In 2014, for the first time in 16 years, the ATP and WTA had a different champion for each of the Grand Slams. Finally some parity on the Tour!
Well, that didn’t last long. How things have changed in 2015.
In 2015, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won 6 of the 8 Grand Slams. In the two Slams they didn’t win, Novak made it to the finals of the French and Serena made it to the semis of the US Open. Their dominance over the field in 2015 was impressive. Here’s a look at some jaw dropping stats:
– Serena won 53 of her 56 matches.
– Novak reached the final in 15 of 16 tournaments.
– First time in WTA history, Serena had more than double the ranking points of her closest competitor.
– Novak has more ranking points than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal combined.
But who had the better year? More on that later. Let’s get to the exciting stuff.
Shot of the Year:
Monfils:
Ivanovic:
Wawrinka:
Paire:
Paire:
Nishioka:
Winner:
Stan The Man
Point of the Year
Wawrinka vs Djokovic:
Federer vs Lopez:
Djokovic vs Murray:
Ferrer vs Dolgopolov:
Dzumhur/Brkic:
Coric vs Murray:
Winner:
Djokovic vs Murray
Player of the Year
Nominees:
Novak Djokovic: Went 82-6. Winning 3 major titles, becoming only the 3rd man to reach all 4 major finals (after Rod Laver and Roger Federer), a record 6 Masters 1000 tournaments, reaching the final of 8 Masters 1000 tournaments, reaching 15 consecutive finals, a record 31 top 10 match victories and earning a record breaking amount of prize money.
Serena Williams: Went 53-3. On October 5, Williams surpassed Chris Evert for third-most weeks ranked world no. 1. Williams finished the year at no. 1, and held the ranking for the entire year. She became the first person since Steffi Graf in 1990 to hold the top ranking for two consecutive years. It is also fifth time that Williams ended as the number 1 player in the year. She was also voted WTA Player of the Year for the seventh time in her career, and on December 14, 2015, it was announced that Sports Illustrated named Serena their 2015 Sportsperson of the Year, the third solo woman to earn this honor.
Winner
Novak Djokovic
2016 Fearless Predictions (see how we did with our 2015 predictions here)
Karly:
– Serena Williams beats every Italian player 6-0, 6-0.
– Garbine Muguruza wins a grand slam title before Halep.
– Roger Federer wins the gold medal in Rio.
– Novak Djokovic is stopped and fails to win a grand slam title this year.
– The next time Richard Gasquet and Karly meet at BNP, Richard will tell her he’s her biggest fan and then they will live happily ever after.
Andy:
– America goes “Sock-crazy!” Not just in wearing crazy sock designs, but Jack Sock breaks into the top 15 during the American summer circuit and becomes the #1 American on the ATP Tour.
– Borna Coric takes out a top 5 player at a major this year
– Grigor Dimitrov finds his form again and finishes the year at the ATP World Tour Finals.
– Watch out for Belinda Bencic at Wimbledon! Semis or better this year…
– Maria Sharapova wins the Australian Open.
Michelle:
– Garbine Muguruza wins her first major!
– Venus & Serena Williams win gold for the US and Venus announces her retirement shortly after (Flavia Pennetta style).
– Eugenie Bouchard is bounced before the 3rd round of all the majors and doesn’t play the US Open for obvious reasons (fear of another concussion!)
– It’s the year of the DOG! Ok, technically it is the year of the Monkey, BUT Mr. Dolgopolov starts the year off strong and stuns them all at the Aussie Open!
– Roger Federer wins Wimbledon and shuts all the nay-sayers up.
– Juan Martin Del Potro actually comes back this year and wins a Masters series.
– An American male wins a major (possibly the US Open…I’m looking at you John Isner or Jack Sock).
Marco:
– Nick Kyrgios drops to #248.
– Dominic Thiem and his oneie gets to a career high #12.
– Novak Djokovic wins 3 majors.
– Sam Querrey fires up and gets to a slam quarterfinal.
– Maria Sharapova wins Wimbledon.
– Caroline Wozniacki gets back to top 10 after Australian Open.
Brittany:
– Roger Federer will sweep the Olympics winning singles, doubles and mixed and then retire.
– The US will win both Fed Cup and Davis Cup.
– We will have at least 3+ men in the top 20 (John Isner, Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson).
– Eugenie Bouchard will continue to drop down the rankings but then surprise us when we least expect it.
– There will be a Venus and Serena Williams grand slam final at some point during the year.
– Belinda Bencic will win a grand slam.
Tiffani:
– Andy Murray finally takes the Australian Open, but Novak Djokovic wins his first Roland Garros!
– Dominic Thiem reaches the top 10.
– Belinda Bencic wins a slam.
Jason:
– Rafael Nadal returns to form. Wins 2 majors. Finishes year top 2.
– Donald Young cracks top 25.
– Madison Keys and Victoria Azarenka finish year in the top 10.
– The return of Maria Kirilenko.
Have any predictions of your own? Tell us in the comments section below!
Looking forward to 2016!
Jason, TW