The One with 2006 Season Preview

As the new season unfolds this week, I’m going to do a review on both ATP and WTA Tennis for 2006.



ATP Tour

Everyone question this year is, "can anyone catch Federer this year?". Federer will pick up where he left off last season, as the world number 1.He had a very good run last year with 2 Grand Slams and 4 Master Series title. For sure he will able to match it again this year, if not, even better. Nadal also had a very good year with 11 titles including 4 Masters and his very first Slam.

Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year will start in two weeks time but few big names are still with injury woes, with Nadal, Safin and Agassi to name a few. Again, Federer is the favorite to clinch the first Grand slam of the year. Whether Hewitt, Nadal, Agassi, Roddick, Nalbandian and few others can give Federer a run on his money, the question will still remain. According to Hewitt, Federer has taken tennis to another new level. Immortal? A big NO! I rather say that Federer is flirting with perfection at the moment.

Apart from Federer and the big names, who should we look out for this new season? Well, last season we saw few newcomers making impressive progress throughout the season. Mario Ancic, Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer to name a few. Richard Gasquet was the most impressive, stomping himself to top 20 in the ATP Indesit Race. Other young talents who are on the verge of a breakthrough includes Andy Murray and Thomas Berdych, just to name a few. There are the new balls of ATP.

So, we’ll just see how this new season progress and very sure that all eyes are on Federer and Nadal whether they can match their good run last year.

Here’s my Top 5 for 2006 Season Ending

1. Roger Federer
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Lleyton Hewitt
4. Ivan Ljubicic
5. Andy Roddick


WTA Tour

Last season we saw four different players won the Grand Slams. Williams’s sisters won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and both the Belgians won the French and US Open. Both Belgians had a great year after being sidelined for most part of 2004. The old guards of Davenport and Pierce also had a great run last year by reaching two Grand Slams each.
The teenagers which are lead by Sharapova proved that they are here to stay.

What's in store for 2006? Kim Clijsters will claim the number 1 spot after Australian Open, thus confirming her status as the best hard court player. She has no points to protect until March and expect her hold on to the number 1 spot for most part of this season.

Not to forget, the much awaited comeback from one of the best player that had ever played tennis, Swiss Miss aka Martina Hingis. Her full scale return to the competitive tennis is much awaited for her fans like me and even for other players. She had an amazing career and it’s hard to believe that she retired at the age of 22. At the age of 25 now, she is still considered at a peak age for other tennis players. We’ll see how she fares this year.


For this year first Grand slam, the fields are so wide open and no longer can one player dominate the tour now. Off course, the front runner for Australian Open is Clijsters, the best hard court player at the moment. Follow suit by Sharapova, Davenport, Henin Hardenne, Pierce, William’s sisters and maybe Mauresmo perhaps. The other Russian troop (Myskina, Dementieva and Kuznetsova ) could also be the underdogs down under.

The young talents will have a breakthrough year this year such as Czech’s Nicole Vaisidova, Serb’s Ana Ivanovic, Russian’s Dinara Safina and India’ Sania Mriza to name a few. They are here to stay and to prove that they are hungry for success. Expect Ivanovic and Vaisidova to be in Top 10 this year.

Here’s my Year End Season ending

1. Justine Henin Hardenne
2. Maria Sharapova
3. Kim Clijsters
4. Lindsay Davenport
5. Martina Hingis
6. Serena Williams
7. Venus Williams
8. Ana Ivanovic
9. Mary Pierce
10. Amelie Mauresmo



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Gosh, the review was long. I sould call myself as tennis encyclopedia.hahaha