ATP Tennis Rankings - 2010

Another year has passed by, and in the tennis world it was a year of many happenings. For Roger Federer fans, it would have to be called a year of disappointment, as the great man won just the solitary Grand Slam, and that too at the beginning of the year. The rest of the year was probably the worst since he began playing and with losses as early as the quarterfinals and even the 4th round, many thought the Federer juggernaut had finally exhausted itself. But he proved that he still has a lot of tennis in him, with victories late in the year. More on that later. Here is what took place in the race for the top tennis rankings for 2010.

The 2010 Tennis Season

Index

• 2010 ATP World Tour 250 Tournaments Results
• 2010 ATP World Tour 500 Tournaments Results
• 2010 ATP World Tour 1000 Tournaments Results
• 2010 Barclay's ATP World Tour Final Tournament Results
• 2010 Grand Slam Tournaments Results
• 2010 Year End ATP Tennis Rankings

For Rafael Nadal fans, it was probably the best year, and indeed just a few major losses in the season marred what would have been a perfect year for the Spaniard, which he finished at the Number 1 position. From basics, like changing his grip on his serve, to rescheduling his entire year, Rafa has proved that he is here to stay, and to probably dominate tennis the way Federer did just a few years ago. Though he suffered a bad 2009, plagued by injuries, Nadal put everything behind him, and showed his skill, toughness, and tenacity as a tennis player in the 2010 season. Coming from a season where he won only one Grand Slam, and hardly any titles post that, he rose to the challenge in the 2010 season, losing only the Australian Open and winning 3 Grand Slams among with his numerous other titles. Rafa moves into 2011 with chances of completing another non-calendar year grand slam, a calendar year grand slam, and a never done before 7 in a row grand slam titles, should he get the calendar year Grand Slam.

Besides the top two, there was marked improvement in the other players on the tour as well, though the 2010 Grand Slams were shared by Nadal and Federer. The entire top ten showed a lot of promise, and 2011 could be the year that Grand Slams are won by players other than Federer and Nadal.

Novak Djokovic had a roller coaster of a season, climbing as high as number 2 in the rankings, but eventually could not keep up the level of play, and returned to the ever-so-familiar number 3 position. He is at the perfect time of his career, however, and 2011 might be the year where he finishes at the number 2 spot, or even the number 1 spot. Like him, Andy Murray too had a mixed year, moving as low as number 5 in the ATP rankings, but climbing back to number 4, just in the nick of time. Robin Soderling, who still remains the only man to beat Nadal at the French Open, is playing better as time passes, and briefly occupied the number 4 spot, a career high for him. He also stands to gain lots of points in the 2011 season and moving up the rankings is a very real possibility for him. Injuries sidelined some of the other greats, and players like Nikolay Davydenko, who won the 2009 Barclays World Tour Finals, and Juan Martin del Potro, who won the 2009 US Open, were missing from most of the 2010 season, and will be looking to make a positive comeback in 2011. Both are capable of ruining most players chances at Grand Slams, and their return to the tour will be welcomed indeed. In their absence, David Ferrer, and Tomas Berdych have moved up in the rankings and these too, are players that are not to be counted off by any means. Expect a lot more from Tomas Berdych this season, as he attempts to win his first Grand Slam crown. Many thought that Andy Roddick, the tough American, would make an impact in 2010, but it was not to be so. A good start to an otherwise poor year saw him slipping in the ranking, even moving out of the top ten at one stage. He will no doubt, be looking for a better 2011 season, and with age not on his side, he will be looking for that elusive Grand Slam title in 2011. His last Slam came at the 2003 US Open, and though he has come close many times since, the Grand Slam trophy stays just tantalizingly out of reach. Competitiveness on the tour has increased to such an extent that it is now possible for any of the top 8 to win a Grand Slam.

So all in all, a very hectic season, with a lot of changes happening on the tour. The tour has also become, for most players, a bit tiring, and many have complained about the rankings structure and the tour schedule. Will this prompt a change is anyone's guess, but in my opinion, there should not be many changes in the 2011 season. Of course, a few of the tournaments have been dropped or shifted to new venues, and some have even been moved up in the schedule, but these are minor changes. Tennis fans can, however, be sure of scintillating tennis action from the very start of the 2011 season, which will only get hotter as the tour advances.

Without further ado, let's take a look at what happened at the tournaments in the men's 2010 season. The following is a list of the men's tennis 2010 winners in all the tournaments that the ATP tour had on offer.

2010 ATP Tour Results

2010 ATP World Tour 250 Tournaments Results
ATP world tour 250 tournaments form the bottom most tier of tournaments, and award 250 points to the winner. In most cases, 32 players make up the draw for singles, while 16 teams make it to the doubles draw. Being lowest on the ladder of the ATP tournaments over the course of the year, these tournaments are the highest in number, with about 40 tournaments taking place over the course of a season.

Tournament	Winner	Runner Up
Brisbane	Andy Roddick	Radek Stepanek
Chennai	Marin Cilic	Stanislas Wawrinka
Doha	Nikolay Davydenko	Rafael Nadal
Sydney	Marcos Baghdatis	Richard Gasquet
Auckland	John Isner	Arnaud Clément
Johannesburg	Feliciano López	Stéphane Robert
Zagreb	Marin Cilic	Michael Berrer
Vina del Mar	Thomaz Bellucci	Juan Mónaco
San Jose	Fernando Verdasco	Andy Roddick
Costa Do Sauipe	Juan Carlos Ferrero	Lukasz Kubot
Buenos Aires	Juan Carlos Ferrero	David Ferrer
Marseille	Michaël Llodra	Julien Benneteau
Delray Beach	Ernests Gulbis	Ivo Karlović
Casablanca	Stanislas Wawrinka	Victor Hănescu
Houston	Juan Ignacio Chela	Sam Querrey
Munich	Mikhail Youzhny	Marin Čilić
Belgrade	Sam Querrey	John Isner
Estoril	Albert Montañés	Frederico Gil
Nice	Richard Gasquet	Fernando Verdasco
London	Sam Querrey	Mardy Fish
Halle	Lleyton Hewitt	Roger Federer
's-Hertogenbosch	Sergiy Stakhovsky	Janko Tipsarević
Eastbourne	Michaël Llodra	Guillermo García-López
Newport	Mardy Fish	Olivier Rochus
Bastad	Nicolás Almagro	Robin Söderling
Stuttgart	Albert Montañés	Gaël Monfils
Atlanta	Mardy Fish	John Isner
Gstaad	Nicolas Almagro	Richard Gasquet
Los Angeles	Sam Querrey	Andy Murray
Umag	Juan Carlos Ferrero	Potito Starace
New Haven	Sergiy Stakhovsky	Denis Istomin
Bucharest	Juan Ignacio Chela	Sergiy Stakhovsky
Metz	Gilles Simon	Mischa Zverev
Bangkok	Guillermo García-López	Jarkko Nieminen
Kuala Lumpur	Mikhail Youzhny	Andrey Golubev
Stockholm	Roger Federer	Florian Mayer
Moscow	Viktor Troicki	Marcos Baghdatis
St Petersburg	Mikhail Kukushkin	Mikhail Youzhny
Vienna	Jurgen Melzer	Andreas Haider-Maurer
Montpellier	Gaël Monfils	Ivan Ljubičić

While theoretically possible to play all these tournaments, the high number of tournaments means that there are quite a few of these that overlap each other, making a player choose how many of these to play and when. Of all the 40 tournaments, only 2 of the best results count towards ranking points.

2010 ATP World Tour 500 Tournaments Results
Next up the ladder in the ATP schedule come the ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, which, as the name suggests, award 500 ranking points to the winner. With more points at stake, the draw is also larger, with as many as 48, or even 56 players at times, making it to the main draw in the singles, and 24 or 16 teams in the doubles. More points at stake also means that there are fewer number of such tournaments scheduled, with just 11 in the course of a season.

Tournament	Winner	Runner Up
Rotterdam	Robin Söderling	Mikhail Youzhny
Memphis	Sam Querrey	John Isner
Acapulco	David Ferrer	Juan Carlos Ferrero
Dubai	Novak Djokovic	Mikhail Youzhny
Barcelona	Fernando Verdasco	Robin Söderling
Hamburg	Andrey Golubev	Jurgen Melzer
Washington	David Nalbandian	Marcos Baghdatis
Beijing	Serbia Novak Djokovic	David Ferrer
Tokyo	Rafael Nadal	Gael Monfils
Basel	Roger Federer	Novak Djokovic
Valencia	David Ferrer	Marcel Granollers

Again, as in case of the ATP 250 tournaments, only 4 of the best results of a player are counted towards ranking points, and these may or may not coincide with other tournaments on the tour.

2010 ATP World Tour 1000 Tournaments Results
ATP World Tour 1000 tournaments are tournaments that offer 1000 ranking points to the winner, making these tournament highly contested. The draw of these tournaments are similar to the ATP Tour 500 tournaments, with 56 players in the main draw for singles, and 24 in the main draw for doubles. However, due to the high number of points here, and also the fact that all these tournaments are counted towards a players year end ranking, the draw usually features all the top players on the tour. There are 9 such tournaments spread out over the course of the year.

Tournament	Winner	Runner Up
Indian Wells	Ivan Ljubičić	Andy Roddick
Miami	Andy Roddick	Tomáš Berdych
Monte Carlo	Rafael Nadal	Fernando Verdasco
Rome	Rafael Nadal	David Ferrer
Madrid	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer
Montreal	Andy Murray	Roger Federer
Cincinnati	Roger Federer	Mardy Fish
Shanghai	Andy Murray	Roger Federer
Paris	Robin Söderling	Gael Monfils

All the 9 tournaments are mandatory, and points from all are counted towards a players year end ranking. What this means is, if a player misses any of these tournaments due to injury or any other reason, his points for that tournament, in most cases, will be a zero.

2010 Barclay's ATP World Tour Final Tournament Results
Falling right between the Grand Slams and the ATP World Tour 1000 tournaments is the Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals. This is a single tournament played at the end of the year, and players need to qualify for this tournament. The top eight ATP ranked players at the end of the current season qualify for the World Tour Finals, a tournament that offers 1500 ranking points towards a players year end rankings. In addition to the other tournaments taken in account towards a players ranking [4 Grand Slams, 8 ATP Tour 1000, 4 ATP Tour 500, 2 ATP tour 250], players who qualify for this tournament get these points added as well. This tournament is considered the most prestigious of the tournaments after the Grand Slams, not only for the high number of points awarded here, but also for the fact that only the best make it to this tournament.

The Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals was played at the O2 Arena in London, the same venue as 2009. However, the results of the 2010 tournament could not have been more different from the 2009 results. The players who qualified for the 2010 Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals were, in order of ranking, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer and Andy Roddick. The tournament is played on a round robin basis, and very unlike last year, this year saw a dream final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Both, Nadal and Federer, were unbeaten in the tournament, and expectations for a dramatic final were sky high. They didn't disappoint, and the final went to 3 sets, with the number 2 Federer winning the tournament and taking home his 5th Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals Trophy, and also ruining Nadal's chances for a perfect year.

2010 Grand Slam Tournaments Results
Grand Slams are what the sport of tennis is all about, and there is no higher tournament to win in tennis other than these. With the highest ranking points awarded here, 2000 points to the winner, a victory in a Grand Slam can make or break your tennis ranking. Grand Slams last for 2 weeks, and are the most watched of all the tennis tournaments, the world over. Played across 3 continents, there are 4 Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year, and they are, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, and the US Open. The draw for these tournaments are the highest of all tennis tournaments, with as many as 128 players making it in the main draw for singles, and 64 teams making it in the main draw for doubles.

Tournament	Winner	Runner Up
Australian Open	Roger Federer	Andy Murray
French Open	Rafael Nadal	Robin Soderling
Wimbledon	Rafael Nadal	Tomas Berdych
US Open	Rafael Nadal	Novak Djokovic

With 2000 points at stake, all the four Grand Slams tournaments are counted towards the year end ranking, and indeed winning even one of these can improve your ranking by leaps and bounds.

2010 Year End ATP Tennis Rankings

So, in spite of there being so many tournaments on the tour, there are some which overlap each other, or are too close to each other timewise for a player to compete in. Also, of all the tournaments on the tour, and there are about 64 of them, only 18 are considered for the year end rankings. These include the 4 Grand Slams (mandatory), 8 ATP Tour 1000 (mandatory), 4 of the 11 ATP tour 500, and 2 of the ATP Tour 250. If a player qualifies for the year end Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals, then those points count towards his ranking as well.

Thus, it becomes imperative for players to plan their schedule well and see that they are playing all the levels of the tournaments, right through the year. Playing too much in the beginning might lead to fatigue at the end of the year, while the opposite might not leave enough time to improve your rankings. The right balance is needed, and if you go through the ATP Tour Results above, you will see that players have managed to do this very well, right through the year.

So, after all those matches, and planning and strategy, let's take a look at how the year ended for the tennis players competing for the top ten slots. Here are the men's tennis rankings 2010:

1. Rafael Nadal
2. Roger Federer
3. Novak Djokovic
4. Andy Murray
5. Robin Soderling
6. Tomas Berdych
7. David Ferrer
8. Andy Roddick
9. Fernando Verdasco
10. Mikhail Youzhny

Rafael Nadal had a near perfect year, in which he won 3 grand slam tournaments in addition to a number of other titles. With victories at the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, Nadal increased his lead over Federer to over 3000 ranking points, making it very difficult, but not impossible, for Federer to get back the number 1 spot. Nadal also completed a non calendar year grand slam, and now has victories at all the 4 grand slam tournaments. He looks all set, barring any health problems, to reign at the top for a few years more. If he had won the Australian Open and the World Tour Finals, Nadal would have had one of those perfect years that seem to come by ever so rarely. He is also looking to be the most-likely player and the only male to win the calendar year Golden Slam in 2012.

The others in the 2010 South African Airways ranking didn't move much, and the rankings were pretty similar to the 2009 rankings. However, Davydenko and del Potro, both dropped out of the top ten, making way for a few newcomers. Both faced injury problems, and once recovered fully, will probably make up for lost ground and will end the year 2011 in the top ten once again. Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, and Mikhail Youzhny were the most benefited by the absence of the two, as they made into the top ten of 2010. Soderling climbed to number 5, while Roddick still is in the top ten at number 8. Incredible stuff from him.

So that's how the year of 2010 played itself out, and there were many moments that no tennis fan would ever want to miss. The rankings of 2010 show us that, if anything, the 2011 season, that starts in just under a month, is going to be even more competitive and fierce. The most important thing to watch out for in 2011 is, will Rafael Nadal be able to retain his 3 Grand Slam titles, or is it going to be a repeat of the 2009 season for him? Also, while Nadal needs the Australian Open title to complete his non calendar year consecutive Grand Slam streak, Federer needs the title for a very simple reason. Should Federer lose the Australian Open, he will be without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2003, taking in account the 52 week ATP calendar year. And on that note, and with the promise of much much more high quality tennis action coming your way, we will take your leave.

See you in just more than a month for the first Grand Slam of 2011, the Australian Open. Till then, kudos to Rafael Nadal, the world number one in the ATP tennis rankings for 2010, for his much deserved success!