The 2016 ATP Challenger Tour season was filled with many intriguing storylines and pulsating moments. With 165 tournaments in 44 countries and territories, there was no shortage of entertaining tennis, as players fought for crucial Emirates ATP Rankings points. ATPWorldTour.com looks back at the season that was... NextGen Stars Make Their Mark Rising players continued to have a major impact on the ATP Challenger Tour, with #NextGen stars racking up 17 titles in total. Teenagers comprised 13 of those 17 victories. Among the #NextGen winners were Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Hyeon Chung, Elias Ymer, Yoshihito Nishioka and Kyle Edmund. Emerging Americans also made their presence felt in the second half of 2016. Frances Tiafoe won his first Challenger title in...
The four players with the most impressive serve statistics since records were first kept in 1991 are Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Milos Raonic and Andy Roddick. That list makes total sense. What you may not realize is who is fifth. It’s Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios ended 2016 with his career best Emirates ATP Ranking at No. 13, winning three ATP World Tour titles in Marseille, Atlanta and Tokyo, going 39-15 on the season. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the enigmatic 21-year-old Australian reveals he is already establishing himself as one of the best servers in the history of our sport. Kyrgios is ranked fifth in SERVE LEADERS on the ATP Serve Stats LEADERBOARDS, which is calculated using the...
Continuing our Season In Review Series, ATPWorldTour.com revisits the biggest Grand Slam upsets of 2016: (5) Jared Donaldson d. David Goffin 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-0 – US Open first round The summer hard-court swing provided the springboard to the Top 100 for American #NextGen star Jared Donaldson. The 20 year old entered the Emirates Airline US Open Series at World No. 153 and he would reel off main draw wins in Washington, Toronto, Atlanta and Cincinnati, before qualifying at his home Grand Slam without dropping a set. A date with 12th-seed David Goffin awaited in the first round and Donaldson would ride the surge of momentum to his first victory at a major, rallying from a set and a break...
Continuing our Season In Review Series, ATPWorldTour.com revisits the biggest ATP World Tour upsets of 2016: (5) Mischa Zverev d. Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 – Basel quarter-finals One of the brightest emerging talents on the ATP World Tour, #NextGen star Alexander Zverev made his presence known in 2016. Just weeks after notching his maiden title at the St. Petersburg Open, the 19 year old soared to a career-high World No. 20 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in mid-October. But Alexander wasn’t the only Zverev to enjoy a breakout run at season’s end. Older brother Mischa turned back the clock with a slew of inspired performances of his own, employing his fast-paced lefty serve-and-volley brand of tennis with great success....
It’s one thing to position yourself to win a tennis match. It’s quite another to actually do it. Gael Monfils enjoyed his best season on tour in 2016, ending the year at No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after reaching a career-high of No. 6 last month. In 2015, he finished the season at No. 24, and on the surface, not a lot of his metrics changed during the 12-month period. The difference was Monfils was far more efficient at finishing the job he started when returning. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Monfils’ 44-17 season this year showed that when returning and getting to within one point of breaking at 0/40, 15/40 and 30/40, his conversion...