New Delhi: The 2019 ATP World Tour season will go down as an inflection point in men's tennis as the sport was on the crossroads of the old guard still exerting their dominance but the younger brigade looking very promising to take over the reins at the top with the new decade unleashing next year.
While it was the 'Big Three' which lay their hands on all four grand slam titles, the next generation led by Dominic Theim, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsisipas challenged the top guns to the hilt and even robbed them off quite a few Masters Series titles . The year also witnessed an end of an era as highly successful players in David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Nicolas Almagro, Marcos Baghdatis and Radek Stepanek bid adieu to the sport. Last but not least Andy Murray overturned retirement to make a comeback onto the ATP World tour.



Let us have a look at how the 2019 season unfolded for the 5 most successful singles  players who ended the season inside the top 5 on the ATP World Tour

1. Rafael Nadal

The year belonged to the resilient and tenacious Rafael Nadal who overcame chronic injuries to plough his way back to the very top and end the year as the Number One ranked player. After a sluggish start in the early part of the season which saw him getting hammered by Djokovic in the Australian Open final and withdrawal from Indian Wells Masters, Nadal fought back like a wounded tiger in the second half of the season winning a record extending 12th French Open title and pocketing the Masters 1000 titles at Rome and Montreal.


Nadal rounded off the year with a hard fought win over Daniil Medvedev in the US Open finals and ended the year as the oldest-ever number one. The relentless counterpuncher led his nation Spain to the 2019 Davis Cup title beating Canada, winning all his singles ties and contributing handsomely in the doubles through the tournament.

2. Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic started the year with a bang winning his record seventh Australian Open title after trouncing Rafael Nadal in straight sets. Djokivic looked in good form on clay, winning Masters 1000 title at Madrid and ending up as the losing finalist to Nadal at Rome Masters.



'Djoko' lost a close fought semifinals against Theim at the French Open but came back strongly to beat Roger Federer in an epic finale to win his fifth Wimbledon title. The season end saw the Serb Ace winning the Japan Open and Paris Masters to book yet another place in the ATP World Tour finals and end as World No.2 behind Rafael Nadal.

3. Roger Federer

At 38, Roger Federer defied age for yet another season and was still a major force to reckon with all through 2019. The Swiss ace warmed up nicely winning the Dubai Open and Miami Masters title. 'Fedex' squandered away match points to lose the epic Wimbledon final to Djokovic and Indian Wells final to Dominic Theim.




After a 4-yr long hiatus, Fedex played at Roland Garros and reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. Federer was back to his best winning the Basel and Swiss Indoors title for a record tenth time. The Swiss Maestro became only the second player on the ATP tour to win a staggering 100 titles and rounded up his season with a semifinal appearance at the ATP World Tour Finals.

4. Dominic Theim

Dominic Theim shed off his tag of a clay court specialist and won major titles on all surfaces. The Austrian tennis star made it to the French Open final for a second straight year, losing again to Nadal.He pocketed the Indian Wells Masters Series title beating Federer and won ATP 500 tournaments in Beijing and Vienna.




However, the talented Austrian lacked consistency as he was shown the door in the opening rounds at both Wimbledon and the US Open. Theim ended the season on a high after reaching the ATP World Tour Finals, securing wins over both Federer and Djokovic.

5. Danil Medvedev

The success story on the ATP tour in 2019 was the meteoric rise of Russia's Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev had his breakthrough season winning four titles in the nine finals he contested. Medvedev made it to six consecutive finals on the tour, winning three out of them. He made his maiden grand slam final at the US Open, losing a hard fought match to Rafael Nadal.




Medvedev won his maiden ATP 1000 Masters tournament in Cincinnati beating David Goffin in the finals. He added another Masters series title in Shanghai to secure a berth  in the ATP World Tour finals. Medvedev rose to a career high No.4 on the World Tour.

Besides the top 5 players, the other players who left a notable impression on the tour by winning premier titles and notching up wins over top 5 players were Greek Stefanos Tsisipas, Germany's hard hitting baseliner Alexander Zverev, Italian Mario Berrettini, Spain's  Roberto Bautista Agut and French Gael Monfils , all of whom ended the year inside the top 10.