Saturday, September 27, 2014

9/22/14 Country Power Rankings

These are the rankings of how each country has done since the end of the 2013 tennis season. Rankings are based mainly on the year-to-date ranking of the individuals from that country.

1. Spain - The country may have all sorts of Davis Cup issues right now, but on the ATP World Tour, things couldn't be better. Even if Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer were taken away, Spain would only be slightly beind France for second place.

2. France - Sometimes it's quantity over quality. France lacks a real star or any big results aside from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's title in Canada and a nice run by Gael Monfils at Flushing Meadows. However, there are 14 Frenchmen that have already collected over 400 ranking points this year. Only Spain has more with 15.

3. Switzerland - Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer are all Switzerland has in the top 150 in the Race rankings, but they are both in the top four, which is why Switzerland is No. 3.

4. Serbia - The Serbs may still be No. 4, but this has been a poor stretch of tennis from Novak Djokovic making it almost impossible for them to get into the top three and opening the door for someone else to sneak into top four. The good news is that Viktor Troicki is back, while Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic are having the best year of their careers.

5. Germany - The Germans are in a similar situation as the Frenchmen. Having a lot of players in the mix has proved to be just as effective as having a true No. 1 player for Germany. However, the country is certainly missing Tommy Haas. Germany is looking for its second consecutive top five finish.

6. Croatia - Going from No. 10 to No. 6 is the biggest jump in this set of rankings by any top 10 country and is certainly the most significant. Marin Cilic's US Open title will do a lot for the future of Croatian tennis. And don't look now but teenager Borna Coric just won a challenger title.

7. Czech Republic - It has been a quiet year for the Czechs. In the same way their star Tomas Berdych has quietly been a top ten player, the country has fallen into the No. 7 spot without having any shocking results.

8. United States - When the Americans were at No. 4 early in the season, I thought it would be great if they could stay that high. Now they are down to No. 8. Still, there isn't much separating Germany and the United States. As a fan of US tennis, my goal was for the country to finish ahead of Germany. That's still certainly within reach.

9. Argentina - It has not been a good year for Argentina, but there are 34 countries on this list that wouldn't mind being ranked No. 9.

10. Japan - Kei Nishikori has had an incredible season when he has been healthy. He could be a lot higher if he didn't have to retire or withdraw from so many matches, and so would the country on this list.

11. Canada - Milos Raonic has been the fourth best player in tennis this year since the start of Indian Wells. Let that sink in.

12. Italy - The clay season is over now and ever since Italy has been slowly dropping in the rankings. The Italians would be better off just playing challengers on clay than wasting their time trying to win on hard courts.

13. Australia - Lleyton Hewitt hasn't officially passed the torch to Nick Kyrgios just yet. He still has a 15-point edge in the ATP rankings on the man 14 years his junior.

14. Great Britain - I'm expecting a nice comeback in the rankings from Andy Murray any day now. I wouldn't be surprised if he still qualifies for London.

15. Bulgaria - Grigor Dimitrov has made Bulgaria the highest country on this list with only one player in the top 150.

16. Russia - Russia is the only country in the top 20, whose top ranked player hasn't gotten 800 points left. Shows the depth that it has.

17. Latvia - Early in the year, Latvia, South Africa, and Bulgaria were all right next to each other in the rankings and all had just one player in the top 150. Dimitrov is running away with it for Bulgaria, but Ernests Gulbis hasn't done poorly for Latvia.

18. Colombia - Los Tres Amigos - Alejandro Gonzalez, Alejandro Falla, and Santiago Giraldo - have kept their country in the top 20.

19. Ukraine - Alexandr Dolgopolov has missed portions of the season. Like Nishikori, he could be ranked much higher if injuries and other health issues weren't factors.

20. Austria - Can we officially say Dominic Thiem is the face of Austrian tennis now? Melzer has had a nice comeback season though.

21. South Africa
22. Slovakia
23. Slovenia
24. Netherlands
25. Chinese Taipei
26. Portugal
27. Belgium
28. Kazakhstan
29. Uzbekistan
30. Brazil
31. Uruguay
32. Poland
33. Luxembourg
34. Finland
35. Dominican Republic
36. Tunisia
37. Israel
38. Cyprus
39. Bosnia & Herzegovina
40. Lithuania
41. Turkey
42. Hungary
43. Romania

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