Update - ATP Tennis - Six players to look out for in 2011

Earlier this year I wrote about six players to look out for in 2011, in this post, I'll briefly update their progress/failures up to this point in the season.  The players are Juan Martin Del Potro, Milos Raonic, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Tomas Berdych, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic.

Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro started the year ranked number 485 after coming off an inactive 2010 season because of a wrist injury, and consequent surgery.  Now he is back up in the top 50, currently ranked number 32.  He has won two titles since his comeback, Del Ray Beach in February, and most recently, Estoril just this past Sunday - which was also his '11 clay court debut. So far at the start of the clay season he is looking like he's regained his 2009 form.  The last time he played on the red dirt at Roland Garros was in 2009, and he lost in the semifinals to eventual champion, Roger Federer.  With a game of big hitting, big hitting, and more big hitting, he is without a doubt a dark horse contender for the crown at Roland Garros.  He's only meeting with Rafa on the clay was at the '07 French Open round of 128 - Rafa won, but was two years before DelPo 'blossomed' - the DelPo of present is much more physically fit & much better suited to handle that insane Rafa topspin.  As of 5/5/11, DelPo pulled of the Madrid Open just before his third round match against Rafa with a hip injury he suffered in the finals at Estoril.  "Hopefully I can recover quickly and it's nothing serious," said Del Potro, "I won't be in Rome and I don't know if I'll be able to play in Nice or Roland Garros."

Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic, the Canadian born & raised Croat, started to make noise in the men's field with his performance at the 2011 Aussie Open.  At the beginning of the year he was ranked number 153, and he has swiftly moved up to number 25. Raonic won his first ATP singles titles earlier this year in San Jose, defeating Fernando Verdasco in the process.  So far, he's had a respectable clay court season - he made it to the round of 16 at Monte Carlo & Barcelona, and made it to the semifinals at Estoril.  At Estoril he retired with back injuries, and obviously wasn't back to form when he got beat in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Alexandr Dolgopolov

Alexandr Dolgopolov started the year ranked number 48 and has moved up to just outside the top 20, currently sitting at the number 21 spot.  He began to impress the tennis world with his performance at the '11 Aussie Open, defeating Robin Soderling in the fourth round before losing in the quarters to finalist Andy Murray.  He made his first career final earlier this year at the Brasil Open, on clay, losing to Nicolas Almagro.  In his most recent clay court outings he lost in the first round at Barcelona, and most recently, Monte Carlo.  He's next scheduled tournament will be the Roma TMS in Italy.

Tomas Berdych

Tomas Berdych has been rather steady this year, starting 2011 ranked number 6, and falling just one spot to his current number 7 position.  He hasn't been impressive so far this year, but on the flip side of the coin, he has remained consistent - his best result this year was reaching the semifinals of Dubai, losing to Novak Djokovic.  Last year he made it to the semifinals of the French Open, but with Djokovic playing with his current level of  confidence, Del Potro coming back into his 2009 form, along with the other guys in the field starting to come into their own, his prospects at this year's Roland Garros may not prove to be as successful as his 2010 journey in the tournament.  May 5th, Berdych made it to the fourth round of the Madrid Open by defeating Juan Monaco.

Andy Murray

Since he miserable performance at the Aussie Open final against Djokovic, Andy Murray has had a miserable 2011 season.  In the three tournaments he played after the Aussie Open, he lost in his opening round to players ranked as low as 143 in the world.  He did bounce back in his most recent tournament at Monte Carlo, making it to the semifinals, losing to Rafael Nadal in three sets - an improvement over his results from last year, where he lost in the round of 32.  Traditionally, clay is not his best surface - at last year's French Open, he lost in the round of 16 - he's best French Open performance was a quarterfinal run in 2009, but maybe with his second consecutive disappointing Aussie Open final, and even more disappointing results in subsequent events, he will be even more determined to better his clay court results.  He started off the year ranked number 5, and even with his lackluster play, has actually moved up one spot to number 4.  Thursday, May 5th, Murray was beaten in the third round of the Madrid Open by Thomaz Bellucci.

Novak Djokovic

Last, but certainly not least is the man of the year, Novak Djokovic.  So far this year he is undefeated, and has recently taken over the number two spot in the rankings, pushing Roger Federer down to number three.  He beat Andy Murray in straight sets in the Aussie Open final, Federer twice this year - once in Dubai final, and again in semifinal of Indian Wells, and he has beaten Nadal in two finals - Indian Wells and Miami.   He won the Dubai championship for the third consecutive year.  In years past he was a decent clay court player, but winning (especially against the guys he has been winning against) brings confidence, lots of confidence.  He is a definite contender at this year's French Open.  May 5th, Nole made it into the fourth round of the Madrid Open by beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in 52 minutes.  He is currently on a 29 straight match winning streak.