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Tour Veterans Who Could Be Top 10


By: Matthew Hursh
 Photo Credit: Mark & Natasha Peterson/Corleve

(November 2, 2011) As any fan or player of the game knows, tennis is a sport in which competitors are separated by the slightest of margins. An entire match, or even a player’s season, can turn based on a single decision, shot, or an inch.

The mark of the successful players is that they have the experience to stay even-keeled and confident even in the most adverse situations. In such a mentally-taxing sport, it is a great advantage to be the more confident player on the court.

The mental game is usually what separates the great players from the ordinary ones. This is true at any level of tennis, but is especially relevant when it comes to the professionals, where every player in the top 300 in the world has been blessed with supreme physical gifts and talent for the game and has spent countless hours on the practice courts honing their skills.

So when you see players like Novak Djokovic and Mardy Fish making a sudden rise up the rankings, it’s probably because they have made some sort of tweak to their mental game. A bit of confidence and reassurance at the right time can be enough to turn a career around, which we saw with Fish’s career renaissance in the summer of 2010 after winning consecutive tournaments in Newport and Atlanta.

Here are four of the tour veterans that are in need of a slight boost in the mental game in order to facilitate a potential jump into the top 10 next year.

Richard Gasquet

Blessed with plenty of talent and some of the prettiest groundstrokes in the game, Gasquet has already proven that he has the game to play with the world’s best and coexist in the top 10 after moving as high as No. 7 in the world in July of 2007 and finishing the year ranked eighth that same year as a 21-year-old.

But after falling outside the top 10 due to issues with motivation in 2008, Gasquet has been unable to recover the form that once made him one of the game’s rising stars. His cause was not helped by accusations of cocaine use in the following season, but after finishing the 2009 season ranked 52nd, the Frenchman has made a steady climb back up the rankings, where he currently sits 18th.

Having only advanced past the round of 16 in a Grand Slam once in his career, it is clear that Gasquet has underperformed based on his talent level. He is often criticized for standing too far behind the baseline and relying on his groundstrokes, so implementing controlled aggression from the baseline and the threat of sneaking into net could give the 26-year-old the push he needs to move back into the top 10.

John Isner

The 6’9” American’s height can either be his biggest advantage or his greatest undoing when it comes to his ability to reach the top of the men’s tennis world. As such an imposing physical presence, his serve will always be his strength, but lack of movement and conditioning have been his biggest faults over the course of his career.

Since turning pro after a four-year college career at the University of Georgia, where he was a four-time All-American and national champion in his senior year, the 26-year-old had made a steady rise up the rankings to No. 18 in the world, where he sat after losing to Andy Murray in the quarterfinals of this year’s US Open.

Whether the World No. 23 Isner has the skill set to break into the top 10 is debatable, since achieving such a high ranking requires a great deal of consistency and success on all surfaces, which will be difficult for the big man to achieve. However, he could help himself by continuing to develop a solid net game and avoiding losses due purely to conditioning.

While he will never be the fittest player on tour, improves court positioning and anticipation will help Isner play more aggressively and avoid long rallies that wear him down over the course of matches and tournaments.

Ernests Gulbis

The 52nd ranked Latvian is known for an aggressive style of baseline play that makes him one of the more dangerous players in the world for highly seeded players in tournaments. Seeing Gulbis next to your name in the early rounds of a draw sheet could put even the world’s best on upset alert.

However, Gulbis’ main issue is consistency, which was no more evident than in July, when he followed up four consecutive first round exits with a tournament victory in Los Angeles, where he beat Juan Martin Del Potro and Mardy Fish, among others, to claim the second title of his career.

Talk of a lack of motivation towards practice and conditioning seems to follow the 23-year-old, but a rededication to the off-the-court aspects of tennis could facilitate a rise up the rankings for Gulbis. Consistency of focus would eliminate the string of unforced errors that often lead to him unraveling on the court, which cannot happen for a player looking to break into the top 10.

Philipp Petzschner

All it takes is one quick look at the 27-year-old Petzschner’s game in order to realize that he is one of the most talented players on tour. The German often comes up with wild, unexpected winners with his huge forehand and can play from anywhere on the court, as evidenced by the Wimbledon and US Open doubles titles he claimed alongside Jurgen Melzer in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

However, Petzschner’s flat backhand is often his undoing, as it can break down and lead to stretches of unforced errors on both wings. Adding some spin and margin for error on his backhand side would make the German more consistent and could open up opportunities for winners on his stronger forehand side, which he can dial up with the best of them.

Although he is a grizzled tour veteran, a rededication to consistency and focus could make 2012 Petzschner’s best year as a pro.


 

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