The best player of the year: Novak Djokovic:
Novak Djokovic has ended the season at the top of the ATP Rankings after a remarkable comeback from an elbow injury which ruined the second half of 2017 and the first part of this year for him. He won two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and at the US Open last summer and claimed Masters 1000 titles in Cincinnati and Shanghai. Djokovic dropped to world number 22 last June and started the first six months of 2018 winning six out of 12 matches played.
Djokovic also finished runner-up in two more finals at Queen’s and Paris Bercy. The Belgrade-native star became the first player to be ranked outside the top 20 and climb to the top of the rankings in the same season. He finished the year as the world number 1 for the fifth time in his career after 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. Only US legend Pete Sampras did better with six end-of season top rankings.
With the win in Cincinnati, Novak became the first player to clinch all nine Masters 1000 title at least once in his career completing the “Career Golden Masters.”
Djokovic entered the Rome Internazionali d’Italia with a record of six wins and six defeats in his first twelve matches. In the Italian capital the Serb reached the semifinal before losing against Rafael Nadal. He lost to Marco Cecchinato in the quarter final at Roland Garros in four sets. Djokovic then had a solid start to his grass season at Queen’s, where he scored his first win against a top 5 player in almost 18 months, beating Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. He then beat Adrian Mannarino and Jeremy Chardy to reach the final, where he lost to Marin Cilic after wasting a championship point.
The final at Queen’s marked a turning point in Djokovic’s season.
In the second half of 2018 Djokovic won 35 of his 38 matches, losing only to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Karen Khachanov in the Paris Bercy final and Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals in London.
The matches of the year:
Among the most exciting matches of the year we pick the Wimbledon semi final between Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The Serb won 10-8 in the fifth set after 5 hours and 17 minutes spread over two days. This match became the second longest semifinal match in Wimbledon history, second only to the other semifinal match of the 2018 edition of Wimbledon, where Kevin Anderson battled past John Isner 7-6 6-7 6-7 6-4 26-24 after 6 hours and 36 minutes. Wimbledon was once again the stage of epic clashes seven years after the 11-hour marathon match won by Isner over Nicolas Mahut by the score of 70-68. Djokovic went on to win his fourth Wimbledon crown by beating Anderson in a three-set final.
Djokovic was involved in another epic match in the Paris semifinal. Outlasting Roger Federer 7-6 5-7 7-6 in the tie-break of the third set after 3 hours and two minutes.
“We had epic matches throughout our rivalry, but this one ranks one of the best matches we played. Next to the match I played against Nadal in the semifinals of Wimbledon, this was definitely the most exciting I was playing this year, and probably the best high quality tennis match that I was part of,” said Djokovic after the Paris semifinal.
Djokovic’s return to his best shape started last April, when he reunited with his long-time coach Marian Vajda after a one-year split in 2017. Vajda, who was a former world number 34 player and won two ATP titles in the late 80s, was voted by the ATP as the Coach of the 2018 season.
Rafael Nadal is again the King of clay:
Rafael Nadal was once again the “King of Clay” with a record 11th title in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros. The Mallorca player also won the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome for the 8th time in his career, beating Alexander Zverev in a three-set final clinching his 78th career title and his 32th Masters 1000 title. He dropped just one set en route to his 11th triumph at the French Open, where he beat Dominic Thiem in a three-set final.
During the summer Nadal showed good form on other surfaces by reaching the semi final at Wimbledon on grass and won his first Masters 1000 title on hard-court since 2013 at the Rogers Cup.
At the US Open he beat Dominic Thiem in an epic quarter final 0-6 6-4 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) in a match which ended at 2 am local time. Unfortunately Nadal withdrew from his semifinal match against Juan Martin Del Potro due to a knee injury after losing the second set.
The 32-year-old Mallorcan was voted by his fellow players as the winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the second time in his legendary career after receiving this honour in 2010. Outside the court, Nadal assisted in the cleanup operation after a devastating flood hit his native island of Mallorca.
