TennisReporters.net’s top 32 in 2022: men 25-21

Diego Schwartzman, Alex De Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Nick Kyrgios, Roberto Bautista Agut

Nick Krygios
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

No. 25: Diego Schwartzman
The veteran had a decent year at the beginning, beating some fine players, After April, he started to slump. From May through November, he did not win many matches, losing to the very good players and some medicare players. Yes he is fast and he could be steady, but when he is out of synch, his strokes aren’t deep enough.  Perhaps he was injured, but in the fall, he fell down fast. Hopefully next year he can reset his game and make a few more critical changes.

No. 24: Alex De Minaur
The 23-year-old Aussie had some terrific wins. He works hard in his practices, but he can be erratic at times. Of course, he can really hustle, and cover the court with his long arm. In 2022, he only beat one player inside the top 20 this year. While he is pretty good, but in order to put down the super consistent players, who hit the ball really hard, he has to rush the net when he wants to. To reach the top 10, he has to improve his thinking tat in order to play much better, which is critical. He knows in Australia, the fans want to see him excell, just like Pat Rafter did, who won two Grand Slams. He needs to have a gut check.  

No. 23: Lorenzo Musetti
The Italian is only 20 year old. In October, he won Naples, beating Matteo Berrettini in the final. Even in Hamburg, he out-lasted the now No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. When he was on, and very confident, he can punch the lines on clay. Outside of that, though, on the hardcourts and the grass, he lost early a lot. Yes, he is very young, so in order to improve, he has to practice a tremendous amount to add more solid strokes. As many young people know that if they want to improve as much as they can, they eventually need to be more solid. Plus, he needs think about exactly where he needs to do. Think, and take a chance.

No. 22: Nick Kyrgios
This has been a bizarre year, as the controversial Aussie finally played a lot, in the singles and the doubles, and he beat a number of excellent players. On court, he will scream a lot, and yell, but in certain tournaments, he can absolutely crush the ball with his phenomenal forehand. Plus, his first serve is gigantic, and he really does mix it up with some wild, great crazy shots. Over the past 10 years, he can play excellently, and then, he would play almost lousy. He did reach at the Wimbledon final, his best Grand Slam, ever, but unfortunately, he self-destructed and then Novak Djokovic out-thought him in the fourth set. Really though, in 2023, will he continue to play great all year, or will he become pissed off on court, and off court, too. Few people really know what’s his erratic head.

No. 21: Roberto Bautista Agut
In his first event in January, he made it into the final at the ATP Cup in Sydney. In Mallorca, he reached the final, upsetting Daniil Medvedev. When he is pounding the ball, up and down, side to side, he can be so harmonious. However, the Spaniard is 34-years-old. While he absolutely love to play, but he is aging. Is he just as fast than he was 15 years ago? He might say, “Yes, I can still sprint” he is slightly slower. The good thing is that he won Doha and Kitzbuhel. But to win a Grand Slam, sure, he can upset a couple pf top 10 players. However, the reason why he has yet to reached the final because he cannot hit it hard into the corners all the time. He is a very good player, but to win a Slam, that would be a shocker.

TennisReporters.net 2021 year-end review: top 20-16, the men

Pablo Carreno Busta

20. Pablo Carreno Busta
The Spaniard had a decent year, but not fantastic. He won the bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, upsetting Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic. That might have been the best stretch of his career. Not only is he very consistent, but he can mix it up and smash the ball. However, he absolutely loves clay, and he can scramble on the dirt. Outside of that, though, the 30-year-old plays a tremendous amount, which means he will look spotty. Next year, perhaps he can jump on it, early, and grab the points.

19. Roberto Bautista Agut
Another Spaniard had a notably good year, grinding down his opponents. He can move all around the court, hitting well from both sides. However, while the veteran is solid with nine titles, he cannot upset a lot of people in the top 10. He has to get even faster and hit with more aggression. In 2022, he can win ATP 1000, but I doubt that.

18. Aslan Karatsev
Another veteran, the Russian had a shockingly successful year. He won Dubai by upsetting Andrey Rublev in the final. Before that, at the Australian Open, he reached the semis, knocking off Felix Auger-Aliassime and Grigor Dimitrov before he went down against Djokovic. He can crush the ball, and he can be fierce whenever he hads the opportunity. He started the year when he was ranked No. 114 and now he skyrocked up the chart. Like others, he wants to punch into the top-10 in 2022. He could, if he can run faster.

17. Cristian Garin
The 25-year-old from Chile had a good year, when he finally rose up. Like some other players, he loves clay, winning five tournaments in three years. He is fast and more intelligent now. Over the past couple years, he began to believe in his strokes. However, he still has a lot of work to do, because the top players are simply better than he is. If he wants to go even higher, than he will have to hit the ball even harder and with his serve. He just has to ambush his opponents much more often.

16. Roger Federer
The famous Swiss has rarely played this year. He is still recovering from knee surgery. He is 40-year-old, and the 20-tim Grand Slam winner loves to add more game but his top goal will be just to get back on court. Of course, the injury and age has slowed his incredible foot speed. He is without a doubt one of the best competitors over the past 20 years, perhaps the best of all time, excluding Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic. His variety is unconscious, with his forehand, his great eyes when he is returning, and at the net. Next year, he will come back, at some point, maybe in February or March, and then, if he is 100 percent, then he will win at least one tournament. But to win another Grand Slam? That will be surprising, except in Wimbledon, when he will have a small opportunity. If he does, the entire world will cheer as loud as they can.

TennisReporters.net 2020 year-end review: top 11-15, men

Milos Raonic

15. David Goffin
Three years ago, the Belgium had finally shone and became very good. He could always blend it up and move with speed. In 2017, he upset a few fine players, like Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Dominic Thiem at the ATP Finals. Federer and Nadal have beaten Goffin numerous times with some blowouts, too. Now he is 30 and has gotten over his nerves, especially in the backcourt, where he is very steady. However, he has yet to win a Grand Slam or the ATP 1000 final. There is a small chance to win a major, but if he can move closer to the net, just like Rod Laver and Pete Sampras, then he can break that ceiling. In 2020, he did not do much, as he was only 12-11. He has to return better. It looks like he could win the titles, but not the big ones

14. Milos Raonic
The huge hitter came up pretty fast, with his huge serve and his muscular forehand. In 2016 Wimbledon, he reached the final, upsetting Federer in five sets in the semis. He was ready to go, but in the final, he lost to the Brit Andy Murray. While Raonic has gone deep into the finals, and he has won eight titles, but he stalled. The 29-year-old has not won an ATP 1000. During the summer, he reached into the final, at Cincinnati, cracking past Stefanos Tsitsipas. But, he went down in the final to Novak Djokovic. He is tall, his forehand is a weapon, and his backhand improved this season. But at the US Open, he lost against another Vasek Popsil. Currently, he is working with coach Mario Tudor. Optimistically, next year, he can get back into the top 3, but the most important thing is to stay on the court, rather than pulling out. He just has to stay healthy.

13. Roberto Bautista Agut
The Spaniard finally reached the semis at a Grand Slam, 2019 Wimbledon. There, he bent down and flipped his shots deep into the court. Unfortunately, he could not find a way, losing to Djokovic in four sets. He has played the majors since he started in 2005. Now, he has racked up 61 wins and 31 losses. That is very decent, but he has been stuck getting to the round of 16 over and over. The 32-year-old has always played consistently, as he rarely gets hurt. That is a huge positive. He has won nine titles, which is good, but he has yet to win at the ATP 1000s. At least in 2016 at Shanghai, he upset Djokovic and in the final, he went down to Andy Murray. Bautista Agut is very good, but that doesn’t mean that he can win a Grand Slam. However, he will try, and try again.

12. Denis Shapovalov
The young Canadian will continue to grow, but he has to improve his serves and volleys. At the start of the year, in Brisbane he looked terrific, beating Tsitispas and Alexander Zverev. He reached the quarterfinal, and then lost to Djokovic. But, he eventually stalled, and he didn’t play well as the year wound down. He was 17-15. That is not good enough. He is coached by his father, Tessa Shapovalova, and the former top 5 Mikhail Youzhny. They can really add to his game. He should be satisfied now. If he wants to go to the top, then he must expand his weapons.

11. Gael Monfils
The Frenchman can be phenomenal, sprinting and cracking with his major forehand. When he is healthy — and that is not often given over the past five years that he injured a lot— he can compete with top 10 player. But, one of the reasons was that he has not reached the final at the Grand Slam is that he can’t get is mental game up to the level of his physical game. He can be close, but he has to beat the great players. He should improve his backhand and move up closer to the baseline. He is engaging with the players and his easy personality is a winning asset. Next year, he can return to the top 10. But beyond that, I cannot see him winning a Slam.

Nadal and Spain win the Davis Cup

Rafael Nadal


It is the end of the year, for the men, after almost 11 months. They are done, finally, at the end of November, and the No. 1, Rafa Nadal, has had a tremendous year. 

On Sunday, in Madrid, Spain won the title at the Davis Cup, beating Canada 2-0. 

Nadal won everything, in singles, and believe it or not, in the doubles, too. Through the year, the lefty Spaniard rarely plays doubles because he wants to make sure that if he does, he could get hurt and he would not play at all. But the 33-year-old is very careful now, with the exception of playing clay constantly, but when he is conscious of how his body is reacting, then he can just rip the ball and be aggressive.

On Sunday, in the final, he edged the young man, Denis Shapovalov, 6-3, 7-6. The Canadian Shapovalov had a fine event, in the singles and doubles, too. But, in this match, Nadal was a little more intense and he was on fire. Over the past two years, the now 20-year-old Shapovalov has gotten better, and next year, he may crack into the top 10, but currently, he get frustrated, and he knock it too long. Shapovalov looks pretty darn good, but to win the match, he had to overcome the fans who were screaming for Nadal. To stun Nadal at his home, well, Shapovalov would have to play 100 percent. That is very difficult, and while the Canadian was trying as hard as he could, he must realize that the 19-Grand Slam champion Nadal is better than he is. 

Shapovalov did upset Nadal in Montreal two years ago, but that was then, and this was now.

In the first match, the veteran Roberto Bautista Agut beat a super young player, Felix Auger-Aliassime, 7-6 6-3. Nadal was raring to go, and he did. Nadal was lethal with his big forehand, and he mixed his serve into the middle into the chest, and he touched the corners. He could swing it away, because Spain already was up a match.

Nadal won all eight matches, including five singles, and three doubles. He did not drop a set. He is the clear No. 1, winning Roland Garros, the US Open and now the Davis Cup, among others. 

Since 2000, Spain has won the Davis Cup six times. It wasn’t just about Nadal.

Next January, Nadal will be thinking about winning the Australian Open. If he does that, he will tie with Roger Federer at 20 Slams. Of course, he can wait until Roland Garros, which he has won 12 times in June on clay, but perhaps Nadal wants to celebrate on the hard courts in Melbourne. He never brags, but for everyone, they have to here the voices when you are sleeping. You cannot take it away. Or perhaps, the dreams will hide you, but for Nadal, when you are awake, then you will think about it and believe he can still beat everyone. Just like he did at Madrid.

2017 top players: men’s 16-20

TennisReporters.net will review 2017’s top 30 women and men, our annual feature.

No. 16: Andy Murray
The Brit was on fire during the second half of 2016. He was winning everything, he was confident, and he never tired. But in 2017, his body began to betray him. Murray played way too much, and finally, he had to come home. He stopped playing for the rest of the year. Obviously, he loves tennis, watching it, paying attention to it, talking and learning. But it 2018, Andy has to stop going from tournament to tournament. This time, he has to rest and be concise. And then if he does, he can win another Grand Slam, probably a few.

No. 17: John Isner
The American had a so-so year, winning a couple small titles. At the Slams, he was mentally out of it. He really improved his backhand, and he has gotten better when he is at the net. But still, it is so hard for him to break serve, while obviously, he wins his own huge serve very frequently. Tiebreaker coming — again. However, if Isner wants to reach the semis at a Slam, he has to change something, or the 32-year-old will never be able to win a Slam. That would be sad. 

No. 18: Lucas Pouille
This was a good year by the 23-year-old Frenchmen. After all, the so-called youngsters are good, but they have yet to win a Slam yet. In order to do so, they have to push themselves hard. Pouille recently won Vienna over Jo Tsonga and Stuttgart over Feliciano Lopez. Pretty good. However, he played too much and lost in the early rounds too many, many times. He needs to be more patient and efficient. He can reach the top 10 next year, if he continues to grow. 

No. 19: Tomas Berdych
The Czech has been very consistent over the past 10 years. He is tall, strong, and he crushes his forehand and his backhand. But the reason why he hasn’t won a major yet is because he is a little slow when he is running and he can get pretty nervous at the end of the match. He did manage to reach the final at Wimbledon, and he has beaten a number of the top competitors — once in a while. But, in 2018, he has re-tool his game or he will drop even further.

No. 20: Roberto Bautista Agut
The Spanish veteran has finally woke up, smelled the roses, and now, he isn’t just playing on the clay courts. He is moving forward, and when he has an opportunity, he can crack the ball on the lines. Still, he is consistent, but the lack of a big weapon has kept him from winning a big event. Can he win a Slam or the ATP Masters 1000? I doubt it.