The new season is starting. What to look forward to in the 2021 tennis year?

It’s right here. The new tennis season officially started this week. Tennis players kicked it off at tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Antalya and Delray Beach. What will be the season’s biggest draws?

The return of Roger Federer

The winner of 20 GS titles hasn’t played much in the 2020 season. His last tournament before the medical break was the Australian Open. In it, the Swiss reached the semi-finals, where he succumbed to the late winner Djokovic.

After that, he only played in a tennis exhibition in Cape Town and that was the end of his season. After that he had to undergo 2 knee surgeries and a difficult rehabilitation. To prolong his career, these surgeries were necessary.

Federer aimed everything to prepare perfectly for the new season and wanted to compete at the Australian Open. But unfortunately, according to the latest reports, this will not happen and Federer has to postpone his comeback.

Physically, he is not in a condition to play anymore. Let’s hope he will be back on the courts soon and we will see him back in action.

The big battle for the No. 1 spot

Women’s tennis is experiencing the most balanced era in tennis history. The era of one-woman domination is over. Now several women can have a shot at the No. 1 spot.

At the top of the rankings is Australia’s Barty. But the French Open winner played her last match less than a year ago in Doha. The question is how she’ll be playing. After all, she’s had a long break.

Halep will attack from the No. 2 spot. The Romanian competed in six tournaments last season. And she won 3 of them. She has the most consistent performance of any tennis player and that could be her advantage.

Osaka will also have the highest ambitions. The winner of the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open is ranked No. 1 after these triumphs. However, the pressure and higher expectations have ground her down. She went down in performance and struggled.

She fell to the border of the top 10 in the rankings. In 2020, she was able to come back. She started to believe in her game again and it had an immediate effect. Everything fell into place for her at the 2020 US Open, which she dominated and won for the second time in her career. She will be very dangerous this season.

Kenin must also be counted on. The young American surprised everyone by winning the 2020 Australian Open title. That has given her a huge boost. Then at the French Open, she reached the final and reached the 4th place. It’s only a matter of time before she attacks the No. 1 spot.

Will the Czechs attack the big titles?

The Czech Republic has 9 players in the WTA Top 100. Kvitova, Pliskova and Vondrousova are the highest. Kvitova, who was also very successful last season, can attack the biggest titles.

On the other hand, a big question mark hangs over Pliskova. The Czech has been stagnating and underperforming for the last few seasons. Muchova could have a great season, she has a huge potential and her tennis is fun.

The unknown is the performance of Vondroušová, who has not been able to return to her top form from 2019 after a serious injury. Hopefully, the Czech tennis players will have a big say this season and do well.

Three legends battle for the Grand Slam record

Roger Federer 20. Rafael Nadal 20. Novak Djokovic 17. This trio has the most GS titles in history. There is a great rivalry between them and there is also a constant debate as to who is the best player in history.

Federer will probably not add any more grand slams. However, it will be a tug of war between Nadal and Djokovic for a few more years. Will Nadal win another grand slam and take the lead or will this season belong to Djokovic and he will come close in the number of titles?

Murray and Serena. Time to say goodbye to tennis?

Andy Murray is a winner of 3 grand slams, a double Olympic champion and a former world number one. He’s one of the best players of the 21st century. In 2017, his illustrious career was unfortunately interrupted by major health problems. A complicated hip injury stopped him. The Brit had to undergo a heavy surgery and his damaged hip was replaced with an artificial one.

The pessimistic forecasts did not come true and Murray was able to return to the courts. This was done in the middle of the 2018 season. It took him some time to return to a quality level of play. In 2019 came the performance upswing.

He even won the Antwerp title at the end of the season, which was a big moment. In the following shortened season, his comeback stalled. Health problems stopped him again. He played only 13 games with a positive record of 7-6.

He wasn’t the Andy we know. Murray would never return to the level of tennis he was at before his hip injury. If he stays healthy, he can have a few more successes, win some titles, make it to at least the eighth round at the GS.

This season will show how realistic that is. The end of his career is not on the table for Murray yet. But if he continues to struggle with his game or his health continues to plague him, that could change quickly. A tennis player of Murray’s caliber has no need to flounder around the Top 100 and end up in obscurity.

Serena Williams is one of the sport’s greatest legends. She has won 23 grand slams. No woman has won more. She’s achieved everything she could. For over 10 years, she ruled women’s tennis and had no competition.

At 39, she’s still one of the world’s best and she can be dangerous. But her dominance is gone. Even the legendary Serena has caught up with time and her performance is not the same. Physically, she’s getting thinner and her movement is worse. Even her shots don’t have the punch they once did.

But she can still prepare for big events and perform her best tennis. Just as Federer’s departure is imminent, so is Serena’s.

Neither has anything to prove to anyone anymore. It would be great if it doesn’t happen anytime soon and the whole tennis world can enjoy the game of these tennis greats for a while longer.

Source: ATP, WTA