in the tie-break once again.
This was the longest 3 set match played between the two players. Djokovic went on to lose to Karen Khachanov in the final of the tournament.
Result: Novak Djokovic def. Roger Federer 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(3)
#2 Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic - Wimbledon Semifinals
Many expected Rafael Nadal to withdraw from the Wimbledon Championships, given that he did not play any grass tournament prior to Wimbledon.
However, he defied the odds and everyone's expectations to come fighting through to the semifinals. Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, was looking for his first title in over a year and the way he came through to the semis, it looked like he was back in business.
What ensued in the semis between the two rivals was high-octane tennis of the highest quality. Due to the longest ever semifinal played between John Isner and Kevin Anderson in the first semifinal, Djokovic and Nadal played out three sets on Friday night before playing the final two sets on Saturday.
The first four sets were split 2-2 amongst both and the fifth set witnessed a lot of drama. Nadal had Djokovic at 15-40 twice in the fifth set only to see the Serb produce some magical shots to get out of trouble.
In the end, he came out on top to topple the Spaniard and even went on to win the title against Kevin Anderson in the final. This was the second longest semifinal in Wimbledon history, behind the Anderson-Isner match.
Result: Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11), 3-6, 10-8
#1 Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem - US Open Quarterfinals
This was their fourth meeting in 2018 and their 11th overall and quite surprisingly, their first meeting outside clay. Thiem had already gotten the better of Nadal at Madrid earlier this year whereas Nadal came out on top against him at Monte Carlo and the French Open final.
However, it was the US Open encounter was their best ever. The quality of tennis between the two players was out of this world, with both playing attacking tennis from the baseline and hitting winner and winner.
Thiem completely dominated the first set and did not allow Nadal any chance at all, winning it 6-0. However, Nadal did not allow this to affect him as he came back fighting to win the next two sets. The Austrian did not give up in the fourth, taking it right down to the wire and winning it in the tie-break.
The fifth set was quite similar to the fourth, going all the way till the tie-break. However, this time around, it was Nadal who came out on top after a dramatic tie-break.
Nadal went on to lose to Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-final.
Result: Rafael Nadal def. Dominic Thiem 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(5)
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