After an exciting year of extraordinary tennis, the tennis year is finally coming to a close. Yes, there is a little Davis Cup left to be played, and some minor tournament are on the horizon, but the vast majority of the tennis season is over. Let's take a look back at some of the highlight's of this year.
First off for congratulations is Novak Djokovic. At the 2012 Australian Open, he continued to stay hot from the past season and won the major championship over Rafael Nadal in the final match. He then proceeded to make at least the Finals of two other majors, and the semifinals of a third. In those two final matches, the French Open and US Open, it was not as if Djokovic did not put up a fight, as he won at least one set in both matches. Even though his year was not as spectacular as 2011, this was still a great year for Novak and a signal for more things to come.
Rafael Nadal played well this year. Even though he was out for much of the second half of the season, he did not play at the Olympics or the US Open, when he did play, he succeeded. He made it all the way to the Australian Open final before bowing out to Novak Djokovic in five sets, and then proceeded to get revenge on Djokovic when he beat him in four sets at the French Open. It seems like Nadal's winning streak at the French Open is endless. Although he did not do much for the rest of the years, Lukas Rosol and injuries the culprit, his start of the season is good enough to land him in this post.
Roger Federer played some amazing tennis too. After his loss to Novak Djokovic in the French Open Semifinals there seemed to be a general consensus in the tennis community that Federer might never win another major. Well, boy did he prove the doubters wrong. At Wimbledon, he battled through a back injury and several close matches to make the final against hometown favorite Andy Murray. He got down a set early, but then seemed to look 10 years younger as he battled back in the second set before taking the third and fourth sets to win yet another major. Couple that with a silver medal at the Olympics and the fact that his Quarterfinals streak is still alive, and I would say Federer had a great year.
Andy Murray really had a wonderful year himself. After really challenging Roger Federer at Wimbledon, he won a gold medal over that same Roger Federer in the Olympic gold for Great Britain at the All England Club. It was not just the fact that he won, but how he won. Murray had total control of the match as Federer was left helpless. The big win, though, came at Flushing Meadows in the US Open. After a few easy matches, and a couple tough ones, he found himself in the Finals against Novak Djokovic. Murray took the first two sets before Djokovic stormed back to take the next two. This could have been the end of yet another promising major for Murray, but he would not let this one slip away. He won the fifth set and won his first major championship. This was the best year of Murray's career.
Lastly, we cannot forget about Lukas Rosol. This was the man who beat Rafael Nadal in the Second Round of Wimbledon. I distinctively remember that fifth set as if it was yesterday. That was the most dominate on a serve I have ever seen a player. Nadal could barely get a racket on the powerful shot. I remember the look on the two players faces as I watched the last game with Rosol serving at 5-4. The focus of Rosol's and the disbelief on Nadal's. Rosol won that set 6-4 to take the match in five sets. Thank you, Lukas, for showing that the top four players are not unbeatable.
This has been an unbelievable year in men's tennis. Could next year be any better? We will have to see.
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