Tennis fans from around the world will be geared up for the 2017 tennis season, mainly because Roger Federer will make his much awaited comeback after the Swiss missed the last six months recovering from a knee injury. Additionally, the ongoing rivalry between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic for the World No. 1 spot will be the icing on the cake.
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Novak Djokovic had a pretty disappointing 2016 campaign, which saw him win only 7 titles and he dropped to No.2 in the rankings after he lost to Andy Murray at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Regaining the World No. 1 spot will clearly be Djokovic's top priority heading into 2017, but the Serb will have to find his best form early in the season if he is to do that. Djokovic, who parted ways with his former coach Boris Becker earlier this year, will start his season at Doha in preparation to defend his Australian Open title. The Serbian is the defending champion at Doha too and he will have to defend both titles successfully just to maintain his current rankings total points.
Andy Murray showed a stellar performance in 2016 winning Wimbledon for the second time and getting a gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but the highlight of his 2016 season is no doubt the ATP World Tour Finals where he beat Djokovic to finally get the No 1 rank in men's tennis. Murray has certainly taken his game to another level in recent times -- he won 78 matches this year, which is 13 more than any other player and ended last season with 24 successive victories. If the Scot can continue this form in 2017, Djokovic will definitely have a hard time regaining his No.1 spot.
Two players who will be looking for a strong comeback in 2017 after missing most of 2016 due to injuries are Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In a recent practice session in Perth where Federer was preparing himself for the Hopman Cup, nearly 6000 people gathered just to watch him practice. This just goes to show how excited the world is to see him back on the court. Meanwhile, Nadal has not been at his best for a while now, and has not won a Grand Slam for two and a half years, but the Spaniard is confident that he is back to his best and will continue to play for a long time.
Another major rivalry to keep an eye out for in 2017 will be between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber. Williams lost her No.1 ranking to Kerber after she failed to defend her US Open title and has not played since then. The American will start her 2017 campaign in Auckland as she looks to regain her No 1 ranking and also become the first player in the open era to win 23 Grand Slams.
Here is the complete schedule of all the major tennis tournaments in 2017:
Grand Slams
January 16: Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia
May 29: French Open in Paris, France
July 3: Wimbledon in London, Great Britain
August 28: U.S. Open in New York City, United States
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
March 6: Indian Wells Masters in Indian Wells, United States
March 20: Miami Open in Miami, United States
April 17: Monte-Carlo Masters in Monte Carlo, Monaco
May 8: Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain
May 15: Italian Open in Rome, Italy
August 7: Canadian Open in Montreal, Canada
August 14: Cincinnati Masters in Cincinnati, United States
October 2: Shanghai Masters in Shanghai, China
October 30: Paris Masters in Paris, France
November 13: ATP World Tour Finals in London, Great Britain
WTA Premier
January 2: Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia
January 9: Sydney International in Sydney, Australia
January 30: St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy in St. Petersburg, Russia
February 13: Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar
April 3: Charleston Open in Charleston, United States
April 24: Stuttgart Open in Stuttgart, Germany
June 19: Eastbourne International in Eastbourne, Great Britain
July 31: Stanford Classic in Stanford, United States
August 21: Connecticut Open in New Haven, United States
September 18: Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan
October 16: Kremlin Open in Moscow, Russia
October 23: WTA Finals in Singapore
October 30: WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China
Click here for the complete 2017 ATP World Tour Schedule
Click here for the complete 2017 WTA Tour Schedule
