A new season is here on the ATP Tour and we have made seven 2020 predictions featuring Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and more. Do you agree with our picks?
The 2020 campaign on the ATP Tour has begun with Day 1 serving up plenty of excitement at the ATP Cup.
Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios led hosts Australia to victory over an angry Alexander Zverev and Germany, while Canada impressed as Denis Shapovalov got the better of Stefanos Tsitsipas in a win over Greece.
A packed calendar lies ahead, with the Olympic Games joining the four Grand Slams and ATP Finals to make what Roger Federer called a “Big Six” group of tournaments this year.
Key storylines include the Grand Slam battle between Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, with the Swiss star’s record of 20 coming under increasing threat.
The Big Three have won every major title since Stan Wawrinka’s 2016 US Open victory, but Nadal thinks it is a streak that will end this year, while Djokovic concedes the chasing pack are closing the gap.
Dominic Thiem believes a new Slam winner will be seen in 2020 and hopes it will be him, while Tsitsipas has set a goal to break up the top three and Daniil Medvedev made the final of the US Open.
Nadal threw a couple more names into the mix in Denis Shapovalov and Jannik Sinner, while the likes of Zverev, De Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime should not be discounted either.
With the new season on the ATP Tour now here, we have made 7 predictions for 2020, starting with number one below, and we will revisit these picks in December to see how accurate they have proven to be.
1. Nadal ends 2020 with Federer’s Grand Slam record
Rafael Nadal won two Grand Slam titles in 2019 as well as inspiring Spain to Davis Cup glory in November, winning all eight of his contests at that event across singles and doubles.
He made history at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in the offseason and looks primed for another year of success, especially after putting his injury demons behind him in the second half of last year.
Our first prediction is Nadal ends 2020 as a holder of the Grand Slam record. He may be level with Federer, or even ahead, but this time next year the Swiss great will no longer stand alone at the top.
2. Djokovic finishes as year-end number one
Another impressive year from Novak Djokovic saw him win a Wimbledon epic against Roger Federer after claiming the Australian Open at the start of the year.
The superb consistency of Nadal, along with a slight dip in form (at least by the Serbian’s high standards) towards the end of the year, saw the Spaniard claim a year-end number one trophy that even took him by surprise.
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are all level on five year-end number one crowns.
We are backing Djokovic to end 2020 back at number one, having tied Pete Sampras’ record of six. That will almost certainly mean he has achieved further Grand Slam success in 2020.
3. Tsitsipas ends Big Three’s Grand Slam streak
The offseason debate has been endless, who will finally stop the Big Three’s Grand Slam run? Will it even come to an end?
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all acknowledge they are coming under increasing pressure and while the likes of Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev have not been able to get it done in majors just yet, there is now another group of young stars coming up behind the Big Three, adding to the competition.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is our pick to end the Big Three’s sensational Grand Slam run by winning one of the majors in 2020.
4. Zverev makes a Grand Slam final
Zverev’s 2020 season got off to an inauspicious start as he lost despite being a set and a break up before falling to De Minaur at the ATP Cup.
His fans have been frustrated so far when it comes to results at Grand Slams with the German not going further than two quarterfinal appearances at the French Open and no better than the fourth round in the other three majors.
But Zverev is backed to end that frustration in 2020 and not only improve on his record, but reach his first Grand Slam final.
5. Murray wins multiple 2020 titles
Andy Murray was named the ATP Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year but there remains much uncertainty about how he will fare over a full season as he adapts to life back on the circuit after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery.
The Briton’s withdrawal from the ATP Cup and Australian Open tempered expectations about what he can achieve in 2020.
But Murray is a determined character and fierce competitor. He would not be back if, deep down, he did not feel he had at least a fighting chance of returning to somewhere near his previous best.
After his win at the European Open in 2019, we are tipping Murray to win multiple ATP Tour titles this year.
6. Shapovalov reaches the ATP Finals
There is a huge group of talented young players on the ATP Tour ready to surge up the rankings in 2020 and picking the best of those is no easy task.
After years of promise, Denis Shapovalov really started putting everything together in the second half of 2019.
The Canadian is primed for a year of further impressive progress and is backed to perform well enough to ensure he is playing at the ATP Finals in London at the end of the year.
7. Wonderkid Sinner makes a major move
Jannik Sinner is comfortably the highest ranked player aged 18 and under on the ATP Tour and this offseason many fans and analysts have really began to understand his potential.
The Italian won the Next Gen ATP Finals and was voted Newcomer of the Year by his fellow players last year.
Still lacking experience at the highest level, Sinner enters 2020 having only ever played one Grand Slam match, a first-round US Open loss to Stan Wawrinka.
But Jannik Sinner is already making big strides and looks to be the real deal.
As part of him making a huge rise up the rankings this year, it is predicted Sinner will make the second week in at least one of the Grand Slam tournaments, which means reaching the fourth round or better.