Post by Chavalito on Dec 25, 2002 21:06:08 GMT -5
ATP 2002 season review
The number 38 marked the 2002 ATP season. The season was a very open one as 38 different winners emerged with four different gamblers in the Grand Slams and a new Davis Cup champion nation. Read on to review this exciting year.
Lleyton Hewitt finished the year on top in 2001 and this year he confirmed he is still the best. The Australian snatched his second Grand Slam crown with his first Wimbledon title and recorded his first win in a Masters Series at Indian Wells. He closed the year in style dominating the Masters Cup in Shanghai.
The 21 year-old, who has proved he is the most consistent player on the circuit, repeatedly does what is required to do on the big points, he delivers on all fronts. However Hewitt is not invincible and can easily be beaten by a qualifier, as players are more fearless and fit than ever.
At 32, World No.2 Andre Agassi came close to becoming the oldest World No. 1 in tennis history. However, he proved he is still a major threat to all young guns on the tour. He achieved, this season, an incredible feat by winning three Masters Series titles on three different surfaces: hard in Miami, clay in Rome and carpet in Madrid.
Agassi reached the final at the US Open and came close to adding an eighth Grand Slam trophy to his cabinet but failed to overcome his long time rival Pete Sampras.
Few believed that former world No.1 Pete Sampras would be able to win another major after a 24-month title drought and a disastrous grass court season that ended with a second-round knockout at Wimbledon. On Sunday September 8th, Pete Sampras shut down all critics and lifted his 14th Grand Slam crown in what will remain the most memorable moment in the 2002 tennis season.
Off course we can't forget Russia who beat title-holders France to clinch their first ever Davis Cup crown. The world had to wait until the final night and the end of the fifth set of the fifth match to have the result, which showed how close the tie was. Newcomer Mikhail Youzhny came back from a two set deficit to beat shot-maker Paul-Henri Mathieu after Marat Safin helped by winning both of his singles matches.
Other unexpected winners this year included Sweden’s Thomas Johansson who beat Marat Safin to grab the Australian Open title, and Spain’s Albert Costa who made the best of Juan Carlos Ferrero’s stress to win Roland Garros.
More notable was the resurgence of Carlos Moya, who at last seemed to be shaking off his languid spell of recent years. Moya looked particularly sharp in beating Hewitt to win the Tennis Masters in Cincinnati.
Equally impressive was Ferrero
, who turned in a beguiling effort in Paris - beating Agassi, but suffering miserably in the finals versus Costa. However, he showed exceptional resiliency in reaching the Tennis Masters Cup final and losing a five-set epic battle to Hewitt.
This year a flock of up-and-coming Argentines invaded the Tour. It included David Nalbandian, Guillermo Canas, Mariano Zabaleta and Juan Ignacio Chela -- who have taken the claycourt circuit by storm over the past 12 months. But David Nalbandian's success at Wimbledon astonished everyone, including himself. He became the first Argentinean and unseeded player to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open Era
It seems that next season, the man to watch may well be Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, who is already being heralded as the most exciting player to come out of the region since Kuerten won his stunning French Open title in 1997. The Santiago-based right-hander jumped more than 100 places up the world rankings to a career-high 17.
The other suprise of the year was Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan who proved himself at Wimbledon by crushing Agassi in the second round. Since then, Srichaphan improved every week, winning his two first titles in Long Island and Stockholm and finishing the year at a career best 18th spot in the rankings.
The tale of the men's 2002 season was less of an epic big-screen saga and more a series of discreet miniseries. No longer does it seem possible for several men to assert themselves completely over the course of an entire year. Nowadays any lucky loser or qualifier can beat someone in the top 10.
Eurosport
Greg Lanzenberg 25/12/02
The number 38 marked the 2002 ATP season. The season was a very open one as 38 different winners emerged with four different gamblers in the Grand Slams and a new Davis Cup champion nation. Read on to review this exciting year.
Lleyton Hewitt finished the year on top in 2001 and this year he confirmed he is still the best. The Australian snatched his second Grand Slam crown with his first Wimbledon title and recorded his first win in a Masters Series at Indian Wells. He closed the year in style dominating the Masters Cup in Shanghai.
The 21 year-old, who has proved he is the most consistent player on the circuit, repeatedly does what is required to do on the big points, he delivers on all fronts. However Hewitt is not invincible and can easily be beaten by a qualifier, as players are more fearless and fit than ever.
At 32, World No.2 Andre Agassi came close to becoming the oldest World No. 1 in tennis history. However, he proved he is still a major threat to all young guns on the tour. He achieved, this season, an incredible feat by winning three Masters Series titles on three different surfaces: hard in Miami, clay in Rome and carpet in Madrid.
Agassi reached the final at the US Open and came close to adding an eighth Grand Slam trophy to his cabinet but failed to overcome his long time rival Pete Sampras.
Few believed that former world No.1 Pete Sampras would be able to win another major after a 24-month title drought and a disastrous grass court season that ended with a second-round knockout at Wimbledon. On Sunday September 8th, Pete Sampras shut down all critics and lifted his 14th Grand Slam crown in what will remain the most memorable moment in the 2002 tennis season.
Off course we can't forget Russia who beat title-holders France to clinch their first ever Davis Cup crown. The world had to wait until the final night and the end of the fifth set of the fifth match to have the result, which showed how close the tie was. Newcomer Mikhail Youzhny came back from a two set deficit to beat shot-maker Paul-Henri Mathieu after Marat Safin helped by winning both of his singles matches.
Other unexpected winners this year included Sweden’s Thomas Johansson who beat Marat Safin to grab the Australian Open title, and Spain’s Albert Costa who made the best of Juan Carlos Ferrero’s stress to win Roland Garros.
More notable was the resurgence of Carlos Moya, who at last seemed to be shaking off his languid spell of recent years. Moya looked particularly sharp in beating Hewitt to win the Tennis Masters in Cincinnati.
Equally impressive was Ferrero
, who turned in a beguiling effort in Paris - beating Agassi, but suffering miserably in the finals versus Costa. However, he showed exceptional resiliency in reaching the Tennis Masters Cup final and losing a five-set epic battle to Hewitt. This year a flock of up-and-coming Argentines invaded the Tour. It included David Nalbandian, Guillermo Canas, Mariano Zabaleta and Juan Ignacio Chela -- who have taken the claycourt circuit by storm over the past 12 months. But David Nalbandian's success at Wimbledon astonished everyone, including himself. He became the first Argentinean and unseeded player to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open Era
It seems that next season, the man to watch may well be Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, who is already being heralded as the most exciting player to come out of the region since Kuerten won his stunning French Open title in 1997. The Santiago-based right-hander jumped more than 100 places up the world rankings to a career-high 17.
The other suprise of the year was Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan who proved himself at Wimbledon by crushing Agassi in the second round. Since then, Srichaphan improved every week, winning his two first titles in Long Island and Stockholm and finishing the year at a career best 18th spot in the rankings.
The tale of the men's 2002 season was less of an epic big-screen saga and more a series of discreet miniseries. No longer does it seem possible for several men to assert themselves completely over the course of an entire year. Nowadays any lucky loser or qualifier can beat someone in the top 10.
Eurosport
Greg Lanzenberg 25/12/02
