The 2013 ATP Moods Awards

2013 has been a great year for tennis. It was highlighted by Nadal's magnificent comeback to the top of the rankings, Djokovic's flawless end to the season, the rejuvenation of tennis hopefuls Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet, as well as the coming of age of young guns Bernard Tomic and Grigor Dimitrov. For me though, the biggest story of them all was Andy Murray winning Wimbledon to end the 77-year wait for the hungry home nation. In one of the most bizarre tournaments ever, the crowd carried Andy to the title, helping him fulfill his prophecy. 

2013 also marked a big disappointed as we've witnessed Roger Federer drift further away from the top. His series of surprising losses made headlines throughout the year, raising questions about his future. However, the Swiss has been adamant in declaring he will continue playing for many more years, proving determined to change fortunes in 2014. The world needs the almighty Federer back!

Exhilarating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga produced another disappointment as he let an enormous chance slip by. Facing hard-working David Ferrer for a place in the Roland Garros final, Jo played a terrible match to gift away the victory. The loss also marked the end of his season as he injured his knee at Wimbledon and was sidelined till October. Hope he comes back stronger next season!

On the bright side, Tommy Haas confirmed his good form, making an emphatic return to the top 10. At 35, the German is as dangerous as ever as he continues to break new grounds and push his opponents to their limits. Spaniard Tommy Robredo also put together a sensational comeback season, reaching the quarterfinals at both the French and the US Open. Although he is not fully recovered, Gael Monfils is showing steady progress in making his way back to where he was a few seasons ago. 

The young guns have also showed their great potential. Milos Raonic cracked the top 10, while outspoken Pole Jerzy Janowicz reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.

Bob and Mike Bryan clearly dominated the doubles tour, winning most of the big tournaments. A near miss at Flushing Meadows prevented them from completing a calendar Grand Slam, but they did hold all four majors plus the Olympic gold at the same time (a.k.a. the Golden Bryan Slam) strengthening their credentials as the best doubles team in history.

Tennis Moods looks back at a rich 2013, recognizing the stand-out players of the year. Congrats to all the 2013 ATP Moods Awards winners!

The 'World's Greatest' Award (for the best player of the year)

Winner: Rafael Nadal

Runner-up: Andy Murray

The 'He Found Love' Award (for the most improved player of the year)

Winner: Stanislas Wawrinka

Runner-up: Richard Gasquet

The 'Homecoming' Award (for the most spectacular comeback)

Winner: Tommy Robredo

Runner-up: Gael Monfils

The 'He Works Hard for the Money' Award (for the most hard-working player)

Winner: David Ferrer

Runner-up: Rafael Nadal

The 'Here I Am' Award (for the newcomer of the year)

Winner: Jerzy Janowicz

Runner-up: Vasek Pospisil

The 'We Are Young' Award (for the most promising youngster on the tour)

Winner: Grigor Dimitrov

Runner-up: Bernard Tomic

The 'Talk That Talk' Award (for the wittiest player on the tour)

Winner: Novak Djokovic

Runner-up: Mike & Bob Bryan

The 'Broken Hearted Boy' Award (for the most disappointing player of the year)

Winner: Roger Federer

Runner-up: Brian Baker

The 'King of Hearts' Award (for the Tennis Moods' favourite)

Winner: Roger Federer

Runner-up: Tommy Haas

The 'I Will Always Love You' Award (for the player who retired this year and will be missed the most)

Winner: David Nalbandian

Runner-up: James Blake

The 'When We Collide' Award (for the most spectacular doubles team)

Winner: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan

Runner-up: Michael Llodra & Nicholas Mahut

The 'Fashion of His Love' Award (for the best dressed player throughout the year)

Winner: Roger Federer

Runner-up: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

The 'Imagine' Award (for the most emotional story of the year)

Winner: Andy Murray winning Wimbledon

Runner-up: Rafael Nadal winning US Open

The 'I Dreamed a Dream' Award (for the accomplishment of a dream)

Winner: Andy Murray winning Wimbledon

Runner-up: David Ferrer reaching the French Open final

The 'Hero' Award (for the braveheart performance of the year)

Winner: Juan Martin del Potro at Wimbledon

Runner-up: Stanislas Wawrinka at the Australian Open

The 'Clash of Titans' Award (for the most exhilarating duel of the year)

Winner: Novak Djokovic & Rafael Nadal

Runner-up: Roger Federer & Juan Martin del Potro

SEE ALSO: The 2011 ATP Moods Awards and The 2012 ATP Moods Awards

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The Self-Destruction of the Master

"I self-destruct," said Federer after his shock defeat to rejuvenated Spanish veteran, Tommy Robredo, in the fourth round of the US Open. And I totally agree with him. It's painful to witness the all-time great Federer struggle so much on the tennis court nowadays. Sadly, yesterday was no exception.
More often than not, his game completely deserts him, and he is unable to cut down on the unforced errors and to ultimately beat the opponents he is supposed to beat. It's understandable that he might have difficulties overcoming Murray, Djokovic, Nadal, or del Potro, but to lose to Julien Benneteau, Sergyi Stakhovsky, Federico Delbonis, Daniel Brands, or Tommy Robredo, is unacceptable, especially for someone who is looking to win a Grand Slam.
Although he made major adjustments, Federer cannot quite get out of this rabbit hole he entered since the beginning of the season. After Wimbledon, he changed his racquet, opting for a larger one, plus he increased his schedule, adding some smaller tournaments like Hamburg, Gstaad, or Basel, in an attempt to get more matches and rediscover the winning touch. So far the strategies did not pay off, the Swiss being nowhere near his best.

The lackluster form surfaced once more in Flushing Meadows, where Roger failed to convert on the big points, gifting Robredo one of the best wins of his career. “I kind of feel like I beat myself, without taking any credit away from Tommy,” Federer said. “Clearly he was making sure he was making many balls. It was up to me to make the difference and I couldn't. I kind of self destructed, which is very disappointing, especially on a quicker court. Your serve helps you out. You're going to make the difference somewhere. I just couldn't do it. It was a frustrating performance today.”

Frustrating indeed, as Roger could have easily sail through in minimum of sets. However, the missed opportunities (he only converted 2 out of the 16 break points he had) came back to haunt him in the end. The Swiss made 43 unforced error to go down 6-7,3-6,4-6 for the first time in eleven career meeting with the Spaniard. The loss also prevented a much anticipated quarterfinal encounter with arch-rival, Rafael Nadal. “It’s not that much of a disappointment at the end of the day,” Roger admitted. “If I'm playing like this, I'm not going to beat Rafa, or Kohlschreiber, for that matter… I was fighting with other things in my match today. Not thinking too far ahead of myself, especially the level I was playing at."

Having put forth his poorest season in more than a decade, the Swiss now faces a huge challenge to qualify for the Season Endings Championships in London. However, a more important problem for Federer is to start winning these easy matches, so that he builds his confidence back, and begins an uphill climb toward the top of the rankings. “When I lose, people are shellshocked to see me play this way… But there's no doubt about it, I'm trying hard out there trying to make it work. Sometimes it just doesn't happen.” To be fair to Roger, it did happen for such a long time, that it actually feels natural that his extraterrestrial run would end one day. I just hope that day is not today and that Federer will live to fight a few more seasons.

A former top 10 player, Tommy Robredo continued his rejuvenation this year by reaching his first quarterfinal at the Flushing Meadows. The Spaniard took full advantage on an erratic display from Federer to stun the five-time titlist in straight sets.

Although everyone was anticipating a mouth-watering clash with arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the last eight, Federer proved once again that he is going through extremely turbulent times. The Swiss lost to Tommy Robredo in the fourth round, his first defeat to the Spaniard in eleven career meetings.

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Beat Me If You Can

A few weeks ago, Tommy Robredo made an emotional return to the tour by winning his 10th clay court title in Casablanca. The result announced the Spaniard as a possible outsider at the upcoming Roland Garros, though few actually fancied his chances of making a big impression. A week into the tournament and, to the surprise of many, Robredo is still standing. It took some battling, but after four dramatic encounters, the old fox managed to equal his best showing in Paris, reaching the quarterfinals for the fifth time. 

The Spaniard can be crowned the hero of this year's Open, coming back from two sets down in three successive matches to reach this stage. However, the toughest test came in the third round, when his opponent, rejuvenated Gael Monfils, surrendered four match points. It looked like a pretty straightforward victory for Gael, but in true Monfils style, the Frenchman let slip a huge opportunity while serving for the match at 5-3 in the fourth set.

Facing Nicolas Almagro in the fourth round, Tommy had already two five-set battles under his belt, against Dutch Igor Sjisling, respectively Monfils. At 6-7,3-6,1-4 down, Almagro looked poised to record his sixth win over his compatriot. Nonetheless, as he had done all week, Robredo refused to give up. He fought his way back into the match, pressing Almagro to lose control of the dispute. The 31-year-old Spaniard became the first man since Henri Cochet to come back from two sets down for three successive matches in a Grand Slam. Cochet achieved the feat at Wimbledon in 1927.

"I played a player who is incredible on clay," said Robredo. "I'm not thinking about history. History is this match I played today. It's not the score that counts. Nothing more than that. He was 4-1 up [in the third set]. Maybe he had a little bit of doubt, though, in that moment. Then I just pushed hard and I won the third. And then I was just dreaming and dreaming to try to do it again, and I did it."

"I think that being in the quarter-finals again, it's amazing, and also with three comebacks the way I did," he concluded. "I just need to enjoy it because I think that in tennis, we need to enjoy it when we do great things and keep focused. Because if it's possible, why not? [I could be] one time in the semi-finals here."
Next up for the ferocious Robredo is another compatriot, the always dangerous David Ferrer. The challenge is huge once more, Ferrer holding a 6-2 head-to-head record against him. Will Tommy defy the odds once more?

Emotional Robredo pulled off another miraculous recovery, coming back from two sets down to stun compatriot Nicolas Almagro to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the fifth time.

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Robredo Back From the Grave

In a period when the top players are taking time off to properly prepare for the long clay-court season leading to Roland Garros, Spaniard Tommy Robredo wrote a sensational comeback story in Casablanca, where he claimed his 10th red dirt crown.
Once a top 10 contestant, Robredo has struggled in recent years, falling out of the limelight in 2010. Things took a turn for the worse last season, when the former world No. 5 saw his ranking go down as far as No. 471 following an extensive leg injury that sidelined him for more than five months. Thus, just when everyone was expecting him to throw in the towel, Tommy showed he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, stunning the first two seeds to cap a memorable week in Morocco. The Spaniard recovered from a terrible start to overcome top seeded Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, 1-6,6-3,6-2 in the semis, before defeating the second seeded South African, Kevin Anderson, 7-6,4-6,6-3 in the final. The win marks his first trophy in two years, his last success coming in 2011 in Santiago.

"I have been practising very well during a month in Barcelona before coming here,” said Robredo. “I knew that I could play a good tournament here and you never know what can happen. I went match by match and kept winning. Today, I was pretty nervous since this is very important for me. I really wanted to win this.

“I'm very happy to win a title again after my injury. It's just great! Those points will help me a lot in the ranking. The goal is to arrive in Roland Garros in the best form possible. After that I will sit down and have a look at my goals.”

Robredo, a former fourth time quarterfinalist at the French Open, will look to maintain his winning streak going into Paris, although Rafael Nadal, world No.1, Novak Djokovic, or clay-court specialists David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, will surely stand in his way.

Robredo completed a stunning comeback from a lengthy injury to claim his 10th clay court crown. He defeated South African Kevin Anderson 7-6,4-6,6-3 to win the title in Casablanca.

photos (top-down): ?, AP