The Most Disappointing Tennis Players in 2016 so Far
As this tennis season winds down, some players are probably looking forward to putting 2016 behind them.
The 2016 season got off to a rough start with a match-fixing scandal. Maria Sharapova's suspension soon followed, and then a Zika virus scare kept many big names from the Summer Olympics in Rio.
But this list is about players who failed to meet expectations in 2016.
Roger Federer is not among the most disappointing despite his injury-plagued, abbreviated season. He didn't play below expectations, and surely he's frustrated that he couldn't play most of the year. Injury and not his play was the primary reason for disappointment.
You also won't find any players under 20 on this list, like 19-year-old Belinda Bencic, who has fallen from a career-high of No. 7 earlier this year to No. 41. Players that young often take two steps forward and three steps back before settling into a groove.
This list is about people who performed well below expectations. Some players are veterans who lost a step and eventually their footing this year, while most inexplicably dropped out of the Top 20.
Gael Monfils put in one of the more disappointing performances of the year in the semifinals of the U.S. Open, but he's not on this list because he's having one of the best seasons of his career. Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki and Grigor Dimitrov escaped the list because of late-season success.
The following are the most disappointing players of 2016.
Honorable Mentions
1 of 7
Reaching the finals in three of the four Grand Slams and winning Wimbledon would be career highlights for most players. However, Serena Williams is not most players. The 22-time Grand Slam champion is one of the greatest players of all time.
Besides going 1-2 in finals, Williams also lost the No. 1 ranking after 186 consecutive weeks at the top.
Like Federer, Williams struggled with injuries this season, but her loss at the Australian Open and French Open had more to do with an inability to manage pressure than injury.
That's why she gets an honorable mentioned. Remember, heading into an Olympics year after nearly completing a calendar-year Slam, talk of a Golden Slam was on the table.
Incredibly, despite playing in just eight tournaments this year, Williams could still finish the season ranked No. 1.
Jack Sock is the top-ranked American on the ATP World Tour. However, he lands an honorable mention because he's made little progress from last year.
Sock finished 2015 ranked No. 26. He's ranked No. 25 now. When he reached the fourth-round of the 2015 French Open, more fourth-round appearances and perhaps even a quarterfinals showing seemed like the next step. This year, he did reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open but failed to advance beyond the third round in the other Slams.
He also lost in the first round of the Summer Olympics and suffered a heartbreaking loss to Borna Coric in Davis Cup play.
Ana Ivanovic
2 of 7
Ana Ivanovic closed out her season with a first-round loss at the U.S. Open. But even before packing things up early due to injury, the former No. 1 player was having an awful year.
Now ranked No. 61, Ivanovic ended her season 15-16 and on a five-game losing streak.
After her loss at the U.S. Open, Ivanovic announced via Twitter that she had been battling wrist and toe injuries.
"Unfortunately, due to my recurring wrist injury, I have been advised by my doctor to take some time off the court in order to recover and regain my full strength. I have also been delaying surgery on my toe, which I broke at the Australian Open in January last year," she revealed.
Benoit Paire
3 of 7
Benoit Paire is a talented Frenchman who struggles with focus. Last year, he upset 2014 U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori in the first round of the U.S. Open, and he backed up that win before going on to reach the fourth round.
Many thought 2016 would be a breakout year for the flamboyant Frenchman and he would finally reach his potential.
He started off well and reached a career-high No. 18 earlier this year, but now he's ranked No. 41 after a few missteps on and off the court.
Paire was kicked out of the Olympics after his second-round loss to Fabio Fognini.
After the incident, Arnaud Di Pasquale, winner of a bronze medal for France at the 2000 Olympics, told Adam Addicott of UBI Tennis: “This is not the first time he has been warned. The France team, it is not an open bar. There are rules to follow."
Paire was 25-17 in 2015. He's 22-28 this year.
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Eugenie Bouchard
4 of 7
Last year, Eugenie Bouchard's struggles could be considered a sophomore slump. 2016 was supposed to be her bounce-back year.
Instead, the former Top 5 player has been mired outside the Top 30 for a year now.
After her breakout 2014 season, in which she reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open as well as the finals at Wimbledon, Bouchard struggled in 2015. She finished ranked No. 48.
Instead of semifinals, first-round losses are more common for Bouchard these days. She lost in the first round at the U.S. Open and just dropped her opening-round match in Linz, Austria.
Vasek Pospisil
5 of 7
This year has been even worse for Bouchard's Canadian compatriot Vasek Pospisil.
Pospisil reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2015 and rose to No. 29, close to his career-high No. 25. Now, he's ranked No. 131.
This year, Pospisil lost in the first round in Melbourne, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He reached the second round at Flushing Meadows.
In May, heading into the French Open, Pospisil told TSN's Mark Masters: "It's just how it goes sometimes. The sport of tennis is up and down. You're confident one time of year and not so much the other. Right now, I'm just trying to fight through a tough patch and on a surface I don't necessarily like to play on as much as the other two."
He was ranked No. 47 when he spoke of that rough patch that's gotten rougher.
Sara Errani
6 of 7
Sara Errani was a 2012 French Open finalist and a mainstay in the Top 20 in singles and doubles, until last year.
This year, the bottom fell out. Errani is ranked No. 46 in singles and doubles. She's 21-24 on the season, has lost five of her last six matches and did not advance beyond the second round in any of the Grand Slams this year.
She withdrew from the Rogers Cup with a neck injury but returned in time for an early exit at the Olympics. Perhaps the injury was worse than she let on.
John Isner
7 of 7
In the post-Andy Roddick era, John Isner had been the standard-bearer for men's tennis in America, until this year. Once ranked as high as No. 9, Isner fell out of the Top 20 this year and now is the third-highest ranked American, behind Sock and Steve Johnson.
Isner is currently No. 26, his lowest ranking since August 2011.
A three-time defending champion at the BB&T Classic in Atlanta, Isner lost in the final this year to Nick Kyrgios.
Teen sensation Alexander Zverev destroyed Isner 6-4, 6-2 in just 69 minutes in the first round of the Shanghai Masters, and Zverev broke Isner's serve four times.
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