Ranking the Top 10 Men's Players After the 2015 US Open
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic added the 2015 U.S. Open to his growing legend, and everyone else including runner-up Roger Federer is chasing the year’s three-time major winner. He’s lapped the field despite some valiant and excellent efforts by other stars.
Just where do the top players in the world stand? Those that took steps forward in 2014 generally fell backwards in 2015, but of course Djokovic, Federer and Stan Wawrinka proved that the best superstars in tennis still reign supreme in major tennis championships.
Our top-10 rankings reflect much of what we have seen in the U.S. Open series and how they are positioned for the fall’s more abbreviated stretch into the WTF final in London. We include outlooks about their careers moving forward.
Missing the Cut
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There is not much that separates the fringe of top-10 territory. There’s less of a gap between David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga than there is with the top few superstars and everyone else. The following small groups of players could be anywhere from Nos. 10-20 without much difference:
Immobile Cannons: Big servers but limited footwork and a mostly one-dimensional tennis attack. This includes Milos Raonic, John Isner and Kevin Anderson.
Flyswatters: Good players like Gilles Simon and David Goffin simply lack the firepower and physicality to compete for major titles, but at their best they are borderline top-10 players.
Tough but Flawed: Feliciano Lopez and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had nice runs but were ultimately exposed by more well-rounded competitors.
Talented but Underachieving: Too late or too soon for Grigor Dimitrov, Bernard Tomic and other young potentials like Dominic Thiem.
10. David Ferrer
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ATP Ranking: No. 8
David Ferrer went out in the third round to Jeremy Chardy and perhaps nobody outside of Xabia, Spain even noticed. Majors are rarely his time to shine anymore anyway, not with nagging injuries, more powerful players and a steady infusion of youth making it more difficult.
More to the point, the little Spaniard really seems to enjoy tennis. He continues to be king of the little tournaments, a B-actor who has his own leading roles and followers. We get the point that he will continue to rack up these kinds of ranking points to stay in the top 10.
In other words, Ferrer is going to hold onto his career until he simply must be carried off the court kicking and screaming. At some point his stamina will be depleted, right?
9. Tomas Berdych
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ATP Ranking: No. 5
What original thoughts can we add about No. 5 Tomas Berdeych? Pause. Thinking. Still thinking.
Is it as simple as Berdych’s lack of creativity? No matter which year, a Berdych fan can count on him playing very well on all surfaces and delivering heavy groundstrokes but with little imagination, let alone strategy.
Lately his matches have looked more like halfhearted hitting sessions. How does he take the first set from Richard Gasquet and get crushed in 18 of 25 games to close out his U.S. Open?
He’s had a coaching addition in 2015, but it’s still the same Berdych.
Maybe we should quit wondering about his former potential or unmet expectations. He’s had a fine career with a 2010 Wimbledon final appearance and major semifinals appearances, and he has been a perennial top-10 player. That’s greatness. Not elite, legendary greatness, but a professional tennis career that is the envy of almost all players.
It would be a wonderful story if Berdych could somehow win one major, and maybe he can, but the window seems closed.
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8. Richard Gasquet
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ATP Ranking: No. 11
A terrific summer resurrected his fading career. It’s great to see because Gasquet is a throwback who can play some beautiful tennis. He’s not physical, and it’s as if he’s trapped in the wrong era. Yes, nobody else has had much breathing room in a past decade of dominance by three legendary superstars, but Gasquet’s tennis skills are a hidden gem to even casual tennis fans.
The sad thing was watching him get dismantled by Roger Federer, because he’s really better than the takeaway impressions from that quarterfinal match. It only serves to illustrate the gap he has had to overcome for a decade. His resistance seems futile.
7. Rafael Nadal
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ATP Ranking: No. 7
Forget about judging Rafael Nadal’s future. Nobody really knows how much he has left as a major contender, but he’s still one of about five players on the tour who is capable of dialing it up and playing at the level needed to win the most prestigious titles.
It’s not going his way this year, rocked back by a few body blows, but he’s one of the few athletes in sports that we’ve ever seen who can conjure up greatness with comebacks and mental toughness.
His career greatness is not over, and even if he hibernates this fall he has the tools to regather his confidence and begin dominating top-10 players once again. A few of those could give him the resurgence that his faithful followers hope to see.
6. Kei Nishikori
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ATP Ranking: No. 6
I feel like he’s overrated at world No. 6, and not just because last year’s carriage ride to the U.S. Open turned into this year’s pumpkin bust in the first round. He’s won multiple level-500 tournaments to rack up points, kind of the David Ferrer blueprint to a top-10 ranking.
If Nishikori is No. 6, is this now a weak top ten? Then again, the history of the Open era is really about a few stars each year who are legitimate contenders sprinkled in with occasional surprise major winners. Nishikori is one of those wild-card contenders, perhaps good and lucky enough to sneak in one day and win a major against a depleted draw.
That’s about as much as we can expect for now, and it's still maybe overly optimistic.
5. Marin Cilic
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ATP Ranking: No. 14
Until the semifinals, Marin Cilic defended his title the way a champion should. He was not always at his best, but he persevered in some tight spots and overwhelmed a hot and dangerous player in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
It’s hard to really assess all of the wreckage when he crashed against Novak Djokovic. That’s going to happen against the best player in the world, and he’s struggled his whole career in figuring out how to attack the Serbian. Chalk it up for what it was, a blowout.
Cilic is very capable of winning a second major, but he’s going to need another perfect storm, and especially some timely upsets and help with the draw. He’s one of the few top-10-caliber players capable of raising his career potential another notch. Maybe he just needs to see Djokovic slow down and Federer turn his interests to teaching juniors Swiss tennis instead of adding on to his never-ending legend.
4. Andy Murray
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ATP Ranking: No. 3
Losing to Kevin Anderson and looking fairly ordinary for most of the tournament is reason enough to drop him one spot in our rankings.
A lot of the critique on Andy Murray is negative. Pundits seem to dwell on what he cannot do, rather than point out that he is a great retriever with outstanding offensive touch. He’s been playing somewhat like his pre-Ivan Lendl version, which is so very good but of course pales in comparison to super-rival Novak Djokovic. He’s also been poked full of holes by aging wonder Roger Federer anytime a major match occurs.
What next? Is his support team able to instill more aggression and punch to his offense? He can still raise his game, so it’s not like he’s a washed-up star. His ceiling is higher than what he has shown in a handful of big matches this year, though all credit must be given to his nemeses.
The Far East and indoor season has usually been a success for Murray. He has some mid-level titles to defend, but he should hold his ATP No. 3 ranking and compete better this year at the WTF year-end tournament in London.
3. Stan Wawrinka
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ATP Ranking: No. 4
He proved that he is currently a bigger home run threat than Andy Murray, crashing into the semifinals after overpowering his competition. He was confident coming into the Roger Federer match, expressing his belief that he could compete and win.
It was the wrong kind of matchup on a fast court. He never could establish his ground game and Air Federer blitzed him with better variety, serving and reflexes.
Let’s see if Wawrinka can win a big title on one of the autumn’s fast courts. It could give him a jolt for returning to Australia in January as one of the big title favorites.
2. Roger Federer
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ATP Ranking: No. 2
Although his outlook is usually rosy, Roger Federer has to be feeling that pain of missed opportunity once again. In the past year, two Wimbledon finals and now the 2015 U.S. Open final have ended in defeat to Djokovic, who is simply stronger and more consistent in the pressure points.
Federer had plenty of stamina after rolling through his first six matches without dropping a set, but even his progressive throwback skills have not been able to bring home that 18th elusive major.
He’s the clear No. 2 player in the world and still arguably the best player on speedy courts, but unlike No. 4 Wawrinka, Federer’s best was unable to find the conditions and excellence needed to close out another major win.
There’s every opportunity for him to compete for the 2016 Australian Open final or for one of the latter two majors next year. It’s also true that when he puts himself in position to win, many tennis observers are enamored with how he plays against the first five or six opponents, which clouds their objectivity in how he matches up against Djokovic. As long as the Serbian is at the finish line, he is the clear underdog.
1. Novak Djokovic
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ATP Ranking: No. 1
There will be tennis observers who claim that the final was an ugly match, but those kinds of comments undermine one of the great performances we’ve seen under pressure. Time and again, Novak Djokovic had to battle a frenzied crowd, a legendary opponent and his own struggles to persevere. It was an incredible display of coolness, and in case there was ever a doubt, the Serbian is a super special player.
His game is the ultimate counterattack to all kinds of angles and shots, no matter who is dealing them. Big servers, powerful baseliners and even Federer’s all-court brilliance have been vanquished time and again by playing the percentages with his backcourt speed, attacking intelligence and mental toughness.
He’s the worthy heir to Federer and superstar Nadal, taking pieces of their greatness and mixing them into his own version of epic domination. He’s had to scrap and fight for every major title, and it’s no less impressive than what his fellow rivals have already accomplished. He’s earned this, and there will likely be more to come.
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