Talk About Tennis 2.0

As we are starting a new year, it is time for us to make our predictions for what will happen. So, get your crystal ball, sieve through the tea leaves or the coffee grinds, or pluck the entrails of a chicken (preferably dead but, your method is your method) and tell us, for both the ATP and the WTA:
Who ends 2022 as #1?
Who wins the slams?
Who retires?
Who drops from the top 10?
Who enters the top 10?
Which player from outside the top 50 makes the jump into it?
Will the WTA play in China?
Will the ATP NOT play in China? (Alternate question, will the ATP grow a pair?)
What really odd thing will happen in tennis?

And last:
Will C19 throw the entire calendar out of whack, or will the tours be able to play a full year?

Who ends 2022 as #1? ATP: Djokovic WTA: Barty
Who wins the slams? ATP: Djokovic, Medvedev and Nadal WTA: Osaka, Sakkari, Barty and Halep
Who retires? ATP: Lopez WTA: Stosur
Who drops from the top 10? ATP: Ruud WTA: Krejcikova
Who enters the top 10? ATP: Auger-Aliassime WTA: Halep
Which player from outside the top 50 makes the jump into it? ATP: McDonald WTA: Cornet
Will the WTA play in China? No.
Will the ATP NOT play in China? (Alternate question, will the ATP grow a pair?) No.
What really odd thing will happen in tennis? Tsitsipas will stop abusing the bathroom break rule.

And last:
Will C19 throw the entire calendar out of whack, or will the tours be able to play a full year? Yes.

Who ends 2022 as #1? Medvedev and Barty
Who wins the slams? Medvedev, Nadal, Zverev, Barty, Sabalenka, and a first-timer WTA, I'd say Badosa
Who retires? Federer, Kevin Anderson
Who drops from the top 10? Thiem, Tsitispas, Djokovic, Muguruza, Pliskova, Krejickova, Jabeur
Who enters the top 10? Rybankina, Gauff, Fernandez, Alcaraz, Norrie, Harris
Which player from outside the top 50 makes the jump into it? Botic van der Zandschulp, Potapova
Will the WTA play in China? No
Will the ATP NOT play in China? (Alternate question, will the ATP grow a pair?) No
What really odd thing will happen in tennis? Djokovic doesn't win a Slam. A WTA player will win 2 Slams. We'll stop talking about Kyrgios's potential.

And last:
Will C19 throw the entire calendar out of whack, or will the tours be able to play a full year? Full year [/quote]

Who ends 2022 as #1? Medvedev and Sabalenka
Who wins the slams? Zverev, Djokovic, Medvedev, Osaka, Sabalenka, muguruza
Who retires? Federer, Serena, Venus
Who drops from the top 10? Nadal, krejikova
Who enters the top 10? Fernandez, Alcaraz, Davidovic Fokins
Which player from outside the top 50 makes the jump into it?
koepfer, musetti, osario, burel

For me.
Year #1's. Medvedev in the ATP. I think he is just a bit more solid than Zverev or any of the new crop. But if Novak remains on top, it will not surprise me one bit. For the ladies, there are at least 5 players that can get there, so I will go with whom I want, not whom I think because I really have no clues: Kontaveit. I give her 10% chance of doing it, which is better than what I would give anybody else. I just can't see Barty going three years straight, and Naomi will not play a full calendar.
Slams: ATP: Medvedev, Novak and Zverev, with somebody maybe getting the fourth (Tsisipas at RG?). This, of course, hinges on Novak getting his vaccine because RG and W will simply not allow players to come without it. WTA: Naomi, Kontaveit, TOTAL SURPRISE 1, TOTAL SURPRISE 2. And by TS I mean somebody ranked outside the top 20, to repeat RG and USO last year.
Retirees: WTA: Serena, Stosur, Venus, and somebody in her early 30's. Kvitova perhaps. ATP: Roger, Feli, Anderson. Nadal at 25% if the feet and knees decide that it has been enough. Kyrgios will announce it via Tik Tok.
Out of the top 10: Badosa, Pliskova. Maybe Garbie. ATP: Berrettini, Ruud and Hurkacz.
Into the top 10: Gauff, Alcaraz. Other than that, I really could not even guess.
Into the 50: Mussetti. In the WTA, 25 players will go into the top 50, for the first time. The separation between the #100 (788 points) and the #50 (1215 pts) is minute.
WTA will not play in China. Maybe the top 10 will make a statement and say the YEC should remain in Guadalajara. The ATP, of course, will say nothing and remain a political eunuch.
Odd thing to happen: ratings for the WTA at the Slams will be better than for the ATP.
And yes, Covid will interrupt the season. This thing is so far from over...

Leylah won't be top 10 - she doesn't (yet) have the consistency required to get there. I say she'll drop down a bit to between 30 and 40.
Sabalenka might stay in the top 10, but she won't win a Major. Ever.

Who retires? Halep. She'll have more injury trouble, and won't accept being just a top 25 player.
Andreescu will retire in 2023 after playing all of 3 tournaments in 2022 (and having to pull out of 2 of the 3 due to injury).

Strange thing that *might* happen: Raducanu will do better than people expect, and will remain in the top 40 after her U.S. Open 2020 points vanish.

This is always fun to look back at after the year is done!

Who ends 2022 as #1? Zverev and Barty
Who wins the slams? ATP - Zverev (2), Djokovic (1), and Nadal (1) WTA - Barty, Osaka, Rybakina, and Swiatek
Who retires? Federer, Fognini, Isner, Venus, Serena, Kuznetsova
Who drops from the top 10? Hurcazk, Berrettini, Sakkari, Konteveit, Badosa
Who enters the top 10? Fritz, Alcaraz, Rybakina, Mertens
Which player from outside the top 50 makes the jump into it? McDonald and Osorio
Will the WTA play in China? No
Will the ATP NOT play in China? (Alternate question, will the ATP grow a pair?) No, they'll play in China.
What really odd thing will happen in tennis? A teenage man makes a grand slam final.

And last:
Will C19 throw the entire calendar out of whack, or will the tours be able to play a full year? Similar to 2021. Some tournaments get cancelled, but most get played including all 4 slams.

I had forgotten about Fognini. Yes, he calls it quits too.

Fabio calls it quits several times every year - in about every second match he plays.

Who ends 2022 as #1? Djokovic, Barty
Who wins the slams? Djokovic, Medvedev, Zverev
Who retires? Federer, Venus
Who drops from the top 10? Sakkari, Nadal
Who enters the top 10? Alcaraz, Rybakina
Which player from outside the top 50 makes the jump into it? Potapova, Brooksby
Will the WTA play in China? No
Will the ATP NOT play in China? (Alternate question, will the ATP grow a pair?)No
What really odd thing will happen in tennis? Roland Garros will use electronic line calling

And last:
Will C19 throw the entire calendar out of whack, or will the tours be able to play a full year? Some disruptions, but basically a full year of play will be possible.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:03 pm Year #1's. Medvedev in the ATP. I think he is just a bit more solid than Zverev or any of the new crop. But if Novak remains on top, it will not surprise me one bit. For the ladies, there are at least 5 players that can get there, so I will go with whom I want, not whom I think because I really have no clues: Kontaveit. I give her 10% chance of doing it, which is better than what I would give anybody else. I just can't see Barty going three years straight, and Naomi will not play a full calendar.

Barty already has gone three years straight - 2019, 2020 and 2021 - but a fourth might be a stretch.

I did not count that. Ok, my point being what you say: with today parity, four in a row is very hard.
(Translation: I just jinxed myself)

One more player I'll add to my 'will perhaps retire' list is Raonic. He has a history of injuries (relatively minor ones, but they come one after another), and he hasn't played an official match in a long time.
Once the leader of the Canadian squad, he can't keep pace with Denis and Felix now. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he pulls the plug.

An even more futuristic look- how many majors will they win over their entire career?
Djokovic- 23
Nadal - 22
Federer - 20
Medvedev -5
Zverev - 2
Thiem - 1
FAA - 3
Alcaraz - 5

Barty- 6
Osaka - 8
Serena - 23
Raducanu- 3
Sabalenka - 2
Leylah - 2
Rybakina - 1
Ostapenko - 3
Swiatek - 3

Thoughts?