Each month, Ravi Ubha will reveal his latest assessment of the tours in the TENNIS.com Top 25. This list is not a reflection of actual ranking points gained or lost, but a combination of each player's current form and past pedigree—along the lines of the Top 25 polls in U.S. college football and basketball. (For the ATP and WTA rankings, click here; for our previous Top 25, click here.)
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams each won three Grand Slam titles in 2015. But right at the moment, Williams will probably feel disappointed with her haul. With the draw having seemingly broken her way in New York, Williams lost in the semifinals to Robert Vinci, and out went the Grand Slam.
There was no losing in Flushing for Djokovic, and he tops this month’s Top 25.
As Roger Federer has discovered, beating Djokovic at a Grand Slam is far different from doing it elsewhere. Djokovic is just 6-5 in their last 11 matches—but is 5-1 in their past six tussles at majors. He didn’t play his best tennis in the U.S. Open final, but Djokovic ended his drought in New York and concurrently engineered one of the finest seasons in Grand Slam history. Congrats, Novak.
Playing the U.S. Open final at night, in slower conditions, was a disadvantage for the Swiss. Still, he had his opportunities. Forehand errors at key moments and not converting break chances hurt Federer. But he probably comes away from New York knowing this: He was close, and if it was just about anyone else on the other side of the net, he’d have collected that elusive 18th major.
Were nerves a factor in Williams’ loss to Roberta Vinci in New York? It sure looked like it, despite the world No. 1’s proclamations afterward. She seemed to panic when faced with an opponent who didn’t crumble when it mattered. But the bottom line is that Williams bagged three majors in 2015, and nothing suggests she won’t add to the tally in 2016.
Yes, we know that Pennetta has flourished in New York in the past—this was actually her sixth appearance in the quarterfinal round. But she’ll still go down as one of the unlikeliest Grand Slam winners in history, especially given her age. We shouldn’t forget, though, that even before the final, the 33-year-old took out the trio of Petra Kvitova, Sam Stosur, and Simona Halep.
For the rest of her life, Vinci will be intertwined with Williams. She sliced and diced her way to a most unlikely victory—and then proceeded to charm everyone on Arthur Ashe Stadium. What a delightful personality.
A lack of consistency at the Slams is thankfully a thing of the past for Wawrinka, who reached the quarterfinals (at least) in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. The Swiss, however, stuttered against Federer at the U.S. Open, puzzlingly wanting to play rapid points instead of working the rally.
Cilic can hold his head up high. He did a good job of defending his title at the U.S. Open, despite suffering a foot injury early in the tournament. He’ll be hoping for an injury-free season in 2016, so he can make a charge on a more consistent basis at the Slams.
The good news for Halep at the U.S. Open? She made the semifinals, avoiding her early stumbles in London and Paris. The bad news? She—again—said nerves got the better of her. With all the Slams behind her, expect Halep to string together a hassle free end to 2015.
You can’t win a Grand Slam in the first week, but you can lose it. Case in point: Murray in New York. Toiling in the heat against Adrian Mannarino in the second round must have taken its toll on the Scot, who was later KO’d by an inspired Kevin Anderson. The Davis Cup semifinals come at the right time for Murray, who can get the U.S. Open out of his system.
Anderson set an unwanted record at Wimbledon, where he fell to 0-7 in fourth-round matches at majors. He won’t dwell on the stat now, since the South African finally reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal in New York. Anderson hung in there, physically and mentally, in upsetting Murray. Similar results ahead and Anderson could be on his way to the year-end championships.
Kvitova won the title at the Connecticut Open and reached a maiden quarterfinal at the U.S. Open, despite not being able to train properly and still feeling the effects of mono. It was thus a commendable effort from the Czech, who will hopefully return to full fitness in the near future.
Much was expected from Azarenka’s clash with Halep at the U.S. Open, and it didn’t disappoint. What will disappoint Azarenka, no doubt, is the failure to close out Halep in the third set. The rain delay significantly aided the Romanian, but the Azarenka of old wouldn’t have squandered that lead. Maybe that’s the point, though—Azarenka still isn’t back to her Top 5 form.
Bencic can’t unlock Venus Williams: It’s now eight sets played against the icon, and eight sets lost. Only twice has the Swiss gotten to four games in a set. Not many would classify the defeat as a huge upset, then, and Bencic did well to overcome Misaki Doi in the second round.
Isner will have to wait until 2016, at the earliest, to make his second Grand Slam quarterfinal, but he did little wrong in New York, not dropping a set through three rounds prior to meeting Federer. And, in that matchup, Roger was quite simply Roger. Isner had no chance.
A injury heading into the U.S. Open didn’t really affect Nishikori last year. This year, maybe it did. That said, Nishikori still held a couple of match points in his first-round loss to Benoit Paire. The injuries, it seem, will be an ever present in Nishikori’s career, which is a shame.
In the race to the Top 20 between former French junior standouts, it appears as if Mladenovic will get there first ahead of Caroline Garcia. She engineered another upset at a Grand Slam, ousting Ekaterina Makarova in New York, and recorded a maiden major quarterfinal.
Now doesn’t that just go and sum up Bouchard’s season? She ends her slump in New York, only to suffer an unfortunate accident ahead of her encounter versus Vinci. Even though she couldn’t play in the fourth round, the tournament marked progress for Bouchard, who appears to have lasted longer with Jimmy Connors than Maria Sharapova.
A summer that began so well for Kerber—a title in Stanford—didn’t lead to a huge result at the U.S. Open. Yet Kerber didn’t lose to just anyone in New York (it was Azarenka), and it was a high-quality slugfest in the third round.
Lopez took advantage of his second chance at the U.S. Open. Not put away by an understandably rusty Mardy Fish in the second round, the attacking Spaniard proceeded to make the quarterfinals and grabbed a set off Djokovic. He’s another player showing no signs of slowing down in his 30s; Lopez turns 34 on Sept. 20.
Did Venus have the adequate belief to defeat Serena in the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows? Who knows? But it’s a fair question, since she hadn’t ousted her younger sister at a Grand Slam in seven years and hadn’t been in a Grand Slam semifinal in five years. Venus, however, did knock out one of the most in-form players in tennis, Bencic, in the third round.
Hmm, who do you think the last guy Nadal would want to blow a two-set lead to would be? Mr. Fognini. Consult the Hamburg final for the reason why. In a season of disappointment, this had to have been the lowest of the low for the 14-time Grand Slam winner.
Pennetta and Vinci weren’t the only Italians to prosper at the U.S. Open. Fognini, surprisingly – we’re talking hard courts, not clay – became the first man to take out Rafa at a Slam after dropping the first two sets. But in typical Fognini fashion, he flopped against Lopez in the ensuing round.
Gasquet looked like he entered his match against Federer at the U.S. Open with a defeatist attitude. His performance was dire, shambolic—you name it—but not entirely surprising given his reputation. So why is he on this list? Well, he made the quarterfinals in New York.
Do you remember how Berdych began his Grand Slam campaign? By topping Nadal on the way to the semis in Melbourne with new coach Dani Vallverdu. After that, his results at majors were, in order: 4R-4R-4R. Not good enough for Berdych, and he’ll be the first to admit it.
Downing Nishikori, last year’s finalist at the U.S. Open, was impressive stuff from Paire. But equally as promising for Paire and his many fans? He backed it up, reaching the fourth round by crushing one of the game’s best competitors, Tommy Robredo.
Dropped out: Garbine Muguruza, Ana Ivanovic, Elina Svitolina, Lucie Safarova, Timea Bacsinszky, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Lesia Tsurenko, Sloane Stephens, Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic, David Goffin, Ivo Karlovic