5 things to look forward to from tennis in 2016

Although the 2015 year in tennis has been done and dusted, we're on the cusp of a brand new season which promises to see the big guns firing as the first Majors tournament of the year, the Australian Open, kicking off on the 18th of January.Here are 5 things to look forward to from the coming season:

#5 More Slams for Nadal?

Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest in the sport – there are no two ways about it. The King of Clay put in some decent performances in 2014, which is when he last won a Grand Slam.

The Spaniard started 2015 with some shockingly uncharacteristic performances, going down to some relatively unknown names, and several players ranked lower than himself. His performances appear to have picked up following the US Open, where he dropped a set against 44th-ranked Croat teen Borna Coric.

Although he would end up losing every one of the tournaments he played afterwards, Nadal did not look as listless and out of form as he did in the start of the year. Stretching Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to three sets at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, he made the finals of the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel, where he took on home favourite and longtime rival Roger Federer.

Although Federer eventually took the title, again, Nadal forced him to drop a set at the outset of the match. He also taxed French Open winner Stan Wawrinka at the year’s last Masters tournament, the BNP Paribas Open.

His uncle and longtime coach Toni Nadal expressed confidence in the 29-year-old’s ability; Nadal himself admitted earlier in the year that the ‘fear of failure’ had significantly affected his results.

Given Nadal’s iconic talent and that he has been able to identify his problem areas and is working on them, we could very well expect a renewed Rafa to hit the courts next year.

#4 New generation of tennis talent

19-year-old Croat sensation Borna Coric (L) and hot-headed Australian Nick Kyrgios (20) are tennis’ future hopes

Apart from the top 10 players, who have all played some solid tennis across the year, spectators got a glimpse of what to expect from the next generation of tennis. They may not win Grand Slams in 2016, but several young players have showed immense promise on the circuit this year.

Among them are the notoriously hot-headed Nick Kyrgios, who has unfortunately become more known for his on-court outbursts and behaviour than what is undeniable raw tennis skill.

20-year-old Kyrgios showed his potential as early as last year, when he knocked Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon. He has been able to hold his own against several other top-10 players, most notably among them Stan Wawrinka, whom he beat this year at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, although a good show of tennis was marred by Kyrgios’ slurs against Wawrinka and his girlfriend, Swiss player Donna Vekic.

Another youngster who has put his talent on display this year is 19-year-old Borna Coric. The Croatian native, who only turned pro in 2013, is quickly climbing up the rankings, and currently at 44th spot.

He’s neither short on confidence nor talent. Although he has won a title on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, that was not the highlight of the youngster’s year. Coric has the potential to be a giant-slayer, and he’s shown just how this year.

Coric has taken on top-10s and players seeded much higher than himself on the ATP circuit, and although he was unable to take victory, he has asserted himself at every Grand Slam this year.

He managed to force the hand of Rafael Nadal at the US Open this year, and Stan Wawrinka at the Western and Southern Open before him. He took one-time Federer victor Andreas Seppi to 5 sets at Wimbledon this year, and caused an in-form Jack Sock to drop a set as well. Still in his teens, Coric is being coached by Swedish ace Thomas Johansson, and is definitely one to look out for in tennis’ next generation.

#3 Chinks in the Fab One\'s armour

Novak Djokovic was assailed and defeated by a stellar Stan Wawrinka at Roland Garros

It could be argued that the Fab Four’s tennis reign ended last year, and 2015 has been the Fab One show – all down to Novak Djokovic, with a cameo appearance, albeit a brilliant one, from World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka.

In blazing form at the French Open in 2015, Wawrinka decimated Roger Federer on the way to the finals. Up for an eventual face-off against Djokovic, the previous year’s runner-up, Wawrinka looked off to a marginally shaky start.

But once he found his groove, Wawrinka rained winners on Djokovic at the Court Philippe Chatrier. The Serb, whose defense is usually impenetrable, was left outfoxed by the ‘Stanimal’.

Djokovic, though strong, has been outfoxed by his competitors this year, and tripped up on a number of occasions. Could 2016 show that he’s not so invincible after all?

#2 The $100mn race

Longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are in a new type of contest now

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer frequently find each other on opposite sides of the net, as they have on many occasions this year, but they will also go head-to-head to make a different kind of tennis history. The Serb and the Swiss are both on the cusp of hitting $100mn in overall earnings, a milestone that has never been achieved in tennis history.

While Federer is currently the closer of the two with career earnings of $97.3mn, Djokovic is close behind with $94mn. The pair will really have a chance to square off for that title at the Australian Open this January, with the men’s singles prize now up to $3.85mn.

Not only is Djokovic in the form of his life, but he’s also the reigning champion at the Australian Open. To make matters worse for Federer, he has not made the finals of the Australian Open in six years.

It looks to be Djokovic who will likely take the victory there, but that will bring him closer to Federer’s earnings, still leaving the contest for that record open. Or perhaps a renewed Federer can take the title and the record outright in one fell swoop.

#1 A renewed Federer

New coaching, new form, more Slams?

Roger Federer is the best in the game, in perhaps its entire history. Although his immense skill has brought him some wins this year, the fact of the matter is that Federer’s overall form has plateaued. The Swiss has not won a Grand Slam since 2012, when he beat home favourite Andy Murray on grass at Wimbledon.

Even that year, Wimbledon had been the only Grand Slam final he had managed to reach.

Although he has bested the Serb this year, it appears that in the past 5 years, Federer’s biggest stumbling block has been World No. 1 Djokovic. The pair met at the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals for a second consecutive time this year, and for the second year in a row, it was Djokovic who came out on top – in straight sets.

For the past two years, Federer was being coached by his idol, former World No. 1 Stefan Edberg. The Swedish serve-and-volley expert and the Swiss’ longtime coach Severin Luthi helped him bring out aspects of his game that he had not previously discovered, but it appears that Federer’s game has, of late, become predictable.

Although the SABR still has the power to bamboozle some of Federer’s strongest opponents – Nadal, Djokovic and other top-10 players, he has also been playing patchy, error-filled games that one would not expect of a player of his calibre.

Federer announced last month that he would be parting ways with Edberg, bringing on Croat ace Ivan Ljubicic in his place.

At 36, Ljubicic is 10 years younger than Edberg, and his playing style is vastly different from the Swede’s. While Edberg was a proponent of serve and volley, as is Federer – who is fond of the chip-and-charge, Ljubicic is primarily a baseline hitter.

The Croat formerly coached Canada’s Milos Raonic, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the rankings since he joined forces with Ljubicic, and this year even beat Rafael Nadal at a Masters tournament.

In the two years that Ljubicic and Raonic worked together, the young Canadian came up the rankings to become a top-20 singles player – and for a short period this year, was even world no. 4.

With Ljubicic bringing a new skill set to the table, it will be interesting to see how Federer’s game develops with a new coach. In addition to all this, Federer also has the Olympics to look forward to – he’s won doubles gold, with his highest singles win a silver – so he will be looking to add to his cabinet at Rio 2016.