By Tony Fairbairn
- Britwatch assess the season’s of the top ten Brits on the ATP side which includes Cameron Norrie’s Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon as well as Jack Draper’s rise up the rankings.
LONDON, ENGLAND – Now that the 2022 season has finished, it’s now time to analyse whether the top ATP Brits had a successful or unsuccessful year.
This season has offered some great highs and lows for the ATP British players from the strong performances at Wimbledon to Jack Draper’s rise up the rankings. As the season officially has ended for the male British players, it’s time to analyse the season of the top ten Brits and assess whether they’ve improved since the start of the season or whether further improvement will be needed in 2023.
(1) Cameron Norrie
Start of season ranking: 12
End of season ranking: 14
On paper, Cameron Norrie’s season doesn’t look all that great but the Brit’s Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon was a big moment for the Brit in his career. Although he didn’t earn any ranking points, Norrie’s consistency, resilience and attitude proved that his hard work has paid off and that he can go onto bigger things. It was a season that started poorly before improving to bigger things in the middle part of the season and then ended poorly. If Norrie can raise his overall level of play in the off-season then a top five-ten finish isn’t out of the question but the concern is if we haven’t already seen the best version of the Brit.
Season highlights:
- Delray Beach: Title
- Acapulco: Final
- Indian Wells: Quarter-Final
- Lyon: Champion
- Eastbourne: Quarter-Final
- Wimbledon: Semi-Final
- Los Cabos: Final
- Cincinnati: Semi-Final
(2) Dan Evans
Start of season ranking: 25
End of season ranking: 27
It has been a fairly consistent season for Dan Evans who will consider this year a sign of consistent progress having picked up some very good wins. However the Brit will know for his ranking to pick up in 2023, he will need to do better at the bigger events such as the Masters 1000’s and the Grand Slams. Disappointing defeats at Grand Slams as well as a lack of clinical finishing on break points means that Evans may not be where he will want to be in terms of ranking and will look to improve that in the off-season.
Season highlights:
- Sydney: Semi-Final
- Nottingham Challenger: Champion
- Washington: Quarter-Final
- Montreal: Semi-Final
- San Diego: Semi-Final
(3) Jack Draper
Start of season ranking: 262
End of season ranking: 42
An absolutely incredible season for Jack Draper who went from playing challenger tennis to breaking through on the ATP tour in no time at all. The Brit has picked up some remarkable victories over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem as well as reaching his maiden Masters 1000 quarter-final. Now Draper finds himself on the verge of a Grand Slam seeding and with his potential, the sky is the limit for him in 2023. The Brit’s challenge next season will be to manage expectations and keep improving physically as he looks to challenge at the Grand Slams.
Season highlights:
- Forli 2 Challenger: Champion
- Forli 4 Challenger: Champion
- Forli 5 Challenger: Champion
- St. Brieuc Challenger: Champion
- Eastbourne: Semi-Final
- Montreal: Quarter-Final
- Next Gen Finals: Semi-Final
(4) Andy Murray
Start of season ranking: 134
End of season ranking: 49
Another typical Andy Murray season has been produced where the Brit has made significant progress but ultimately will have to ponder whether the journey is worth it. There have been the highs of reaching the final in Stuttgart and Sydney and the lows of injuries as well as poor performances at Grand Slams. Next season Murray will look to produce consistency, improved conditioning in the hope that he can make one more big run at a Grand Slam in what could be the final season of his career.
Season highlights:
- Sydney: Final
- Surbiton Challenger: Semi-Final
- Stuttgart: Final
- Newport: Quarter-Final
- Gijon: Quarter-Final
(5) Ryan Peniston
Start of season ranking: 268
End of season ranking: 144
It was an incredible season for Ryan Peniston as he made his mark on the ATP tour by producing an incredible grass court season. Back-to-back quarter-finals at Queen’s Club and Eastbourne showed that he has the quality to belong on the ATP tour and will now look to be more consistent at challenger events to rise up the rankings even further. Peniston will aim to qualify for more ATP tour events and Grand Slams before the grass court season as he aims to build on his momentum from the summer.
Season highlights:
- ITF Loughborough: Final
- St. Brieuc Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Ostrava Challenger: Final
- Surbiton Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Nottingham Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Queen’s Club: Quarter-Final
- Eastbourne: Quarter-Final
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(6) Liam Broady
Start of season ranking: 128
End of season ranking: 164
Liam Broady’s success this season hasn’t been reflected in the ranking as he would have liked due to no ranking points at Wimbledon but the Brit will be proud of his efforts this season. After qualifying for the Australian Open at the start of the year, Broady has produced moments of good form and also made his Grand Slam breakthrough by reaching the third round at SW19. More consistency from Broady will be needed all throughout the year if the Brit wants to have a chance of qualifying for Grand Slams automatically.
Season highlights:
- Australian Open: Qualified/R1
- Dallas: Qualified/R2
- Indian Wells: Qualified/R1
- Phoenix Challenger: Semi-Final
- Nottingham Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Wimbledon: R3
- Winnipeg Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Chicago Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Tel-Aviv: Quarter-Final
(7) Jay Clarke
Start of season ranking: 215
End of season ranking: 217
After a positive start to the season, it was a rather disappointing season for Jay Clarke which included a first round exit at Wimbledon. The Brit is in desperate need for confidence and will be looking to improve that in the off-season ahead of a big season for the 24 year-old. An improvement in results will be key next season as he will look to take more steps forwards than backwards.
Season highlights:
- Forli 2 Challenger: Final
- Pune: Qualified/R1
- Morelos Challenger: Champion
- Mallorca Challenger: Quarter-Final
(8) Paul Jubb
Start of season ranking: 347
End of season ranking: 219
Paul Jubb has taken big steps forwards this season with the Brit winning Challenger titles and producing impressive performances. Jubb’s five set defeat to Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon showed how high his potential is and how far his game can go if he can find some consistency. Jubb will be hoping that he can translate his form from Wimbledon into regular Challenger tour tennis as he aims for the world’s top 150 next season.
Season highlights:
- Forli 2 Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Santa Cruz De La Sierra 2 Challenger: Champion
- Queen’s Club: Qualified/R1
- Tiburon Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Charlottesville Challenger: Semi-Final
(9) Jan Choinski
Start of season ranking: 599
End of season ranking: 266
Jan Choinski has made great progress this season after going deep in ITF events to start the year, the Brit ended the year with a Challenger title. Now Choinski will look to play more Challenger events as he aims to climb even further up the rankings and maybe even move into contention for a Wimbledon wildcard next summer.
Season highlights:
- ITF Bath: Semi-Final
- ITF Loughborough: Semi-Final
- ITF Wetzlar: Quarter-Final
- ITF Frankfurt am Main: Champion
- Szczecin Challenger: Qualified/Quarter-Final
- Campinas Challanger: Champion
(10) Alastair Gray
Start of season ranking: 522
End of season ranking: 274
Alastair Gray’s game has improved massively having won multiple ITF titles and started to gain wins on the Challenger circuit. That’s backed up by Gray winning his first Wimbledon main draw singles match this year and the Brit will look to use that as a platform to race into the world’s top 200 next season.
Season highlights:
- ITF Shrewsbury: Champion
- ITF Glasgow: Champion
- ITF Trimbach: Finalist
- St. Brieuc Challenger: Qualified/Quarter-Final
- ITF Nottingham: Champion
- Nonthaburi Challenger: Quarter-Final
- Ismaning Challenger: Quarter-Final
- ITF Sharm-El-Sheikh: Champion
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