ATP & WTA 2013 preview!

The 2012 season brought some of the old and a lot of the new! We saw Federer, Nadal and Djokovic each win a major, which was nothing different from the previous years. What changed was the other quarter of the big four finally showed up. Andy Murray won his first major in the US Open, but also the coveted gold medal in his own backyard of Wimbledon. The women saw dominance that we have seen in the past one  name, Serena! The American won the last two majors of the year, the year ending championship, and captured gold in singles and doubles at the Olympics. Where we have had one male player dominate each year in the ATP and a parade of women taking turns at the WTA circuit, this year was the opposite. The men alternated and Serena dominated!

Could 2013 follow the same trend?!


Some interesting story lines come into play in 2013. Novak Djokovic started the year in 2012 how he finished 2011, winning a major. He was relatively quiet the rest of the year until winning the year ending
championships in London, regaining his number one ranking from Federer. Could he be poised to repeat 2011 or will his 2013 be much more like 2012?

Roger Federer not only reclaimed his Wimbledon crown in 2012, increasing his major count to seventeen, but he claimed the one record he desperately wanted, weeks at number one. Roger made it a priority to reclaim his number one ranking and overtake Pete Sampras's record of #286 weeks at that position. Roger not only took it, but has done something no other man has done. He has eclipsed 300 weeks as the best player in the world; now standing at 302. Will Roger keep striving to get back in this position? Does he have enough majors to appease his appetite? 2013 will definitely be an interesting one for the King of Tennis as he has obtained every significant record possible.

Andy Murray comes into 2013 as relaxed as ever. He not only won his first major in New York, but also bagged the olympic gold at Wimbledon. 2012 was, by far, the best year Murray has had professionally. What will 2013 hold? Has his appetite grown now that he has tasted such high success or has it been quenched? One thing that will be for certain, the Brits will have even higher expectations of him at Wimbledon this year!

The number four player in the world, Rafa Na...wait a minute? Is he really four?! It is still hard to say, as Rafa has been such a fixture at one and two for close to a decade. Nadal has been such a great player and ambassador for the sport that is sad to see him out of the game with an injury. His 2012 made it eight years in a row where the Spaniard won a major. It also marked a stunning upset where afterwards it was disclosed that his knee was injured. Nadal was suppose to make his debut at Abu Dhabi, but had to withdraw. Later came word that he would be pulling out of the Australian Open. His return date has been moved all the way to early February in Acapulco. This has brought many questions up from outsiders wondering what is really going on with Rafa's knee. Hopefully he will be ready to go soon as his face, enthusiasm, and rivalry with the other top players is missed by all.


Serena, Serena, Serena! It was a dominating performance by arguably the best women's player in the world. It was definitely a tale of two halves in 2012. The Australian Open saw Serena bounced in the fourth round to  Ekaterina Makorova of Russian. At the French she was ousted in the first round, in one of the biggest upsets of all times, to frenchwoman Virginie Razzano. Tennis analyst were perplexed at what was up with the younger Williams, but then came the second half of the year. Wimbledon, the Olympics, and the US Open, the most important titles to be captured in the second half of 2012 and she grabbed all of them. Serena has proclaimed that she wants and sees herself pull the calendar slam in 2013. With young Victoria Azarenka and veteran Maria Sharapova still ranked ahead of her, it will be interesting to see if she can pull this GRAND feat (all pun intended).

The world's number one ranked player on paper, but not in the eyes of most will be looking to validate her ranking in 2013. Her 2012 started off hot, taking the Australian Open in dominating fashion smoking Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0. Her year looked promising until Serena started dominating the tour. She lost in the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open to the number one ranked American. To most, the results Vika achieved in 2012 would have been better than good enough, but to the Bulgarian, these loses were tough to swallow. Will she be motivated in 2013 or is she mentally beat by Serena's racket?

Maria Sharapova moved in the right direction in 2012. After her many injuries, especially troubles with her shoulder, Maria was able to pull of her first major since 2008s Aussie Open. She was able to complete the career Grand Slam by winning, of all titles, the French. Maria also made the finals of the Australian, won silver at the Olympics and made the year ending championship finals, losing to Serena. It looks like Maria is on the way up again, which is great to see. 2013 promises to be a solid year for her as she is looking to improve on the solid foundation she laid out in 2012.

What will 2013 hold?! Your guess is as good as mine. One thing it does promise is to be an extremely competitive year! Hold on to your seats, strap on your seat belts, and be ready for the ride!