Tennis Players Most Likely to Win Their 1st Grand Slam Title in 2015

In tennis 2014 has been all about potential change at the top of the game.

The stranglehold of the Big Four on the ATP World Tour continues to be threatened by other players in the top 20 who sense a way through. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer won’t be pushed away easily, though, as shown by the fact that the three of them still hold the top three in the world rankings.

The other original Big Four component, Andy Murray, has had a trying year but still remains a threat at any Grand Slam, reaching the semi-finals at Roland Garros and the last eight at the other three majors.

We’ve had two new male Grand Slam champions in 2014, with Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic surprisingly winning in Australia and New York respectively. The Swiss world No. 4 defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on the way to the title, and the Croat had to get past Roger Federer at Flushing Meadows.

However, on the women’s side of proceedings, there have been no first-time Grand Slam winners in 2014.

Serena Williams has failed to be quite so dominating over the rest of the field, with a poor showing in the year’s first three majors. Yet she certainly countered any concerns with a thumping victory at the U.S. Open to claim Grand Slam No. 18.

Undoubtedly, Serena is still very much the driving force and powerhouse of the WTA Tour, but she isn’t going to be around perpetually, as she deepens into her 30s.

A space is going to open up for someone to push women’s tennis into the post-Williams generation. At the moment, it’s clearly wide open as to who is going to snatch that opportunity.

So, will someone new taste victory at the four biggest and best tennis tournaments in the world in 2015? Who has shown enough in 2014 to suggest that they may not be particularly far off writing their name in history? Let’s take a look at the most likely candidates...

Long Shots Who May Be Worth a Gamble

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A lot of the time when we watch tennis, we are almost absolutely certain who is going to win before a ball has been struck.

But the reason we all watch the sport is because there is always that chance that something extraordinary can happen and the favourite won’t win. There are no scripts in competitive tennis; anything goes sometimes.

Take a U.S. Open final of Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori, for example. If you had put good money on those two going all the way pre-tournament, drinks would certainly be on you.

Cilic truly was a shock winner in New York and a surprise of that nature could occur again in 2015. Here are a few real dark horses before we get on to those with an extremely genuine chance.

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina is certainly one to watch. The 20-year-old recently had a very impressive run in Wuhan, beating the always dangerous Sabine Lisicki and then Angelique Kerber on the way to the semis. Petra Kvitova defeated her in the last four, but it was a tight contest throughout.

However, the world No. 33 actually beat Kvitova in Cincinnati a few weeks ago. She’s had some big wins this season over strong players and pushed others very close in defeat. Hard courts seem to be her favourite as she’s had most of her success on that particular surface in 2014.

Talking of players having favourite surfaces, grass is definitely the preferred choice of German Sabine Lisicki. After reaching the Wimbledon final in 2013, defeating Serena Williams in the fourth round, she is always someone who poses a threat at SW19 and could win the title there one day.

Lisicki is consistently inconsistent throughout the year, but when she steps on to the green green grass of home, her game improves dramatically, aided in part by the effectiveness of her monster serve on the surface.

She reached the quarter-finals again this year, but unfortunately an injury was clearly hindering her badly by that stage; 2015 could be the year for the German, though, at the All England Club.

The new Swiss tennis star Belinda Bencic is another girl on the rise up the rankings, and her last-eight showing at the recent U.S. Open may suggest she has a part to play in the latter stages of Grand Slams in 2015.

On the ATP side, Frenchman Gael Monfils is a player with abounding talent who, if he played at his best level consistently for two weeks, could win a Slam.

He pushed both Andy Murray and Roger Federer to five sets at major quarter-finals (Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows respectively) in 2014. Against Roger, in particular, he was unbelievably close to securing a huge win, letting match points slip in the fourth set.

Matches such as his last-32 clash with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at Toronto’s Rogers Cup showed how he can go toe-to-toe with the world’s best. But he's seemingly always enjoyed boasting the "maverick" tag, doing what he wants to do on court, as evidenced by the above photo.

Maybe he'll focus intensely for one Grand Slam and play winning tennis for the entirety of the fortnight.

Stylish Simona on the Edge of Glory

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At the slender age of 23, the reserved and slight Romanian Simona Halep has propelled herself into the game’s elite.

In 2014’s first three Slams, she bettered her previous performances by some distance. In Paris, she couldn’t have come much closer to winning her first major title, playing a wonderful final against Maria Sharapova but just coming up short.

The year has tailed off a little, with disappointing showings at the U.S. Open and then in Wuhan. Perhaps the toil of a long season is beginning to show.

But there’s still an important event to come in Singapore, the WTA Finals, where it’ll be interesting to see how Halep matches up with her fellow top-eight players.

As mentioned in a previous article, Halep is an exciting and fresh talent:

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She plays a very aesthetically pleasing and beautiful style of tennis. She’s a wonderful mover and defender. Despite obviously not being the most powerful player in the women’s top 10, her shots are aggressive. More importantly though, she is very precise in where she places the ball. 'Places' is the correct verb to use too, as her ball-striking seems effortless and planned way in advance.

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Halep has a strong chance of pushing on in 2015 and winning a maiden Slam. Significantly, she now has the invaluable experience of being right there deep into the second week of these events.

Being in the Roland Garros final means that she knows what it is all about now. When she reaches her next title decider, she can be confident because of how close she was the last time.

US Open Finalist Nishikori to Go One Better in 2015?

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It’s been some season for the man who is fast becoming a cult hero in his native country of Japan.

Kei Nishikori won the Tokyo Open in front of his adoring home crowd for the second time in three years just last week in the Japanese capital. That made it back-to-back tournament wins, after he triumphed in Kuala Lumpur the week before, too.

He has also won two other titles this year in Memphis and Barcelona. But his run to the U.S. Open final was arguably the absolute highlight of 2014 for the Japanese.

He beat Milos Raonic in the fourth round in four hours and 19 minutes, Stan Wawrinka in the last eight in four hours and 15 minutes, then somehow brilliantly dismantled top seed Novak Djokovic in the semis in four sets.

Sheer fatigue and nerves caught up to him in his first-ever major final, though, and he was well beaten in straight sets by Marin Cilic.

Despite defeat in the final, that string of scintillating performances in New York demonstrates that the world No. 7 is definitely ready to emulate Stan Wawrinka and Cilic in besting the Big Four and winning a Grand Slam title.

Nishikori’s game is rock solid in most areas. His serve is steady and will win him free points every now and then. He’s quick around the court and plays a smart game.

But his return game is surely his best asset, as evidenced by 2014 statistics. He sits at joint No. 5 in percentage of return games won on the season with 29 per cent, then joint No. 4 for second-serve return points won.

He has this tendency to constantly look incredibly tired during a match, but once the point begins, he’s as fresh as a daisy, with cat-like movement around the court.

A decent enough showing at the upcoming Masters 1000 events in Shanghai and Paris and he’ll be absolutely nailed on to be at London’s World Tour Finals—and deservedly so.

As one Asian major champion retires, another one could be on the cards. Can Kei Nishikori continue Li Na’s wonderful legacy with tennis in Asia in 2015?

Genie Is Up for the Fight to Win Her First Major

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As we sail into October and the year of 2014 is quickly coming to end, everyone in the tennis world now knows who Eugenie Bouchard is.

She’s that ultra-confident, determined, aggressive and selfie-loving bombshell who is most likely to be the lady who drives the WTA Tour forward into a new generation.

Back in the Australian summer in January, she became the first Canadian in 30 years to reach a Grand Slam semi-final. Then she showed that she’s not a one-hit wonder by again making the semis at Roland Garros, losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova in three sets.

The 20-year-old went one better at the All England Club but was given a lesson in the final by Petra Kvitova. The Czech won in 51 minutes, the fastest women’s singles final in 31 years, via the L.A. Times.

Bouchard’s rise from elite junior to senior has been extraordinarily speedy. In 2012, she was at SW19 winning the girls’ title. Just two years later, she was in the final of the real thing. The final was a reality check that winning a Grand Slam title does not come easily or quickly for most. There’s still lots of work to do.

Barring a title on clay in Nuremberg and a run to the final in Wuhan recently (losing again to Kvitova), the Quebec native’s best results in 2014 have come in the Grand Slams. This shows that she can turn it on and play her best tennis on the biggest stage, when it really matters.

She’s lost early in a lot of the top-tier events on the WTA Tour this year, though, and if she wants to dominate the game and be world No. 1, she’ll have to batten down the hatches in every single match.

With the experience of a Slam final under her belt, it’s going to be very intriguing to see whether Bouchard can push through in 2015. We’d all love to see a Serena-Genie major final, right?

Dimitrov Poised to Become the Next Superstar

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Like with Bouchard in the women’s game, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov has all the star quality needed to become the new face of men’s tennis and have fans come and see him play in their masses. In fact, he has more than the Canadian.

He too looks the part, but he also has a wonderfully pleasing style of play. He hits the ball so fluidly and sweetly and has flair in abundance.

Yet, it’s been slow going for Dimitrov to get close to the very best on the ATP Tour, but 2014 has seen some strides. He started the year at world No. 23 but is now ranked No. 10.

That rise is due to some excellent, promising performances throughout the year, which show that Dimitrov is on the verge of really making his mark.

He’s won three titles on three different surfaces and made the semis at Wimbledon. He was so close to taking Novak Djokovic to a fifth set in that contest, squandering set points in the fourth set tiebreak. After winning the event at the Queen’s Club, too, grass could be a very favourable surface for him going forward.

The last couple of seasons for Dimitrov have been all about getting experience of having to play through really tight and nervous moments in important matches. Perhaps 2015 is the year that it all comes together for him.

He is vastly improved physically with the help of coach Roger Rasheed. Now it’s the mental side of the game that he needs to fight through. He has the game to win a Grand Slam, but he needs to believe he can beat fellow top-10 players in consecutive matches.

The season is not over for the Bulgarian as he still has a chance of making the O2 Arena. But he’ll have to do really well in the next few weeks for that to happen, with a lot of players fighting hard to achieve the same thing.

More Aggressive Wozniacki a 2015 Slam Contender

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The former world No. 1 has had a marathon of a year (literally, in a few weeks). But over the past couple of months, she’s been in nothing short of superb form, which is why she’s one of those likely to claim a maiden major title in 2015.

Since Wimbledon, the Dane has a catalogue of consistent and impressive results. She won a title in Istanbul, made two finals, two semi-finals and one quarter-final. One of those finals, of course, was at the U.S. Open in New York.

Wozniacki brilliantly defeated Maria Sharapova in the last 16 in one of the matches of the year. She unfortunately then couldn’t rise to the occasion in the final and was comfortably beaten by best friend Serena Williams.

However, the signs are there that she can continue this re-emergence. Her serve is stronger, as she’s getting more free points from it. She’s being more aggressive on the court, hitting her forehand harder. The backhand is extremely solid as ever. Plus, her movement is arguably the best on the WTA Tour.

That stunning end to the season has propelled her up the rankings, too (now No. 9) and she’s secured a place at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Back after the split with Rory McIlroy and the first-round French Open loss that followed, that particular achievement would surely have been completely out of the question.

Wozniacki could be a real Grand Slam contender in 2015.