Ricky Dimon

• 2009 ATP Tour grades, from 1 to 100 (part 1)

  2009-12-10 21:36:26
  

  The dust has cleared. The smoke has settled. The players--finally--are resting. Now it's time to hand out grades for all Top 100 players on the ATP Tour based on their 2009 performances. Part 1 of 2 includes players 51-100.

   

  51) Jose Acasuso: C-minus – Did well to reach the third round of the U.S. Open, but he looks like nothing more than a clay-court specialist at this point in his career.

   

  52) Richard Gasquet: F – Gasquet deserves an A for his Houdini-esque escape from a huge suspension, but the whole saga has still relegated him to outside the Top 50 in the rankings.

   

  53) Evgeny Korolev: B – Korolev finally showed signs of living up to great expectations but playing stellar tennis throughout the fall hard-court season. If the 21-year-old is not in the Top 30 by the end of 2010, it will be a disappointment.

   

  54) Fabio Fognini: B-plus  – Won 20 ATP-level matches (even a few on hard courts!) and finished with a career-high ranking.

   

  55) Mardy Fish: F – Injuries destroyed Fish’s year at just the wrong time (U.S. hard-court summer, when he plays his best tennis). Hey, at least he found a good doubles partner (Mark Knowles) for 2010!

   

  56) Marco Chiudinelli: A-plus – Soared—and I mean SOARED—from 779^th to 56^th. And he did it at 28 years old! They make movies about guys like Chiudinelli and Taylor Dent.

   

  57) Olivier Rochus: B – You just have to love the Rochus brothers. No matter how many times they fall out of the Top 100 (Olivier was 120^th at the end of 2008), the little guys keep coming back.

   

  58) Marc Gicquel: B – Gicquel is about to turn 33 and he is still plugging along nicely.

   

  59) Simon Greul: A-minus – Won more than twice as many ATP matches (15) than he had previously in his entire career (13). Memorable accomplishment for a 28-year-old.

   

  60) Sergiy Stakhovsky: B-plus – Kudos to Stakhovsky, who could be destroying the Challenger circuit, for spending most of his time at the ATP level. He even compiled a winning record (16-14) on the ATP Tour while winning his second career title (St. Petersburg).

   

  61) Florian Mayer: B – Mayer fell off the face of the earth (to 344^th in the world) in 2008 due to injuries, but he played solid tennis upon his return to get back on the scene.

   

  62) Potito Starace: C – Lost to Bernard Tomic of all people at the Australian Open. Starace recovered to actually win 16 ATP-level matches this season, but he is mostly useless outside of clay courts.

   

  63) Arnaud Clement: B-minus – Turning 32 in December, Clement’s age did not keep him from climbing 34 spots in the rankings in 2009. And he did it despite having 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinal points go off the board.

   

  64) David Nalbandian: F – Hip surgery. That is all.

   

  65) Florent Serra: C – Nothing good. Nothing bad. Typical Serra season.

   

  66) Maximo Gonzalez: B – Had won four career ATP matches heading into this year. Now the 26-year-old owns 17 career victories…not to mention a third-round appearance at a Grand Slam (French Open).

   

  67) Michael Llodra: B – At 29 years old, he compiled a winning ATP record (17-16) and appeared in two finals (not surprisingly, both were indoors).

   

  68) Fabrice Santoro: C – Santoro faded into retirement without much magic, but if you are 37 years old and well within the Top 100, it’s safe to say you are some kind of Magician. Can’t give the guy anything worse than a C for his 2009 efforts.

  
  69) Frederico Gil: B-minus – Has improved every year since he turned pro and he won 18 ATP matches this season having won 12 in his career prior to this year. Gil is arguably a Top 30 clay-court player.

   

  70) Oscar Hernandez: C-plus – A perennial 50-100 kind of player, the King—even at 31—is having no trouble staying inside the Top 100.

   

  71) Daniel Koellerer: B-plus – Crazi Dani finally made a name for himself with his play rather than just his behavior. He won twice as many ATP matches this year (10) than he had in his entire career (five) heading into 2009.

   

  72) Daniel Gimeno-Traver: B – Improving steadily since 2006, the 24-year-old has quietly—almost silently—played his way up to a career-high ranking.

   

  73) Juan Ignacio Chela: B-minus – Making his way back—slowly but surely—from a lost 2008 campaign that was derailed by injuries.

   

  74) Michael Berrer: B – Finishing inside the Top 100 is always a good thing for the 29-year-old.

   

  75) Leonardo Mayer: B-plus – Recorded 17 wins against 18 losses in his first season at the ATP level. Just 22, the Argentine should be a mainstay in the Top 50 next season.

   

  76) Taylor Dent: A-plus – I could write a several-page blog about Dent’s season…in fact, I probably will. For now, just consider this: expected to never play tennis again, Dent skyrocket over 800 places in the ATP rankings (879^th to 76^th).

   

  77) Peter Luczak: B – Will be able to resume playing at the ATP level after rising from No. 158 in the world after 2008.

   

  78) Mischa Zverev: C – Has apparently reached a plateau…and he is just 22 years old! His 2007, 2008, and 2009 year-end rankings: 80^th, 80^th, 78^th.

   

  79) Rajeev Ram: A-minus – Ram probably never thought he would win an ATP title, but he did just that on the grass courts of Newport.

   

  80) Philipp Petzschner: C-minus – Petzschner was in impressive form early this summer, but he struggled to win any matches of any kind after blowing a humongous lead against Ferrero at the U.S. Open.

   

  81) Alejandro Falla: B-minus – Finished 101 spots ahead of his final 2008 ranking. Nice work by the 26-year-old journeyman.

   

  82) Lukas Lacko: B-plus – The 22-year-old finished with a career-high ranking, and he jumped almost 150 places from his 2008 year-end mark. Doesn’t matter that he won only three ATP-level matches.

   

  83) Michael Russell: B – After falling off the map in 2008, it looked like Russell’s career was all but over. Instead, at 31 years old, he stormed back into the Top 100.

   

  84) Paolo Lorenzi: B-plus - What percentage of people reading this blog do you think have even HEARD OF Lorenzi? I literally have no idea how he did it, but a player of his name recognition (or lack thereof) finishing No. 84 in the world is commendable.

   

  85) Rainer Schuettler: D – Went through stretches where he literally got BLOWN OUT every time he stepped on the court. Still, I refuse to give an F to any 33-year-old who is in the Top 100.

   

  86) Christophe Rochus: C-plus – In fine form at the beginning of the year and seemingly destined to avoid the Challenger circuit, Rochus struggled down that stretch. Hello, more Challengers!

   

  87) Marcos Daniel: B – This is Daniel’s second-best season-ending ranking of his career. Impressive stuff for a 31-year-old.

   

  88) Jarkko Nieminen: D – Actually played decent tennis when he finally returned from a brutal wrist injury.

   

  89) Dmitry Tursunov: F – Mostly not his fault (injuries), but Tursunov was in dismal form even when healthy.

   

  90) Ernests Gulbis: F – Tursunov’s doubles partner and fellow hooligan was even worse. Expected to soar into ATP prominence along with Del Potro and Cilic, Gulbis imploded both on and off the court.

   

  91) Marcel Granollers: D – Saw his ranking slide because he is simply hopeless on anything other than a clay court.

   

  92) Daniel Brands: B-minus – Anything in the Top 100 is good for Brands.

   

  93) Simone Bolelli: D-minus – Probably deserves an F, but I can only justify giving him a D-minus by saying that he was nowhere near as bad as Gulbis and Tursunov.

   

  94) Xavier Malisse: F – Did well to bounce back from injury and get back into the Top 100, but getting banned for 2010 for (allegedly) skipping drug tests is an automatic F.

   

  95) Mario Ancic: F – It’s not his fault. Injuries seem to have brought a once-promising career to an end.

   

  96) Thiemo De Bakker: A – The 21-year-old played his way into the Top 100 by tearing up the Challenger circuit. He is a newcomer to watch on the ATP Tour in 2010.

   

  97) Nicolas Lapentti: A-minus – At 33 years old, Lapentti did extremely well to stay inside the Top 100. He played two memorable U.S. Open matches (beat Wawrinka, lost to Denis Istomin) and put Ecuador in the World Group of the 2010 Davis Cup.

   

  98) Yen-Hsun Lu: D-plus – Rendy compiled just a 10-23 record at the ATP level and is dangerously close to falling out of the Top 100 after being ranked 55^th in April.

   

  99) Martin Vassallo Arguello: C – Avoiding betting scandals and remaining in the Top 100 makes for a satisfactory season out of MVA.

   

  100) Robby Ginepri: B-minus – The ranking is not good (at all), but Ginepri deserves some major props for bouncing back from an appendectomy to win an ATP title (Indianapolis).

   

   

  Agree? Disagree? Comments are encouraged below.

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