2015, ATP from Nos. 16 through 13.
No. 16
David Goffin
Talk about flashy? The Belgian dances around, jumps on the ball, nailing his forehands and backhands down the line. He is pretty decent on the net too, and he can belt his first serves. So why has the 25-year-old gone further yet? He is so-so at the majors, as well as the ATP 1000s. He has lost against Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Kei Nishikori – everybody against the top competitors. He just needs to improve all around, that is as simple as that.
No. 15
Gilles Simon
Who doesn’t love Simon when he is on? He is incredibly versatile, he can stroke his shots from behind the baseline, moving forward and smoking the ball, or sneaking to the net and putting it away. The 30-year-old has been in the top 20 for a long time, and nearly six years ago, he had cracked into the top 6, but he was unable to continue and push into the top 5. He had a real chance to reach final at a major. He is a very intelligent person, but he over-plays and he loses early way too much. But he is still young enough and if he truly believes in himself, maybe the French can go super deep at a Grand Slam in 2016. But he has to prove that.
No. 14
Milos Raonic
The Canadian had a rough year, becoming injured in May and after that, he really struggled. He has a gigantic serve, he has a phenomenal forehand, and he hustles. But he must improve his backhand, his volley, and certainly, return of serve.
He is only 25 and he still has miles to go, so there is no panic yet. However, he has to smile more on court, and when he gets it in his face, yell a little bit. Raonic will go back into the top 10, but if he wants to reach the top 5, he has to change it up and add more style.
No. 13
Marin Cilic
Did the Croatian have a decent year? Sure, if you consider that he was still hurt at the beginning of 2015, and had the 2014 US Open champion was fully healthy, then maybe he would have entered the Australian Open and taken down all the big boys.
But since he returned in March, he has played a number of tournaments, but he had been unable to knock off the most significant competitors. For instance, when he played a terrific match and beat Jo Tsonga in five sets in the quarters at the 2015 US Open, but then he went up against Djokovic, who destroyed him.
However, at least he had reached the semis and it appeared that he was going to play even better during the fall. But he did not overall. He did win Moscow over Roberta Bautista Agut in the final, but in the bigger events, he lost to Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka and Rafa Nadal.
Cilic has all the tools, and if he can manage to be healthy all the time, and stay under control, then he will be right there. The 27-year-old will have another chance to win a major again. But in 2016? Hmmm.
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