Top Achievements Of The Year - Nos. 6-10

© Ron AngleCanadian Milos Raonic rose to a career-high No. 24 in 2011.

ATPWorldTour.com reviews the Top 10 achievements of the 2011 season, beginning with Nos. 6-10.

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10. Raonic & Nishikori’s High Ranks
Youngsters Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori, each past winners of the Newcomer Of The Year award, can claim bragging rights as the best men’s players to emerge from their respective home countries of Canada and Japan after setting new bars in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

The 20-year-old Raonic attained a No. 25 ranking in his breakthrough season on the ATP World Tour, surpassing Greg Rusedski’s record of No. 41 established in 1994. Raonic, who had made just five main draw appearances prior to this season, cracked the Top 100 barrier after qualifying and reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open. Over a two-week span in February, he claimed the San Jose title without the loss of a set and finished runner-up to Andy Roddick in a tense Memphis final, afterwards climbing to No. 37.

“It’s something really special and amazing,” said Raonic. “It’s not by any means something to be too happy with because I want to keep improving that. It’s not where my goal lies. I want to keep improving, I want to keep progressing and developing and I think I can do a lot more.”

Nishikori, 21, needed a bit more time to overtake Shuzo Matsuoka’s career-high ranking of No. 46, set in July 1992. After winning the Delray Beach title as a teenager in 2008, “Project 45” was temporarily derailed with Nishikori hampered by a right elbow injury. He climbed more than 300 spots to re-enter the Top 100 at the conclusion of the 2010 season, and broke into the Top 50 by April, matching Matsuoka’s ranking on 2 May. The record fell five months later, with Nishikori jumping 17 spots to No. 30 by reaching his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final in Shanghai.

“Shuzo Matsuoka has been a great mentor and teacher for me,” said Nishikori. “It is an honour to be able to break his record and become the number one tennis player in Japan.”

A few weeks later, Nishikori upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Basel to reach the final (l. to Federer) and move up to a career-high No. 24 ranking.

9. Del Potro’s Comeback
Following a phenomenal 2009 season that saw Juan Martin del Potro capture the US Open title and finish at a year-end No. 5 ranking, the Argentine’s ranking had plummeted to a low of No. 485 this past February after a right wrist injury limited him to just six matches in 2010.

Del Potro survived a dramatic comeback match in January at Sydney, surviving match point before overcoming Feliciano Lopez in a third set tie-break, and then began his rapid ascent in the South African Airways ATP Rankings with a 23-4 run over the next few months. Back-to-back semi-finals at San Jose and Memphis and the title win in Delray Beach (d. Tipsarevic) pushed him back into the Top 100 by the end of February.

“I'm very calm with my level,” del Potro said of his progress at the time. “I know that it's a long road to be in the top again, but I'm working. I have the game, if I'm healthy. I need time to improve again, to work hard. Maybe in couple of months, maybe next year, I will be ready for play against all of the players.”

He proved he had what it took to compete with the top players over his next few tournaments. He moved just outside the Top 50 with his semi-final showing in Indian Wells (l. to Nadal), and defeated World No. 5 Robin Soderling twice en route to the fourth round in Miami and clay-court title in Estoril (d. Verdasco). By July, following a fourth-round showing at Wimbledon, del Potro was back in the Top 20.

But his climb didn’t stop there. In his final two tournaments of the regular season, del Potro reached the title match in Vienna and semi-finals in Valencia to finish the season with a No. 11 ranking. His peers recognised his efforts, naming him the Comeback Player of the Year in the 2011 ATP World Tour Awards.

8. Murray’s Asian Swing Hat Trick
Andy Murray reigned supreme in Asia, completing a title sweep of the tournaments in Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai over a three-week span to overtake Roger Federer at No. 3 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

Bangkok had been the site of Murray’s breakthrough in 2005, when he reached his first ATP World Tour final as an 18 year old and finished runner-up to Roger Federer, and he returned for the first time in five years to claim the ATP World Tour 250 title with a commanding performance against Donald Young in the final.

He continued his hot run of form the following week at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Tokyo, first claiming the singles title with a blistering display in the final two sets to defeat defending champion Rafael Nadal, and then teaming up with brother Jamie Murray to win the doubles crown.

Murray completed the trifecta, successfully defending his Shangai Rolex Masters title with victory over David Ferrer in the final. “I was really happy with the way I stayed focused,” said Murray, reflecting on the Asian swing. “It's hard to explain. It's almost you'd think the more matches you win, the less pressure you feel. I was hitting the ball well, but there's still a little bit of tension because you want to try and keep the run going.”

His streak ran up to 17 matches before he fell to Tomas Berdych in the Paris quarter-finals.

7. 800 Wins For Nestor & Federer
No active player had 800 match wins to his name coming into the 2011 ATP World Tour season, but by the end of the year, two had reached the milestone: Daniel Nestor and Roger Federer.

Nestor had celebrated an achievement in the opening week of the season, eclipsing Todd Woodbridge’s record 782 match wins by reaching the Brisbane semi-finals with partner Max Mirnyi. Five months later, he became the first player to win 800 doubles matches with his opening round victory at Roland Garros. He and Mirnyi would go on to win the title at the clay-court Slam.

“It’s a great feeling. I’ve obviously had a lot of help over the years, playing with great partners, like Knowles, Zimonjic and Mirnyi now, and before that with Lareau, so I owe a lot to them,” said the 39-year-old Canadian, who won his first doubles match in 1993. “When you play a long time and you’ve been successful in your sport, it’s a great feeling, because you put in hard work and it pays off.”

Nestor attained another milestone to conclude the season, playing in a record 1148th doubles match and winning his fourth Barclays ATP World Tour Finals title in five years.

Federer, meanwhile, became the seventh player in the Open Era to record 800 singles match wins en route to his 18th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Masters, the final tournament of the regular season.

“It’s nice. It’s a lot of matches, a lot of tennis [that] I’ve played - I know that. But I know there are many other players that have played more tennis than I have,” he said. “It's just another win, but it's a special one nevertheless, because 800 is definitely a big number.”

6. Federer’s Record Sixth Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Titles
Roger Federer continued to showcase his remarkable stamina as he concluded yet another season by hoisting the trophy at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Swiss had tied Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras’ shared mark of five titles at the circuit finale in 2010, after defeating rival Rafael Nadal in the final, and moved into sole possession of the record with victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga this year.

The 30 year old had come into his 10th straight circuit finale appearance as the in-form player, winning back-to-back indoor titles in Basel and Paris to conclude the regular season, and stretched his unbeaten streak to 17 straight matches, including a rout of Nadal in round robin action. Facing Tsonga for a third straight Sunday, he suffered a lapse in concentration as he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but overcame the tenacious Frenchman in the third set.

“It feels very special, indeed,” said Federer, who also tied Ivan Lendl’s record 39 match wins at the tournament. “I've been trying to sort of block it out for the entire tournament, the entire time I’ve been here in London. I just tried to recuperate from Basel and Paris and hopefully get through the round robin stages. So now it’s finally sort of reality that I've been able to win six [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals. It's an amazing feeling. I know it's one of my greatest accomplishments.”

Coming Saturday: Nos. 3-5. Coming Sunday: Nos. 1-2