2/24/2014 YTD 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 from before Acapulco, Sao Paulo, and Dubai began.

1. Spain - Not surprisingly, Spain has dethroned Switzerland thanks to Rafael Nadal's win in Rio and David Ferrer's win in Buenos Aires. Spain continues to be the most dominant tennis country in the world with three players in the top 20 of the year-to-date rankings.

2. Switzerland - After not having a single player from its country play a tour-level match since my last rankings two weeks ago, Switzerland has dropped its No. 1 ranking. Still, it did avoid falling behind France to No. 3 in the rankings, but it would take an incredible effort at Indian Wells to avoid letting that happen.

3. France - The only country that stayed where it was in the top five, France let a home tournament slip to Latvia, when Ernests Gulbis defeated two top 10 Frenchmen in Marseille. However, Gael Monfils did get some company towards the top of the year-to-date rankings with better representation at the top of the sport from France.

4. United States - John Isner and red-hot Steve Johnson both reached the semifinals of Delray Beach. Match that with Michael Russell's quarterfinal in Memphis and the US slides ahead of Germany into No. 4. Still waiting for better results for Sam Querrey and Ryan Harrison.

5. Germany - Peter Gojowczyk and Florian Mayer, the top two Germans in 2014, didn't gain any ranking points in the last two weeks. Despite a few solid wins from Tommy Haas and Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany wasn't able to hold onto its edge over the US.

6. Czech Republic - The Czechs improve to No. 6 thanks to Tomas Berdych's first title since 2012. The Czech No. 1 hasn't received much help from his countrymen though.

7. Croatia - Marin Cilic is on fire. He almost single-handily improved Croatia seven spots, earning 550 rankings points with a final in Rotterdam and a title in Delray Beach. He has now won 14-of-15 matches since the Australian Open.

8. Argentina - The South American country is well-represented, Juan Martin del Potro's slow start in 2014 has been costly. The Argentine's dropped two spots, but they should be back into the top six by year's end if not top five.

9. Italy - Fabio Fogini is carrying Italy like Sam carried Frodo in the Lord of the Rings. He won six matches in the last two weeks and ranks seventh in the year-to-date rankings, which is good enough for Italy to earn a spot in the top 10.

10. Japan - The blossoming East Asian tennis country may have moved down a spot, but all seven of its top players remained in the top 140 of the YTD rankings. Kei Nishikori will need some help if Japan wants to stay in the top 10.

11. Australia - As I said in the previous rankings, the farther we get from January, the lower the Australians go. They are now down three spots, and we are just two more weeks separated from the Happy Slam.

12. Serbia - It could be worse. If it weren't for a good pair of weeks from Ilija Bozoljac, Serbia would be No. 14. If Novak Djokovic doesn't win Dubai, it could be time to worry for Serbian tennis fans.

13. Russia - There's nothing new from the Russian Federation. Still just waiting for Mikhail Youzhny and Alex Bogomolov to start winning again.

14. Great Britain - The Brits dropped three spots as Andy Murray continues to struggle.

15. Ukraine - Alexander Dolgopolov reached his first final since 2012 Washington D.C. That boosted Ukraine five spots.

16. Colombia - Not much activity from the Colombians during the Golden Swing. This is why Bogota should be held in February on clay.

17. Latvia - One is the loneliest number. Latvia is the highest country with only one player in the top 300 in YTD rankings. At least Ernests Gulbis is the No. 1. Even Benoit Paire has surpassed him in broken rackets.

18. Netherlands - Robin Haase decided to skip his home country's tournament to play in South America, which didn't pay off to well. He earned a total of just 45 ranking points in two weeks' worth of work.

19. Bulgaria - Grigor Dimitrov lost to Gulbis in Rotterdam round of 16 as Bulgaria drops one spot.

20. Chinese Taipei - Yen-Hsun Lu reached the semifinals in Memphis, but Tsung-Hua Yang's YTD ranking dropped to 143, causing Taiwan's ranking to drop to No. 20.

21. Kazakhstan
22. India
23. Canada
24. Slovakia
25. South Africa
26. Brazil
27. Poland
28. Austria
29. Finland
30. Slovenia
31. Romania
32. Uzbekistan
33. Lithuania
34. Israel
35. Portugal
36. Dominican Republic
37. Bosnia & Herzegovina
38. Hungary
39. Tunisia
40. Luxembourg
41. Georgia
42. Belarus

It's Fognini's Fault

Whenever there is a big upset in sports, the fans of the player or team that got upset always look for something or someone to blame. After Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7, (and even during the match) everyone had something to blame for the massive upset.

The most popular scapegoat has been Djokovic's new head coach, Boris Becker for his inexplicable standing during the match. Another popular one has been Jim Courier for asking Djokovic to do another impression. There have been plenty of other outrageous accusations for who is to blame for Novak's first loss at a slam to a player ranked lower than four since 2010. But let's identify the real culprit for who he is - Fabio Fognini.

Let's look at the evidence:

In 2011, Djokovic started the season riding a 43-match winning streak. Djokovic reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals where he was one win away from tying John McEnroe's record for best winning streak to start a season. The opponent awaiting him was none other than Fabio Fognini, who limped his way through an epic victory over Albert Montanes.

After stealing the quarterfinal spot away from Montanes, Fognini elected to not even use it and withdrew from the tournament. Because of the withdrawal, Djokovic went three days without playing any tennis on a television. After three days of collecting rust, Djokovic had his 43-match winning streak snapped by Switzerland's Roger Federer.

Overall, in the first five tournaments in which Djokovic and Fognini played each other, Djokovic didn't win a single title. That includes 2010 Belgrade, where after defeating Fognini in straight sets, Djokovic went on to lose to 319th ranked Filip Krajinovic in the following round. Coincidence? Doubtful.

Fast forward 32 months to the 2014 Australian Open. Now, Djokovic has a 27-match winning streak as he meets Fognini in the fourth round. While Fognini didn't withdraw officially this time, he withdrew mentally. Fognini won a total of five games and 55 points over the course of three pathetic sets. All the while, Fognini's antics distracted the three-time defending champion and broke his focus. The match took away Djokovic's mental edge.

As a result, Djokovic tried to serve and volley on match point down. The cost: another loss to a Swiss man with a one-handed backhand after Fognini failed to properly prepare Djokovic for an important grand slam match.

Verdict:
Fabio Fognini traitorously sabotaged Djokovic by refusing to give him a proper warm-up before his crucial match against the Stanimal. As a result, Fognini is the scapegoat.

100 Predictons for 2014 ATP World Tour

These are my 100 predictions for the upcoming season. I only got 47 right last year, so I'm hoping I can do a little better this year. All of my grand slam predictions for finalists are at the end. I let the fan inside me come out for those predictions. I'll defend my picks a little bit at the end. Federer will finish the season in the top 10

Federer will not reach a grand slam final

Federer will win one or less 1000 event

Federer will win multiple titles

Nadal will not be No. 1 after the US Open

Nadal will defend one or less hard court title

Nadal will get at least 10,000 ranking points

Nobody besides Nadal and Djokovic will be No. 1 or 2

Nadal and Djokovic will combine for at least 3 slams

Nadal and Djokovic will combine for at least 16 finals in slams and masters

Nadal and Djokovic will combine for at least 26,000 ranking points

Djokovic will win a title in at least four of the first five months of the year

Djokovic will win multiple titles in tournaments not played on hard courts

Djokovic will win multiple titles in North America

Djokovic will have more ranking points than Wawrinka and Murray combined

Ferrer will drop out of the top five

Ferrer will earn at least 600 ranking points at one or less tournaments

Ferrer will not win his 600th career match in 2014

Ferrer will win multiple titles for the fifth consecutive year

Murray will not win a grand slam

Murray will finish with less than 8,000 ranking points

Murray will reach one or less semifinals at clay tournaments

Murray and Nadal will meet each other one or less times

Murray will get at least six top 10 wins

Del Potro will be a top four seed at Wimbledon

Del Potro will reach multiple slam semifinals

Del Potro will reach a final in a 1000 or slam before by the end of US Open

Del Potro will win more clay matches than Murray

Del Potro will earn at least $4,000,000 in prize money

Del Potro won't win a five-set match against Nadal, Djokovic, or Murray

Berdych will win a title

Berdych won't win a five-set match against Nadal, Djokovic, or Murray

Berdych will reach the semifinals of at least eight events again

Berdych will end the year ranked higher than Ferrer

Berdych will set a personal record for titles in a season

Berdych, Tsonga, and Federer will not win a grand slam

Wawrinka will never be ranked higher than seven

Wawrinka will fail to reach the quarterfinals in at least two slams

Wawrinka will not beat Djokovic or Nadal

Wawrinka will not finish in the top eight

Gasquet will reach one or less slam quarterfinal

Gasquet will not finish in the top 10

Gasquet will win a title in France

Gasquet will win a five-set match

Gasquet will win at least 42 matches

Tsonga will finish the year as the top-ranked Frenchman

Tsonga will reach the second week in Roland Garros and Wimbledon

Tsonga will defeat three former grand slam champions

Tsonga will win multiple titles

Tsonga will get at least five wins against top 10 opponents

Raonic will finish the year in the top 10

Raonic will win a title without dropping serve

Raonic will lead the tour in aces

Raonic will win at least 10 matches on grass and clay combined

Raonic will reach the quarterfinals in at least eight tournaments

Haas will drop outside the top 20 before Wimbledon

Almagro will win at least 40 matches

Almagro will win a title in South America

Isner will hit at least 900 aces

Fognini will crack the top 15 before the end of February

Anderson will drop out of top 20 before end of March and won't return

Janowicz will finish the year in the top 13

Janowicz will earn at least 500 ranking points from one event

Dimitrov will not win  title

Dimitrov will reach the top 15 for the first time in his career

Dimitrov will reach the fourth round at a slam

Gulbis will reach a career-high ranking before March

Paire will have more double faults than any player in the top 20

Pospisil will reach the top 28 by the end of Wimbledon

Cilic's year-end ranking will be at least 15 spots better than at the start of July

Tomic will not reach the top 20 at any point in the season

Dolgopolov will lose in the first or second round in at least two slams

Between Hewitt, Haas, and Robredo, at least one will retire

Nobody younger than Jiri Vesely will finish the year ranked higher than him

Vesely will win a grand slam match

Harrison will reach a final

Klahn and Young will both be in the top 10 for left-handed players

Sock will earn $500,000 in prize money

Lajovic will crack the top 100

Giraldo will make more in prize money than Seppi

Lopez will hit more aces than Karlovic

Simon's winning record will be better than his percentage of points won

Istomin will hit more aces than he will face break points

Brands will have more break points on his return than on his serve

Brands will reach a final and have a winning record

Matosevic will win a grand slam match

Verdasco will not get more than 300 points at a single tournament

Querrey & Istomin will combine for more ranking points than Haas & Seppi

Exactly four players from Spanish speaking countries will finish in the top 20

At most, 15 different countries will be represented in the top 20

Spain will have  most players in top 15, but France will have most in top 25

At least 20 tournaments will be won by players from that country

The United States will have more players in the top 100 than Germany

No player will reach the top 10 for the first time

The finalists at each slam will be players who have already reached a final

Djokovic will beat Nadal in the Australian Open final

Djokovic will beat Nadal in the Roland Garros final

Djokovic will beat Del Potro in the Wimbledon final

Djokovic will beat Murray in the US Open final

Djokovic will finish the year No. 1 in the world As I thought about my picks for the grand slams, I tried to think about which slam I thought Djokovic wouldn't win, and I couldn't think of any slam that he wouldn't win. He owns the Australian Open, and who will beat him? Murray is coming off an injury and Djokovic owns the rivalry with Nadal on hard courts since the US Open. For Roland Garros, that is going to be Djokovic's biggest goal of the year. He proved he is good enough to win it last year. I think this is the year that he finally gets it done. Wimbledon will be the tough one for Djokovic. Federer and Nadal proved that they won't ever win another Wimbledon with their disappointing performances last year, so it comes down to Djokovic, Murray, and Del Potro. It will be easier to predict a winner when the draw comes out, but a repeat would be difficult for Murray, and Del Potro has a poor five-set record in his career. At the US Open, Djokovic has always done well. His first slam final was at the US Open and he has reached four consecutive finals there. I also predicted Djokovic would win all four in 2013 and I was wrong of course. I would be shocked if Djokovic actually does win the calendar slam, but I'm not sure which one he will lose. This is certainly going to be a fun season at the slams.