Will tennis steal the show in 2013?

Lawn tennis is often tagged as the most popular individual sport in the world. This year has seen great competition in all events including some controversies. Right from the ATP 1000 events to the 4 Grand Slams and not to forget the Olympics, the sport has seen many unbelievable scenes which could be considered to be written in the annals of history.

Tennis has a lot of history attached to it. Many records were created and many were broken in the process. Although termed as an individual sport, the player is accompanied by his own team of physios, coach, managers and his own fan group.

2012 was a great year for tennis. Each of the 4 main events: Men’s and Women’s Singles, doubles and mixed doubles has had a charm of its own. Novak Djokovic won his 5th Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open Men’s Singles event, while the king of clay won the French Open for the seventh time and made it three in a row. The graceful Federer won his 17th Grand Slam at Wimbledon.

US open saw a new champion in the form of Andy Murray when he finally ended the 76 year wait of a British man winning a singles Grand Slam.

The women’s circuit was not so competitive as the men’s circuit. Victoria Azarenka won the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific. Maria Sharapova emphasized her ability to win Grand Slams by winning at Roland Garros.

Serena Williams, on the other hand, made a solid comeback by winning the Wimbledon and also the US Open. Men’s doubles saw a new team emerging with the unseeded pair of Paes/Stepanek winning the Aussie Open whilst beating the 3rd, 2nd and 1st seeds en route. The experienced pair of Nestor and Mirnyi won at the French Open while Wimbledon saw new Champions in Jonathan Marray and Fredrik Nielsen. The Bryan brothers won the US open in a rematch of the 2012 Australian Open final.

Apart from the Grand Slams, the legacy of tennis at the Olympics was a class apart. Andy Murray took his sweet revenge at the Men’s Singles Event in a rematch against Federer. USA got three golds from the Bryan brothers in Men’s doubles, Williams Sisters in Women’s doubles and from Serena Williams in the Women’s singles event. Serena Williams thus became the first ever player to win a Golden Slam in singles and doubles.

The Indian fans had a reason to keep track of the tennis events. Apart from the pre-Olympic fiasco, there was reason to cheer as Somdev had got a wildcard while Sania had got hers in the Women’s doubles event; thus giving India a chance to take part in all events except for the Women’s singles event. Although Vishnu Vardhan didn’t qualify for the Men’s singles event, the stars were in his favour when he got entry in the form of the highest ranked player available when the big serving German Kohlschreiber withdrew due to injury. Leander Paes, who was participating for his 6th Olympics, partnered Vishnu Vardhan who showed great character to rise up to the occasion despite of having a not-so-high ranking in the ATP circuit. India however couldn’t win a medal this Olympics.

The Davis Cup also had its own legacy this year. India however was not in the World group this time courtesy their defeat to Japan previous year in the World group play-offs. Despite getting a bye in the first round in the Asia/Oceania group I, India lost to Uzbekistan in the 2nd round and couldn’t make it to the play-offs. This meant that India would start its campaign again in the Asia/Oceania group I next year. It was also on the verge of playing the relegation play-off to stay in the group against Chinese Taipei but the young Indian team with the likes of Yuki Bhambri and Vishnu Vardhan, without Paes, Bhupathi or Bopanna managed to defeat NZ at the CLTA grounds, Chandigarh.

If India manage to win in the next year’s edition of continental play-offs, they would get a shot at the World-group play-offs which would be a winner takes it all to compete in the 2014 World group. Although the road looks tough, the Indian fan can remain optimistic due to the rise of players like Yuki Bhambri and Vishnu Vardhan who look competitive enough to keep our hopes alive.

Overall, Indian tennis fans did have lot of disappointments this year viz the Olympics and the dismal Davis Cup loss to Uzbekistan. However, we had our highs too. Leander Paes kept the flag high at the Australian Open. Bhupathi and Mirza managed to win the French Open mixed doubles. Vishnu Vardhan proved to the Indian tennis fans that he has the capacity to step up to the occasion.

Yuki Bhambri also broke into the top 200, thus being the highest ranked singles player from India, replacing Somdev Devvarman who is just recovering from his shoulder injury.

The rise of Andy Murray has been a promising one. With coach Ivan Lendl on his side who praised his work ethic, he managed to defeat Roger Federer in the Olympic final and also won the US open. This has not only broken the 76 year old drought, but also has given more stress to the concept of big 4 in tennis.

Djokovic couldn’t keep the same pace as he had in 2011 while Rafa is down with an injury.

So what can we expect in 2013 after a heavy 2012 season? One can say that it would steal the show again. With Rafael returning from his injury, Djokovic trying to start again, Federer trying to win some more and Murray trying to prove that he can add to his tally, the big 4 will be the clear favourites in the major tournaments. Nevertheless, the likes of Tsonga, Berdych, Del Potro, Nishikori Ferrer and many others will try to prove the flow wrong. Andy Roddick, on the other hand, shall be missed by many after the big serving American and the 2003 US open champion decided to hang up his boots after this year’s US open.

For India too, one can expect a great year with a lot at stake in Davis Cup. The doubles circuit as usual would still continue to raise our hopes with Bhupathi partnering Nestor and Leander Paes off course returning from the WTT campaign after playing for Washington Kastles. It would be interesting to note who Bopanna partners. We would also see Somdev Devvarman return from his injury and hope that he could make it back into the top 100 after a career high of 62. Yuki Bhambri, India’s rising star, would also be in action and we should be optimistic to see him rise in the rankings too.

With the start of the 2013 not so far away, we should be expecting a power-packed performance.