2012 – FULL
Week by week:
<<< TIME-LINE >>>
8th January – Brisbane, the final. Andy Murray [4] begins a new season with a new coach – former No. 1 Ivan Lendl – winning a final against Alexandr Dolgopolov [15] in straight sets. Lendl and Murray agreed terms of their cooperation in December 2011. Murray says on his new coach: “When I was a kid I would watch Ivan Lendl winning tournaments and try and emulate him by scowling at everyone I saw – that lesson has always stayed with me. I can only hope that some of Ivan can rub off on me and that I can start winning tournaments whilst leaving a trail of crying children behind me.” Lendl never coached anyone in 17 years since his retirement in 1994.
18th January – Australian Open, the second round. An unusual outburst of Marcos Baghdatis [44], who is known as a reserved player in showing negative emotions. During changeovers in the 4th set of a match against Stanislas Wawrinka [22], the Cypriot destroys four Tecnifibre racquets in 40 seconds, sitting on his chair! He does not even bother to take two of them out of plastic wrapping. Baghdatis comes back on court smiling to lose quickly next two games and the match in four sets.
30th January – Australian Open, the final. 30th meeting between Novak Djokovic [1] and Rafael Nadal [2], and a special one. It is the longest Grand Slam final ever (lasts 5:53 hrs; the longest match in the Australian Open history), Djokovic rallies from a 2:4* (15/30) in the 5th set to get seventh win in a row over the Spaniard, overcoming him 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 at 1:37 a.m. local time. They are so tired that ball-boys bring them chairs during a trophy ceremony. “We made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners,” says Djokovic, who won an amazing semifinal (4:50 hrs), 7-5 in the 5th set as well, against Andy Murray, saving a double mini-match point in the 11th game, one of them after a 30-stroke rally! 10 hours 43 minutes – no-one spent so much time on court in the last two rounds of a Grand Slam event!
26th March – Miami, the third round. Andy Roddick upsets Roger Federer 7-6 1-6 6-4 snapping 16-match winning streak of the Swiss [3]. It is their last meeting and Roddick [34] improves a bit a terrible H2H record to 3-21. Roddick is so exhausted mentally after the sensational victory that notches the worst losing streak in career afterwards – six.
19th April – Monte Carlo, the third round. Julien Benneteau [31] stumbles and falls almost in the same place on centre court where it happened to Juan Monaco [14] two days before. Both players are forced to retire with tears in agony and hear severe diagnosis undergoing an examination at doctors – Benneteau has a broken right elbow, Monaco torn ligaments in right leg. Rehabilitation on both cases is fast and players back in action within a month. The Argentine soon after the recovery advances to the Top 10 for the first time in career. Five months later, Benneteau and Monaco meet in a Kuala Lumpur final, facing each other for the first time. The Frenchman loses and becomes a leader of an Open era list of runner-ups without a title – it is his seventh final defeat.
22nd April – Monte Carlo, the final. Rafael Nadal [2] finally finds a way to beat Novak Djokovic [1], and does it emphatically 6-3 6-1. In the consequence Nadal establishes a record of most winning matches in succession in a tournament – 42, overcoming 41 of Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon (1976-81). Djokovic is emotionally spent, his beloved grandfather passed away earlier in the week, but the Serb managed to win three matches in mental sorrow – he was crying heavily after a third round encounter. Djokovic became a fourth player to cry at Monte Carlo centre court within a few days! Before suffering Benneteau and Monaco, 33-year-old Ivan Ljubicic [53] was crying too, for a different reason though – he finished his long career.
9th May – Busan (Challenger), the second round. “Fifteen minutes of fame” for an unknown 24-year-old Samuel Groth [340] – the former husband of fellow Australian player Jarmila Gajdosova, fires an ace with a speed 163.4 mph (263 km/h) – it is the new fastest serve, unprecedentedly surpassing the previous one by 12 km/h (!), but it’s unofficial record, because it occurred at the Challenger level. Groth loses 4-6 3-6 to Uladzimir Ignatik [272].
10th May – Madrid, the third round. A 14-0 ‘Head to Head’ record, 5:2 (30-all) on serve in the 3rd set… Actually it was unimaginable that Rafael Nadal [2] could lose a match from this position facing Fernando Verdasco [19], tennis miracles happen sometimes though. The inspired hometown-boy Verdasco wins five straight games and celebrates a 6-3 3-6 7-5 win in a style rather characteristic for Grand Slam triumphs… It is the first clay court tournament held on a controversial blue clay (Ion Tiriac‘s idea). Nadal and Novak Djokovic (lost the following day) do not accept this new proposal and state that are not going to play on the blue clay at the Mutua Madrid Open in 2013. The tournament wins without any complaining, a rejuvenated Roger Federer – his seventh title in the last nine tournaments!
26th May – Nice, the final. Sensational comeback of Brian Baker [216]. Admittedly the American loses the final 3-6 2-6 to Nicolas Almagro [14], but his dream run in France is remarkable. Baker returned to professional tennis in July 2011 at the Pittsburgh Futures event while unranked after a 4-year-break (!) in a consequence of different injuries (three hip, one elbow, one sports hernia surgeries). Within ten months he gathered enough points and money to fly to Europe for the first time in seven years, then overcame qualifying rounds and ploughed through four matches in the main draw defeating four solid players. Almagro snapps his 15-match winning streak, counting Nice and a Savannah Challenger that played a month before. “It was a great week,” said Baker. “Every time you go onto court you want to win. I am a competitor, I hate losing. But, when you look at the week as a whole, it has been an unbelievable week.”
28th May – Roland Garros, the first round. An untypical retirement. Alex Bogomolov Jr. [46] after 4 hours and 17 minutes of play against Arnaud Clement [139], suffers cramps and decides to retire facing a match point on serve. Clement, who saved a match point in the 4th set, wins the last professional match of his career in singles. He goes into retirement the following month at Wimbledon where he participates only in the doubles event, and automatically begins his new work as a French Davis Cup team captain.
31st May – Roland Garros, the second round. Paul-Henri Mathieu [261], who had lost many tight matches during his career, and missed the entire 2011 season due to a knee injury, turns the tables around. He prevails on Centre Court a grueling encounter with a marathon man, John Isner [11] 6-7 6-4 6-4 3-6 18-16 converting the seventh match point after 5 hours 41 minutes, it is the second longest match in the French Open history… the longest one concluded within a day.
1st June – Roland Garros, the third round. David Goffin [109] becomes the first “lucky lsoer” to advance to the fourth round in Paris as he outlasts Lukasz Kubot [49] in straight sets. In the last 16, the tiny Belgian player, loses in four sets to his childhood idol – Roger Federer. “I had his photos and posters in my room,” says Goffin on the Swiss.
11th June – Roland Garros, the final. Unprecedented moment in the Open era – for the first time two guys play fourth match against each other in four consecutive majors; every time it happens in the final! This time Rafael Nadal [2] takes a revenge on Novak Djokovic [1] for three defeats in those finals, beating the Serb 6-4 6-3 2-6 7-5, in the two-day final (interrupted by rain, the first Parisian final not finished on Sunday since 1973), and collecting the seventh Parisian crown. Two weeks earlier, a Nadal vs. Djokovic final in Rome was concluded on Monday as well. “For me it is a real honor. Borg is one of the greatest in history, one of the more charismatic players in history,” says Nadal referring to Bjorn Borg‘s record which he has now overcome. Djokovic was one win shy of achieving what nobody has done since 1969 (Rod Laver) – namely winning four Grand Slam tournaments in succession, as close as Djokovic was Roger Federer twice (2005-06) – on both occasions he had been repressed by Nadal in Paris…
17th June – Queens Club, the final. Extraordinary incident: David Nalbandian [39] loses a game, even though he is far away from defeat (leads 7-6 3-4 against [25] Marin Cilic), kicks furiously three-sided sponsor’s advertising board injuring linesman’s left leg. The Argentine is disqualified in the consequence, it is just second final in the Open era concluded with a default.
28th June – Wimbledon, the second round. Arguably the biggest upset of the XXI Century up to this point. 26-year-old Lukas Rosol [100] playing his first Wimbledon, struggles past a five-set specialist Rafael Nadal [2] in a five-setter (6-7 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4), preventing the Spaniard from reaching sixth straight Grand Slam final! “Today I was somewhere else and I’m really happy for this,” stated the unheralded Czech player, “Still, I cannot find the words. I still can’t believe it. It’s like a dream for me.” The 5th set was played indoors due to the late hour (8:53 p.m.) On the following day Roger Federer almost joins Nadal, but prevails a two-set-to-love deficit against Julien Benneteau (the Frenchman is two points away from win in the 4th set). Nadal does not play another match in 2012 because of tendinitis in his knee.
30th June – Wimbledon, the third round. Marin Cilic [18] is two points away from defeat in seven games altogether (!) before finds his way to overcome [64] Sam Querrey 7-6 6-4 6-7 6-7 17-15 on Court No. 1 in the second longest match at Wimbledon (5 hours 31 minutes). Meanwhile Andy Murray [4] dismisses Marcos Baghdatis [42] in four sets in the latest finished match in the Wimbledon history (11:02 p.m.). If Murray had not served out the final game, the match would have been suspended because the rules allow to play under the roof until 11 p.m.
7th July – Wimbledon, the final. Absolute shock: unheralded pair of 31-year-old Jonathan Marray [76] and two years younger Frederik Nielsen [111] lift the trophy after a 4-6 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-3 win over Robert Lindstedt / Horia Tecau. The British/Danish duo played just one event before together – two weeks earlier a Challenger in Nottingham. Prior to Wimbledon ’12 they did not win a title either singles or doubles! Marray becomes the first man from Great Britain to win a major since 1936, Nielsen the first Dane ever – his grandfather Kurt Nielsen lost two Wimbledon singles finals in the 1950s (he won one mixed-doubles title), unfortunately died a year before his grandson’s success. “This is by far the best thing I’ve experienced in tennis and the atmosphere was second to none. I don’t mind being British tonight even if I can’t forget my Danish roots.” said Frederik. He and Marray managed to win 4 out of 6 matches in five-setters, playing 13 tie-breaks in total, which is a record for doubles competition.
8th July – Wimbledon, the final. In the first Wimbledon final concluded indoors, Roger Federer [3] dashes British hopes outsmarting Andy Murray 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 (first two sets were played outdoors), and comes back to No. 1 in the world, which guarantees him surpassing Pete Sampras‘ record of the most weeks at the peak of the tennis pyramid. Two days before, Federer co-created a record with defending champion Novak Djokovic [1] – first pair to play against each other eleven matches at majors, it was an indoor match and won by the Swiss in four sets as well.
30th July – Olympics, the first round. First Olympic games held on grass (at Wimbledon). 39-year-old legendary Leander Paes [5], aging in his own pace, becomes the first man to participate in six Olympic games as he takes on court his 94th (!) men’s doubles partner Vishnu Vardhan [240]. “Any player who ages gracefully needs a great partner. And for me it’s the first match I am really playing with Vishnu ever and I am really impressed with how comfortable we feel together on the court,” says Paes after a 7-6 4-6 6-2 over a Dutch duo: Robin Haase nd Jean-Julien Rojer.
31st July – Olympics, the second round. Milos Raonic [23] is better in aces (26-17), he gets also two points more in total (180-178), but is beaten 3-6 6-3 23-25 by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [6] after the longest deciding third set in singles. The previous record (Nduka Odizor d. Guy Forget 7-6 4-6 22-20) was established 25 years before.
1st August – Olympics, the second round. Czech pair Tomas Berdych / Radek Stepanek leads comfortably 6-1 4:2* (30/15) against Brazilian duo Marcelo Melo / Bruno Soares. The Brazilians break back and win the two-day contest 2-6 6-4 24-22 – the second longest deciding set in doubles.
3rd August – Olympics, the semifinals. Third epic duel in four days! The Odizor-Forget 25-year-old record was broken by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Raonic in terms of games of the 3rd set; Roger Federer [1] and Juan Martin del Potro [10] break that record in terms of time as Federer prevails a 3-6 7-6 19-17 thriller after 4 hours 26 minutes, being two points away from defeat in two games at the end of the match. Tsonga wins another marathon, this time in doubles as he teamed up with Michael Llodra deprive David Ferrer & Feliciano Lopez of gold medal chances, 6-3 4-6 18-16. The Frenchmen saved four match points, including a triple m.p. – all on Llodra’s serve. “Four years ago I was just two points off a medal so obviously I am delighted I will go home with one this time.” says Llodra referring to a dramatic semifinal he lost at previous Olympics.
5th August – Olympics, the finals. “This week’s been absolutely incredible, I’ve had a lot of fun. I felt so fresh on the court today. I didn’t feel nervous really at all apart from at the beginning of the match. The support’s been unbelievable.” states Andy Murray [4] who takes a stunning revenge on Roger Federer [1] for the Wimbledon final, trashing him 6-2 6-1 6-4. Murray gets also silver medal in mixed doubles. In doubles triumph the Bryan brothers – they have won all the most important events since then (all majors, Olympics gold medal, Masters and Davis Cup).
10th September – US Open, the final. Finally, after a 76-year drought, Great Britain has its Grand Slam champion: Andy Murray [4] under inconvenient conditions (extremely strong wind) better spreads the forces and survives a 5-set marathon with a 5-set specialist Novak Djokovic [2]. The Scot triumphs 7-6 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 in 4 hours 54 minutes, and celebrates the biggest result in his career crouching in the corner of tram-lines. We have four different Grand Slam winners in a season for the first time since 2003. “After the third and fourth sets it was tough mentally for me… Novak is so, so strong. He fights till the end in every single match and I don’t know how I managed to come through in the end. It was close to five hours and I’ve had some really long and tough matches. I just managed to get through.” confesses Murray.
7th October – Beijing, the final. Mike Bryan breaks Todd Woodbridge‘s record as he wins the tournament along with his brother Bob. “It’s obviously an honour to hold this prestigious record. There are some incredible names towards the top of this list and it’s humbling to be in such elite company. Huge props must go out to Todd Woodbridge, who epitomized class and excellence on and off the court.” says Mike after claiming his 84th doubles title (third at China Open).
9th October – Shanghai, the second round. After saving three match points, John Isner [12] beats Kevin Anderson [38] in an all-tie-break match (no breaks of serve) becoming the first man to win at least 40 tie-breaks at the main level within a season. Anderson comes back later on that day on court to win the longest super tie-break of the season [18-16] – this time he saves (along with Sam Querrey) three match points against experimental pair Dolgopolov/Tsonga.
14th October – Shanghai, the second round. Novak Djokovic [2] avenges two recent defeats to Andy Murray [3] of the Olympic semifinal and the US Open final. The Serb saves five match points (three with forehand winners) in the 2nd set, including a double m.p. in a tie-break won by a 13/11 margin, and overcomes the Scot 5-7 7-6 6-3 snapping his 12-match winning streak in Shanghai.
17th October – Vienna, the second round. In a no-break match featuring 15 missed break point opportunities, Juan Martin del Potro [8] struggles past Daniel Brands [111] 6-7 7-6 7-6 in 3 hours 5 minutes. It is the first ‘best of three’ match in history in which both players hit at least 30 aces (Del Potro – 30, Brands – 32).
1st November – Paris, the third round. Andy Murray [3] is beaten by a qualifier [69] Jerzy Janowicz 7-5 6-7 2-6 after squandering a match point on serve. Murray, who did not lose a set from a set point up over two years, loses third tournament in a row having blew match points (two against Milos Raonic in Tokyo, five against Novak Djokovic in Shanghai). Such a bitter way of being eliminated from three consecutive tournaments happens for the first time since 2001 as Arnaud Clement lost nine match points in total during three indoor tournaments (Lyon-Stuttgart-Basel).
4th November – Paris, the final. After a 24-month total domination of the “Big 4”, ultimately someone else captures a big tournament – the most logical solution, it is… 5th in the world David Ferrer who outplays in a ‘David (175 cm) vs. Goliat (203 cm)’ duel a new revelation of men’s tennis, Jerzy Janowicz 6-4 6-3. The giant Pole, who defeated five Top 20 players within a week, leaves Paris with a check almost twice bigger than his career prize-money!
12th November – Masters-London, the final. Despite 0:3 in the 1st and 3:5 down in the 2nd set, Novak Djokovic [1] beats Roger Federer [2] in straight sets, 7-6 7-5 in an extremely prestigious duel of two best players of the season. The finalists are actually separated by one final point (96-95) which is a beautiful backhand down the line (passing-shot). The Serb had guaranteed the No. 1 spot two weeks before. He becomes the ninth player in the Open era to finish two years in succession at the top of the men’s game.
18th November – Davis Cup, the final. The commemorative 100th Davis Cup final. Almost 34-year-old Radek Stepanek [37] becomes the oldest player to clinch the Davis Cup trophy since 1973 (35-year-old Rod Laver) as he outlasts [11] Nicolas Almagro 6-4 7-6 3-6 6-3 in 3 hours 51 minutes in front of former Czech players who won the Cup 32 years before for Czechoslovakia – “They inspired us” says happy Stepanek. Besides him, vital points in the 2012 edition for the winning team got only one other player – Tomas Berdych, such a thing occurred just once before, in 2005 when Croatians lifted the trophy. The Czech Republic becomes the first nation in history to win Hopman Cup, Fed Cup (women) and Davis Cup within a season!
<<< DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY >>>
Veterans:
Last year I mentioned that number of 30+ players in the Top 100 increased almost twofold (from 13 in 2010 to 23 in 2011). In the end of this year we have even more players who have turned 30 years – 28 with two of them in the Top 10 (Federer, Ferrer). Breakthrough for younger players become more and more complicated. In the past (more or less) every two-three years a new teenager was able to advance to the Top 20, nowadays teenagers can’t even go through the Top 50!
Youngsters:
It was extremely predictable year, like the previous one by the way. The best players refuse to resign, under-22 guys actually don’t mean anything in the most prestigious tournaments which is sad, therefore a lot of attention aroused Jerzy Janowicz – the giant Pole with massive serve and sublime touch, started the season wandering in British Futures events, in June made a 
breakthrough at Wimbledon, four months later he showed no fear facing the Top 20 players, beat five of them in Paris making headlines around the world. Is he good enough to be a serious threat next year? I think it’s too early to predict, it was the last regular tournament of the season when best players are tired, Janowicz had a huge support from the crowd, moreover he is a player whose game is essentially based on the serve, so he should be involved in many tight battles, he hasn’t played enough at the main level to allow me predicting whether he is going to win usually tight matches or lose them. Two players born in the 90’s disappointed me in 2012: Bernard Tomic and Cedrik-Marcel Stebe. The former began to lose tight matches on a regular basis, the latter completely lost a touch with serious tennis dropping to a place where he was two years ago. Below the youngest Top 100’s, their birthdays and comparison of their rankings at the end of the last two seasons:
31 – 13, Milos Raonic (27.12.1990)
221 – 26, Jerzy Janowicz (13.11.1990)
174 – 46, David Goffin (07.12.1990)
76 – 48, Grigor Dimitrov (16.05.1991)
42 – 52, Bernard Tomic (21.10.1992) – regress
79 – 69, Ryan Harrison (07.05.1992)
222 – 78, Andrey Kuznetsov (22.02.1991)
144 – 81, Evgeny Donskoy (09.05.1990)
237 – 92, Guillaume Rufin (26.05.1990)
346 – 97, Guido Pella (17.05.1990)
Comeback players:
Three players made interesting comebacks this year: Brian Baker out of nowhere, after injuries which restricted him from playing a couple of years; Paul-Henri Mathieu, who skipped the entire ’11 season and Tommy Haas, who hadn’t played a tournament 14 months when he came back last year and seemed rather finished (10-16 record since the comeback), but made an upset beating Tsonga in Munich and notched one of the best periods in his long career since then (26-12 record). Below comparison of their ranking jumps within the ’12 season:
Tommy Haas: 205 – 21
Paul-Henri Mathieu: 733 – 58
Brian Baker: 456 – 61
Loser:
Donald Young: he suffered 17 straight defeats between Memphis and Winston-Salem, in the meantime he was close to win three matches. Last year Andrey Golubev lost 18 matches in succession, three short of the Vince Spadea’s record.
Match point Wasters:
Andy Murray & Bernard Tomic. They both lost three matches wasting at least 1 m.p., both wasted 8 in total (Murray 2, 5, 1; Tomic 2, 2, 4), they both also lost one match being two points away from victory. The Scot added to his resume also a m.p.up defeat in doubles.
Retirements:
Eight notable players announced retirements in 2012, including two former Nos. 1 (Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero) and three Grand Slam finalists (Fernando Gonzalez, Arnaud Clement, Rainer Schuettler). Bid adieu said also Ivan Ljubicic and Jose Acasuso, players who enrolled to history books thanks to participation in the Davis Cup finals, and Acasuso’s compatriot – Juan Ignacio Chela.
<<< STATISTCIAL SUMMARY >>>
Singles
66 tournaments (22 – clay; 20 – outdoor hard; 17 – indoors; 7 – grass) were played in the 2012 season within 45 weeks (two weeks shorter season than 2011). Below the list of titlist:
7 – David Ferrer
6 – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic
4 – Juan Martin del Potro, Juan Monaco, Rafael Nadal
3 – Andy Murray
2 – Nicolas Almagro, Tomas Berdych, John Isner, Milos Raonic, Andy Roddick, Andreas Seppi, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
1 – Kevin Anderson, Pablo Andujar, Thomaz Bellucci, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Richard Gasquet, Tommy Haas, Robin Haase, Martin Klizan, Jurgen Melzer, Jarkko Nieminen, Kei Nishikori, Sam Querrey, Gilles Simon, Janko Tipsarevic, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Mikhail Youzhny
Most matches won:
1. David Ferrer 76-15
2. Novak Djokovic 75-12
3. Roger Federer 71-12
4. Juan Martin del Potro 65-17
5. Tomas Berdych 61-23
Leaders by surface:
hard (outdoors & indoors): Novak Djokovic – 50
clay: Nicolas Almagro – 35
indoors: Juan Martin del Potro – 20
grass: Roger Federer – 15
Longest winning streaks:
16 – Roger Federer
13 – Rafael Nadal
12 – Roger Federer
11 – Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro & David Ferrer
First time winners: (1) – the fewest in history
17 – Martin Klizan (St. Petersburg)
Singles & doubles winners (1): Mikhail Youzhny (Zagreb)
Wild Cards winners (4):
Nicolas Almagro (Sao Paulo), Juan Monaco (Houston), Tommy Haas (Halle), Andy Roddick (Eastbourne)
Qualifying winners: 1 – Jarkko Nieminen (Sydney)
Lucky loser winners: none (quarterfinal – Jeremy Chardy in Cincinnati)
Oldest winner: Tommy Haas – 34 years, 2 months (Halle)
Youngest winner: Milos Raonic – 21 years, 12 days (Chennai)
Lowest ranked winner: Jarkko Nieminen – No. 77 (Sydney)
Oldest winner of a match: Tommy Haas – 34 years, 6 months (Vienna)
Youngest winner of a match: Dominic Thiem – 19 years, 1 month (Vienna)
Lowest ranked winner of a match: Lamine Ouahab – No. 752 (Casablanca)
Longest final:
5 hours, 53 minutes: Novak Djokovic d. Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 (Australian Open)
Shortest final:
49 minutes: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2 (Metz)
Longest matches (best of 5):
5 hrs, 53 min. Novak Djokovic d. Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 (Australian Open)
5 hrs, 41 min. Paul-Henri Mathieu d. John Isner 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16 (Roland Garros)
5 hrs, 31 min. Marin Cilic d. Sam Querrey 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 17-15 (Wimbledon)
Longest matches (best of 3):
4 hrs. 26 min. Roger Federer d. Juan Martin del Potro 3-6, 7-6, 19-17 (Olympics-London)
3 hrs. 56 min. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Milos Raonic 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 (Olympics-London)
—
3 hrs. 48 min. Martin Klizan d. Mikhail Youzhny 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 (St. Petersburg)
3 hrs. 21 min. Andreas Seppi d. Stanislas Wawrinka 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 (Rome)
3 hrs. 20 min. Novak Djokovic d. Andy Murray 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 (Shanghai)
Longest tie-break:
Davis Cup (GII EA): Uladzimir Ignatik d. Amer Delic 7-6(16), 7-6, 6-4
Longest tie-break in the deciding set:
Dubai: Lukas Lacko d. Sergei Bubka 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(14)
Most match points saved:
7 m.p. – Jeremy Chardy d. Kei Nishikori 1-6, 7-6, 6-0 (Acapulco)
Most set points saved:
6 s.p. – Juan Martin del Potro d. Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 7-6 (Indian Wells)
Biggest comeback in the 3rd set (best of five):
Alexandr Dolgopolov d. Jesse Levine 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 (US Open), Dolgopolov was *0:4 (15-all) down in the 3rd set
Biggest comeback in the 2nd set (best of three):
Wayne Odesnik d. Blaz Kavcic 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (Umag), Odesnik was *1:5 (15/30) down in the 2nd set
Biggest comeback in the deciding set (best of five):
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez d. Eduard Roger-Vasselin 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 10-8 (Wimbledon), GGL was *3:5 down in the 5th set, in the following game he faced a triple m.p. on return
Biggest comeback in the deciding set (best of three):
Gilles Simon d. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 (Rome), Simon was 0:4* down in the 3rd set
Most aces served (best of 5):
48 – Nicolas Almagro d. Olivier Rochus 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 (Wimbledon)
43 – John Isner d. David Nalbandian 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 10-8 (Australian Open)
41 – John Isner l. Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 16-18 (Roland Garros)
Most aces served (best of 3):
35 – Milos Raonic d. Janko Tipsarevic 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 (Chennai)
35 – Ivo Karlovic l. to Yen-Hsen Lu 7-6, 6-7, 6-7 (Queens Club)
32 – Daniel Brands l. to Juan Martin del Potro 7-6, 6-7, 6-7 (Vienna)
Match point(s) saved title winners:
– Kevin Anderson, saved 3 m.p.’s in QF (against A.Roddick) at Delray Beach
– Janko Tipsarevic, saved 4 m.p.’s in QF (against B.Phau) in Stuttgart
– John Isner, saved 3 m.p.’s in F (against T.Berdych) at Winston-Salem
– Juan Monaco, saved 1 m.p. in SF (against K.Nishikori) at Kuala Lumpur
– Novak Djokovic, saved 5 m.p.’s in F (against A.Murray) in Shanghai
Most tie-breaks won:
1. John Isner 41-18
2. Juan Martin del Potro 28-17
3. Milos Raonic 27-22
4. Janko Tipsarevic 24-15
5. Philipp Kohlschreiber 23-18
Best tie-breakers by percentage (at least 10 played):
1. Steve Darcis 18-4 (.818) *
2. Jerzy Janowicz 9-3 (.750)
3. Rafael Nadal 8-3 (.727)
4. John Isner 41-18 (.694)
5. Andy Murray 18-9 (.666)
* 21-8 (.724) adding Challengers and qualifying matches
Most aces served throughout the year:
1. John Isner – 1.005
2. Milos Raonic – 1.002
3. Sam Querrey – 705
4. Nicolas Almagro – 654
5. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – 653
Aces per match:
1. Milos Raonic – 15.4
2. Ivo Karlovic – 15.3
3. John Isner – 15.2
4. Gilles Muller – 13.0
5. Kevin Anderson & Sam Querrey – 11.3
Qualifying leader: 8 – Federico Delbonis
Biggest H2H’s: 8 – Roger Federer vs. Juan Martin del Potro (6-2); 7 – Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray (4-3); 6 – Tomas Berdych vs. Nicolas Almagro (5-1)
Bagels: Flavio Cipolla defeated 6-0, 6-0 Jabor Ali Mutawawa in Doha – first ‘double bagel’ in two years.
Doubles
Tournament winners:
7 – The Bryans
5 – Daniel Nestor, Bruno Soares
4 – Alexander Peya, Frantisek Cermak, Leander Paes, David Marrero, Fernando Verdasco, Robert Lindstedt, Horia Tecau, Max Mirnyi, Marc Lopez
3 – Nenad Zimonjic, Nicolas Mahut, Eduoard Roger-Vasselin, Marcel Granollers
2 – Filip Polasek, Xavier Malisse, Colin Fleming, Ross Hutchins, Mariusz Fyrstenberg, Marcin Matkowski, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Jean Julien Rojer, Santiago Gonzalez, Scott Lipsky
1 – Andre Begemann, Martin Emmrich, Lukas Rosol, Janko Tipsarevic, Olivier Marach, Marcos Baghdatis, Mikhail Youzhny, Frederico Gil, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Eric Botorac, Michael Llodra, Mark Knowles, Rafael Nadal, James Blake, Sam Querrey, Dustin Brown, Paul Hanley, Michal Mertinak, Jonathan Erlich, Andy Ram, Rajeev Ram, Jonathan Marray, Frederik Nielsen, Jeremy Chardy, Lukasz Kubot, Ruben Bemelmans, Ryan Harrison, Matthew Ebden, Julian Knowle, Treat Conrad Huey, Dominic Inglot, Yen-Hsen Lu, Danai Udomchoke, Marcelo Melo
Most matches won:
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan – 60
Most match points saved:
5 m.p. – three matches
Longest tie-break:
James Blake/Sam Querrey d. Treat Conrad Huey/Dominic Inglot 7-6(14), 6-4, Houston
Longest super tie-break:
Kevin Anderson/Sam Querrey d. Alexandr Dolgopolov/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 5-7, [18-16], Shanghai
Match tie-break leaders (by percentage):
Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski 12-5 (.700)
Murray vs. Dolgopolov – highlights
Baghdatis destroys 4 racquets 🙂
AO: Djokovic d. Nadal – highlights
Roddick d. Federer
Twisted ankles in MC: Monaco & Benneteau
MC: Nadal d. Djokovic – highlights
Verdasco d. Nadal – highlights
Baker d. Davydenko – highlights (amateurish camera)
Nalbandian kicks linesman
Rosol d. Nadal – highlights
Cilic d. Querrey – match point
Nielsen & Marray win Wimbledon – match point
Federer d. Murray – highlights
Tsonga d. Raonic – match point
Federer d. Del Potro – full match (Olympics)
Murray d. Federer – highlights
Murray d. Djokovic – highlights (UO)
Djokovic d. Murray – highlights (Shanghai)
Del Potro d. Brands – highlights
Janowicz d. Murray – highlights
Ferrer d. Janowicz – highlights
Djokovic d. Federer – highlights
Stepanek d. Almagro – highlights