What will 2013 Bring? Part 2 - ATP #31-40

With 2012 over and 2013 rushing towards us, I'm reviewing the season of the top 50 ATP and WTA players, and notable others, and making an informed guess (quiet at the back) at what 2013 is likely to bring.

We continue our journey with the ATP #31-40

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#40 - Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

2012 proved to be a year of slight decline for the supermodel Spaniard.  As his 30th birthday recedes further and further over his shoulder, the highs of his game can be just as high, but the lows perhaps a little lower, and a little more often, than when he was in his prime.  He started the year at 20 and ended at 40, though he did hit a career high of 15 back in February following the Aussie, which saw him stopped by Rafa in R4.  Hardcourt proved to be his best surface, with a good run at the US Open, giving eventual champion Andy Murray a big scare in R3 before falling in four tight sets, losing three tiebreaks.  I can see Lopez lingering around the top 30 or 40 mark in 2013 but I suspect that's as good as it gets. 

#39 - Andy Roddick (USA)

Unless he watches the Aussie Open and has a complete case of retirerer's remorse, the prediction for Andy Roddick in 2013 is a very easy one - lots of relaxation.  You've earned it dude.  Enjoy.

#38 - Viktor Troicki (SRB)

After a career high #12 in 2011, Troicki suffered a slow slide in the rankings in 2012, beginning at 22 and ending at 38. His most notable result in 2012 was also perhaps the least memorable - helping Serbia to win the World Team Cup, now defunct.  Beyond that, a R16 at Wimbledon is standout in a year of pretty slim pickings for him. He's still relatively young, though I'm not sure he's added much to his game in the several years I have now watched him.  He seems perhaps relatively content with his lot, or at least resigned to it, not believing he's got what it takes to really challenge the top of the game.  His career 3-43 vs the top 10 suggests there's something in that.  I can see Vik climbing back to near the top 20 again in 2013 but getting back anywhere near #12 seems implausible.

#37 - Kevin Anderson (RSA)

Kevin seemed to hit a plateau in 2012.  Starting at 32 and ending at 37, with a brief high at 28, his ranking remained remarkably consistent all year.  Perhaps he's found his level, or is there still time to push on a little higher?  At 26 there is time, if there is sufficient belief and application.  Kevin seems to have his best results at 250 level, adding another title in Delray Beach, but struggling to produce at the tournaments that would fire him even higher up the rankings.  He showed what he can do in Paris indoors this past fall, beating Gasquet and giving Berdych a first set spanking, demonstrating some terrific skills and tactical sense, which alas deserted him as the match wore on and Berdych started to compete better.  2-18 against top 10 players, Kevin needs to improve that ratio a bit, and avoid relatively poor losses to lower ranked guys like Blake and Mannarino.  In 2013 I think Kevin will move inside the top 30 but I see top 20 as unlikely unless he gets on a hot (or lucky) streak at a major points event.

#36 - Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)

Who can forget when cheeky Marcos announced himself in style, in 2006, when he reached the Aussie Open final?  Injury, lack of fitness, and at times lack of application, has prevented him for getting anywhere close to that level since.  He has hovered in the 20 - 50 rankings range for several years now and 2012 saw only a modest rise from 44 to 36.  Now 27, he unfortunately seems to have got stuck in a rut, and is too comfortable, or too unsure of how, to get out of it and make a last push at the promise he demonstrated way back when.  He's a great guy to watch and an entertainer, the smile is never far from his face - it's just a shame the steely determination isn't hiding behind it.  Much as I'd like to predict a dramatic resurgence as he realises time is running out, I predict more of the same in 2013.  Expect some fun, some smiles, some laughs, just don't expect startling results.

#35 - Julien Benneteau (FRA)

Julien had a good year in 2012 by his standards, getting back into the top 50 from just outside it in 2011, and ending the year at 35, with 2 ATP finals on the slate and a career high of 25.  All this in spite of some nasty injuries picked up in Monte Carlo.  As he turns 30 in a couple of days, he can look back on 2012 with some satisfaction, though perhaps tinged with a little regret that he couldn't turn one of those finals into a career title at long last.  Very much a product of the French system, Benneteau is not lacking in flair and panache and all that other good stuff, and is plenty entertaining to watch when he's on.  Now working with Mauresmo's old coach Loic Courteau, I see 2013 as a stable year for him, rankings-wise, and he may get another crack at a 250 title - perhaps his last.  If he does, it would be nice to see him take it.

#34 - Marcel Granollers (ESP)

Steady on course for the oft-overlooked Spaniard in 2012 - maybe that's why he started with that awful, and suspiciously inconsistent, grunt?  Anyway, a pretty static ranking situation, dropping 9 places over the year, his most notable result in singles was a final berth in Umag, losing to Cilic, and a QF at the depleted Masters 1000 in Toronto right after the Olympic Games.  One of the few who regularly plays singles and doubles, perhaps Marcel's memories in 2012 come more on the doubles court, where he reached a ranking of 10, winning the WTF doubles title with partner Marc Lopez, with many more finals and titles in addition.  So in 2013, I expect Marcel to continue to apply himself to singles and maintain this ranking level about where it is, but perhaps his focus may continue to shift towards doubles, where he and Marc Lopez clearly combine and compete well, and the prospect of some Grand Slam titles is not out of the question?

#33 - Thomaz Belluci (BRA)

Trying to predict whither Tomaz Bellucci is basically an exercise in frustration.  I doubt he knows from one minute to the next what he's going to do, so what hope do we have?  Barely moving in the rankings over 2012 (up 4 overall), as he comes into his prime, it was a disappointing season for the Brazilian.  He has a lot of game in the arms and legs, but so much of tennis is played in the mind, and his goes off to the beach with scant notice in the middle of matches.  He can go from pushing Roger Federer all the way in Basel to losing to Volandri in Sao Paulo.  He added another title in Gstaad and should have done in Moscow against Seppi, pulling off an absolutely epic choke in the second set to throw the Italian a lifeline.  This is the conundrum - the mental strength is there - but it's not reliable.  The iron will can turn into a pile of ironing.  If someone can harnass his talents, he can be top 20, but I'm not going out on that limb.  2013 will be more of the same - sometimes dangerous, often entertaining, but too frustrating for words.

#32 - Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

2012 has to be considered a success for Chardy - emerging from a miserable 2011 in which a coaching situation turned badly sour, leaving him struggling mentally, he rebuilt his ranking from 103 to 32, helped by scalps like Andy Murray in Cincy and Tsonga in Toronto.  Chardy brings a lot of power and drama to his tennis, though not much in the way of tactical thinking - here's a guy that farts in the general direction of the percentages game.  On good days, more lands in than lands out and he's tough to stop.  On bad days, or if the opposition shows willingness to live with this and stick with him, the ball can land literally anywhere within a five mile radious of his baseline, and planes should be diverted to safer flightpaths.  Chardy is just off his career high of 30 and the question is - is there more in there?  He's 25 and should be at or near the peak of his powers?  I think he can spike higher than 30 in 2013, but the problem is, his game is not predicated on consistency, within matches or week in, week out, so it's tough to see him staying there long if he does.

#31 - Radek Stepanek (CZE)

Was 2012 Stepanek's best year ever?  The old man of Czech tennis held his own in rankings terms (dropping 3 places over the course of the year overall), though on the tour little memorable happened beyond a QF in Shanghai, SF in Memphis and QFS in Halle and Brisbane.  However, Stepanek played an integral part in the Czech Davis Cup team all year, finally winning the decisive rubber against Nico Almagro to help his side to its first Davis Cup title as an independent nation.  On that basis, I suspect Radek would take this season over all the others. So what next?  I'm sure a lot of effort will go into defending that Davis Cup, but on the tour, I suspect anno domini will begin to tell in the end, and I would expect to see him end 2013 closer to 50 than 20, perhaps even lower.  His unorthodox, and irritating, style of play mean he's less prone than some to age-related drop-off, but it happens to the best of them.  Radek is known in the past for doing the worm post-match.  2013 may just have the worming tablet.