Tennis World english 39 Tennis World EN 39 | Page 28

2017:
a
year
to
remember

season
to
recover
from
injury.
Indeed,
Federer
took
off
the
entire
second
half
of
the
season.
Will
it
be
enough
for
them
to
start
the
year
fresh
and
ready
for
conquest?
We
certainly
hope
so.

After
a
sleepy
2106,
marked
mostly
by
the
absence
of
Roger
Federer
and
Rafael
Nadal,
next
season
promises
to
be
much
more
exciting.

THE
FIGHT
FOR
NUMBER
ONE
There
hasn’t
been
this
much
uncertainty
surrounding
the
number
one
ranking
in
more
than
a
decade.
Murray
snuck
over
the
finish
line
in
the
last
match
of
the
year,
and
will
enjoy
Christmas
as
the
best
player
in
the
world,
but
he
can’t
rest
on
his
laurels
for
long.
Djokovic
will
be
aching
to
recover
the
top
spot,
even
though
it
may
be
difficult
in
the
first
half
of
the
season.
He
is
defending

in
2017,
but
the
young
guns
are
certainly
going
to
a
massive
amount
of
points,
and
he
will
have
to
hope
Murray
stumbles
if
he
is
to
wrestle
the
number
one
ranking
from
him.
Most
likely
he
will
have
to
make
a
push
in
the
second
half,
where
he
is
defending
few
points,
and
Murray
is
defending
a
lot.

by
Federico
Mariani

If
one
were
feeling
charitable,
2016
might
be
described
as
a
“transition
year.”
Djokovic
started
the
year
hot
while
Murray
ended
hot,
with
the
in-between
holding
nothing
much
of
extreme
interest.
What
are
we
transitioning
to
then?
A
more
exciting
season,
hopefully,
with
the
return
and
last
gasp
of
Federer
and
Nadal,
Djokovic’s
quest
for
redemption,
Murrays
attempt
to
hold
on
to
gained
ground
and
a
push
from
fresh
young
faces.

ONE
LAST
TIME?
Federer
&
Nadal,
Nadal
&
Federer.
Somehow
it
all
still
comes
back
to
them.
So
large
is
their
shadow
that
even
when
they
aren’t
playing,
the
whole
tennis
world
is
still
defined
by
their
absence.
Perhaps
the
biggest
storyline
of
the
coming
season
will
revolve
arou nd
how
these
two
legends
try
and
recapture
some
of
their
old
magic.
Will
they
be
able
to
make
a
big
impression
on
the
Tour
they
so
thoroughly
once
dominated?
Both
men
certainly
believe
that
they
will
be
able
to.
Federer
will
always
cling
to
Wimbledon
like
a
piece
of
driftwood
in
the
open
ocean.
He
knows
he
can
win
it
no
matter
how
old
he
is,
and
will
likely
structure
his
whole
season
around
that
event.
Nadal,
similarly,
will
look
to
the
European
clay
in
general,
and
Roland
Garros
in
particular,
as
a
way
of
kick-starting
his
flailing
form.
He
too
will
firmly
believe
that
he
can
win
the
French
Open
regardless
of
his
age,
as
long
as
he
is
healthy.
Both
men
took
extended
time
off
towards
the
end
of
the
2016