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Brian Swartz · 09-07-2017, 07:00 PM

Race to the World Tour Finals
** Post-Wimbledon Edition **

Last year was a walk in the park for everyone who made it. This season looks like there could be at least one spot up for some debate and contention based on the overall rankings, but there are always some surprises once I dive in to the numbers here.

In

Mateo Kaspar -- 10,010

Kaspar's the only one who is in for sure. Usually there are at least two at this point, which tells you all you need to know about the kind of year he's having. Again.

Probable

Gillo Fangio -- 5410
Guus Dircx -- 4850
Ritwik Dudwadkar -- 4460
Prakash Mooljee -- 4130
Johnny Browne -- 3680
Martin Zarco -- 3435
Sigmund Kronecker -- 3175

Guus Dircx has already been successful at a number of smaller events, while Mooljee doesn't have that benefit yet. The Olympics will be a big factor in which one of them ends up higher in the year-end tally, but at the moment Prakash definitely has his work cut out for him. Dudwadkar is right there as well, and the others are close behind. I'm a little surprised that Gillo Fangio hasn't separated himself more, but he's had a couple more surprising losses after avoiding those for the most part last season. Hard to see him falling from the #2 spot though.

Contenders

Empty for the moment

Long Shots

Milos Schmucker -- 2590
Hsuang-tsung Teng -- 2570
Jake Jolland -- 2480
Ruben Piazzola -- 2260

Jolland is #8 right now, but not even close to taking the spot from Kronecker at year's end. He's got a couple of 500 titles from last year that will go away soon unless he defends them. On the other hand, he's headed towards his strength(US hardcourts) while the German has already finished his(clay), so the gap there could close again and make things interesting. Schmucker is closer right now but Wimbledon was his only trip to the quarterfinals or better of a big event. He'll need to do more of that, and he's quite weak on hardcourts so it's hard to see that happening. Teng on the other hand has the game to potentially make a run, esp. if things break well for him. There's a fairly good chance that either he or Jolland challenge for the final spot, but the list of potential contenders is once again short due to the relative strength of the top players in recent years.

Most of the drama though at this point is seeing how things fall among the qualifiers themselves; from 3rd on down there's a lot of uncertainty in terms of who will be where, and much jostling for position is expected in the second half of the year.

09-07-2017, 07:00 PM	#670
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Race to the World Tour Finals ** Post-Wimbledon Edition Last year was a walk in the park for everyone who made it. This season looks like there could be at least one spot up for some debate and contention based on the overall rankings, but there are always some surprises once I dive in to the numbers here. In Mateo Kaspar -- 10,010 Kaspar's the only one who is in for sure. Usually there are at least two at this point, which tells you all you need to know about the kind of year he's having. Again. Probable Gillo Fangio -- 5410 Guus Dircx -- 4850 Ritwik Dudwadkar -- 4460 Prakash Mooljee -- 4130 Johnny Browne -- 3680 Martin Zarco -- 3435 Sigmund Kronecker -- 3175 Guus Dircx has already been successful at a number of smaller events, while Mooljee doesn't have that benefit yet. The Olympics will be a big factor in which one of them ends up higher in the year-end tally, but at the moment Prakash definitely has his work cut out for him. Dudwadkar is right there as well, and the others are close behind. I'm a little surprised that Gillo Fangio hasn't separated himself more, but he's had a couple more surprising losses after avoiding those for the most part last season. Hard to see him falling from the #2 spot though. Contenders Empty for the moment Long Shots** Milos Schmucker -- 2590 Hsuang-tsung Teng -- 2570 Jake Jolland -- 2480 Ruben Piazzola -- 2260 Jolland is #8 right now, but not even close to taking the spot from Kronecker at year's end. He's got a couple of 500 titles from last year that will go away soon unless he defends them. On the other hand, he's headed towards his strength(US hardcourts) while the German has already finished his(clay), so the gap there could close again and make things interesting. Schmucker is closer right now but Wimbledon was his only trip to the quarterfinals or better of a big event. He'll need to do more of that, and he's quite weak on hardcourts so it's hard to see that happening. Teng on the other hand has the game to potentially make a run, esp. if things break well for him. There's a fairly good chance that either he or Jolland challenge for the final spot, but the list of potential contenders is once again short due to the relative strength of the top players in recent years. Most of the drama though at this point is seeing how things fall among the qualifiers themselves; from 3rd on down there's a lot of uncertainty in terms of who will be where, and much jostling for position is expected in the second half of the year. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 09-07-2017 at 07:00 PM.