Predictions for 2022 season

We didn't have very many takers for the 2021 predictions so let's hope for a bigger response for 2022.

Looking back to 2021, Djoko was favoured for Wimbledon and Nadal for the French. No one predicted him winning three Slams and Thiem's absence in new York mucked up the USO predictions.

I think talk of the Rafa-Djoko dominance being over is premature. I'm taking Djoko to win the AO and Rafa to triumph at the French. I'm tempted to make Djoko favourite for Wimbledon too, but not with the certainty I had for success for him at SW19 for 2021. I think Federer will do all he can to be ready for the grass court season but it's impossible to say how we will perform.

The USO, as in most years, is the difficult one to predict. If people think that Zverev is close to a maiden Slam, and I think he is, it could be that it will come in New York in 2022. The USO is the only one of the Slams that the Big Three have not have had almost complete domination of since 2004.

As for the women, who can say? Just as we thought we could not get any more surprises, we had a qualifier winning the USO this year.

It will be asking a lot for Emma to win a Slam. I think a steady year on the tour will be her aim.

If Osaka plays regularly and Halep stays fit they could add to their Slam collections. But such is the state of the women's game that you could make a good case for as many as a dozen girls being possible Slam winners in 2022 - maybe more.

I suspect we'll get less domination from Djokovic - will still start as favourite in Australia (provided he is vaccinated) and probably more strongly at Wimbledon (where potentially the best of the rest are a geriatric Federer and potentially Murray if he can find some form), but I doubt he'll take RG again (Rafa favourite but with a few others closing the gap) and I think the USO is wide open.

Women's predictions - Pointless. Will have at least 2 new GS champions and you might as well draw names from a hat as to who will win what when.
Hopefully Raducanu can establish herself as a regular top 20 or so player with reasonaly consistent results.

Dummy-h . Loved your description of predicting the women's as "pointless". 2021 started with a plethora of GS champs yet there was still time for more, including a lowly-ranked qualifier.

At present, it's really the USO that provides any sense of excitement or uncertainty.

Clearly, as the 2020s progress there will be uncertainty at ALL the Slams. No doubt some may complain at the lack of rivalries or consistency when the men's GS titles go the rounds.

Always fun to look back on predictions.
For 2022, I'll go with:

AO - Zverev
RG - Nadal
Wim - Medvedev
USO - Djokovic

Almost went with the heart and picked Murray for Wimbledon, but decided to make a more realistic prediction!

I don't think my picks require much explanation, except maybe Medvedev for Wimbledon. I think he has all the tools to do well on grass, and I thought he looked superb there until his game disappeared after the rain delay against Hurcasz. He has a big serve, hits very flat, and the quick surface helps the pace of his usually average forehand. I could easily see my AO and USO picks being swapped, but decided to go with the pick that sees Zverev riding his 2021 momentum into the start of 2022.

Oioi wrote:Always fun to look back on predictions.
For 2022, I'll go with:

AO - Zverev
RG - Nadal
Wim - Medvedev
USO - Djokovic

Almost went with the heart and picked Murray for Wimbledon, but decided to make a more realistic prediction!

I don't think my picks require much explanation, except maybe Medvedev for Wimbledon. I think he has all the tools to do well on grass, and I thought he looked superb there until his game disappeared after the rain delay against Hurcasz. He has a big serve, hits very flat, and the quick surface helps the pace of his usually average forehand. I could easily see my AO and USO picks being swapped, but decided to go with the pick that sees Zverev riding his 2021 momentum into the start of 2022.

I think I'd swap Djokovic and Medvedev, although it's true that at some point one of the younger players will start to show a level of competence on grass that makes them a contender. Djokovic will be 35 by the time Wimbledon starts, and no one (other than Tom Brady in the NFL) can defy aging forever, but I don't see the gap closing this year. Also, in recent history there have been more players able to challenge the big 3 on the faster hard courts of the USO, partly because it suits more players games and also both Rafa and Djoko are better on slower courts (more difficult to hit the ball past them).

Of course there could be one of the younger players (Shavopalov, Tsitsipas, Alcaraz) pushing on and challenging.

After the US Open I would have predicted Raducanu for a slam in 2022, but less confident now. I predict however that she`ll make a good defence of her US Open title, and either win it again, reach the final, or only lose to the eventual winner or world no 1 at that event.

I predict neither Djokovic, Nadal or Federer will win Wimbledon or the US Open.

IF FIT I think Murray gets one last notable achievement. He will either beat Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Zverev, Medvedev or Tsitsipas at a slam, reach a slam final, or win a masters series. He will have one match during the year when he returns to his best and plays like the world no 1 for an hour or two.

At the end of 2022 the first of the big four will either retire, or commit to retiring in 2023. Most likely Federer or Murray.

HB - I can also see Murray having at least one big final hurrah at a Slam. I think the encouraging thing about his 2021 was the fact that he played regularly towards the end and had some good, long matches.

I wish I could share your optimism about Raducanu. I think she'll find a full year on the tour taxing. Wimbledon, I think, will be particularly difficult for her.

I remember Wade winning the USO and then struggling for many years at SW19 before winning it when most thought her best chance had gone.

Unsurprisingly, Emma R took the BBC's SPOTY title last night. It would have been remarkable if she hadn't.

Tennis has been well represented at this award in recent years thanks to Murray's three wins.

Couple of bits of recent(ish) tennis news, Spanish tennis great Manuel Santana passed away last week, he won 4 slams including Wimbledon, no mean feat for a Spaniard back in those days, SFP, do you have any memories of him playing?

Meanwhile, Nadal has Covid and his participation in Australian Open is now at risk.

My predictions are as follows:

Aus Open: Medvedev, now he's won US Open he's going to be more confident if he faces Djokovic Down Under.
French Open: I'm going for Them, he should have got a few matches under his belt by this stage, but fresher than previous years
Wimbledon: got to be Djokovic, no-one else comes close at moment on grass
US Open: Zverev, it's probably his best surface and he's been knocking on the door for a while now

Does anyone fancy a go at predicting year end top 10?

Here's my end of year top 10 prediction:

1. Medvedev
2. Djokovic
3. Zverev
4. Thiem
5. Tsitsipas
6. Nadal
7. Rublev
8. Sinner
9. Shapavolov
10. Berrettini

Not going to hazard a guess at the top 10 except to say that Berrettini won't be in it.

I would say that MrI's top six will all be in the top 10.

Never saw Santana live but well remember his winning Wimbledon in 1966 and then going out in the first round the following year.

It was not until 2003 that a defending champion lost on the opening afternoon, with Hewitt finding Ivo Karlovic a tall order.

sirfredperry wrote: ………………..

It was not until 2003 that a defending champion lost on the opening afternoon, with Hewitt finding Ivo Karlovic a tall order.

I often wonder whether Hewitt ever truly ‘recovered’ (at least as far as his subsequent Wimbledon career was concerned)  from that humbling loss to Karlovic, a player who wasn’t even ranked inside the top 200 at the time

From his next twelve efforts at SW19 - ie. until retirement - the best achievement by the brash Aussie was just one solitary semi-final appearance.

Hewitt’s record across the Slams overall - whilst obviously worthy of respect and superior to that of many, many players - was characterised by more early round exits than almost all former World Number Ones. And that wasn’t entirely down to injury as was so often implied ; his counter-puncher game style became outdated much sooner than he would have wished.

( a little OT from thread subject, apologies)

I predicted Djokovic to win three slams in 2021.  It seemed the most probable outcome when assessed from the end of 2020.

2022 is becoming unpredictable.  We know that Federer is past it, that Nadal's physical body is creaking, and even the great Djokovic has faded.   Add to this the uncertainty of missing tournaments because of positive tests for Covid and potential lock-downs - this is another year for the "next gen" to try to impose themselves in the best of five sets tournaments.  

Mevedev and Zverez seem best placed to challenge Djokovic for the number one spot plus the slams.  Maybe cameo performances from Nadal in the French and Tsitsipas may see them challenging for one of the slams.  Opportunity for someone else from the "next-gen" and younger to also step up (Alcarez maybe - although he doesn't quite seem strong enough yet to get to the final / win a slam tournament).

Del Potro almost certain to retire at the end of this month after playing two farewell tournaments one in Argentina and one in Brazil. Chronic knee pain has been given as the cause.

Sad news really, the guy was nice to watch and he certainly had bad luck with injuries

While del Po moves towards his tennis exit, Andy Murray has announced he'll be skipping the clay-court season to be ready for Wimbledon.

He has very few points to defend (in fact he's back inside the top 100 as of this week) and it seems a sensible move.

Juan Martin del Potro retired after loss in Buenos Aires. Delpo hinting it’s an open ended retirement and potential return if his knee improves.

Novak Djokovic is on the entry list for Indian Wells, where vaccination is required.

Not sure if that applies to players or visitors

sirfredperry wrote:While del Po moves towards his tennis exit, Andy Murray has announced he'll be skipping the clay-court season to be ready for Wimbledon.

He has very few points to defend (in fact he's back inside the top 100 as of this week) and it seems a sensible move.

Really sad (but inevitable) news about del Potro. He battled many injuries to his wrist and its the knee injury that he picked up at Queens in 2019 that has been the killer blow. He had some fiery contests against Murray but the two both grew to have great admiration of each other as the years rolled by.

As for Murray missing the clay court season I'd say it is a very sensible move.

Looking back at the 2022 predictions, most forecasts were affected by Djoko's missing two Slams and then getting no points for the one he did win.

MrI did well to get five of the six final top 10ers correct. One or two others said to watch out for Alcaraz but I don't think anyone predicted a slam win or the very top spot for the young Spaniard.

Given the sheer unpredictability of the women's game, it was hardly surprising that no-one foresaw Swiatek's dominance. There was only one new GS winner this year - Rybakina.

I think predictions are going to be easier for 2023. Djoko will play the AO, Wimbledon will (surely) sort out the points thing, and maybe Djoko will also be able to appear at the USO.

Add in that the Russians have been a bit limited in playing time, especially being banned from Wimbledon, plus players still sitting out tournaments with COVID, plus the more conventional absences through injury, and it's definitely made for a fairly unpredictable year.

2023 - Rafa and Djokovic another year older. Still expect them to win RG and AO respectively, although coming under pressure from the lies of Ruud on clay and Alcaraz plus others on hard. It will be interesting to see if anyone can raise a challenge to Djokovic at Wimbledon - the paucity of good grass court players is notable. As so often, the USO will be much more of a lottery, both as there are more players capable of playing well there and fatigue playing a big part.
Suspext, if he can play enough tournaments, Djokovic will get back to YE number 1, although not with the same dominance as a few years ago.

Women's side, it will be interesting to see if Swiatek can back up this year's form and establish herself as a dominant number 1 - I think it would be good for the quality of the game for there to actually be an established target for the others to aim at rather than the recent 'whoever's best in that week' situation where any of the top 20 could pick up a major title.
Still likely to be 1 or 2 new slam winners, as there is so much inconsistency (for example, I just looked at Muguruza's 2022 record, which was pretty horrible for a player with a couple of slam titles and a couple of other final appearances).