Third of the year, many others to come... 2018 is the end of the road for the bulk of New Balls gen. Only Fed and Lopez are likely to be there next year imo, maybe Dr Ivo for a chance at an ATP win at 40.
Sad, I mean Youzhny is still hanging on around the Top 150 mark, but it's true he already has a long run, with his revival run happening around 2013. Best wishes for the colonel, and I agree I'll miss his salutes. From the times I saw him play he really was quite entertaining even though he isn't the most mentally focused player out there. Another member of the OHBH crew will be gone too.
Thank you, Colonel, for everything you've done and best of luck in the future. I also think he'll be a great coach. His brother has had some success already. They will be a good team, I reckon.
best tournament win: Rotterdam 2007, Valencia 2013
career highlight: 2008 match vs Almagro in Miami
Pity he wasn't able to win at least one Masters 1000, but a good career nevertheless. The last time Mischa was in the spotlight was probably that Asian challenger swing last year, when he won like 4 in a row without losing a set.
Colonel needs to win 3 more matches to reach 500 wins, which is quite an achievement. His good run in 2012-2013 was quite awesome. His longevity is also decent, he spent more weeks in top 100 than JMac and Lendl, something around 880 weeks, which puts him into 5th position.
Early 30ies is very, very different from mid and late 30ies wrt human physiology. We'll be seeing more retirements very soon sadly, the new balls gen is almost entirely gone by now, with only Fed remaining as a top player.
How long can he still hang on and defy his age?
I don't think the Nadalovic gen has much time left either.
Someone I thoroughly enjoyed watching and I loved his craziness at times.
Very impressive player with his CH in the top 10 and 2 slam SFs at the US Open in 2006 (the Spanish slayer beating Ferrer, Robredo and Rafa on route) and 2010 (beating Isner, Robredo and Wawrinka).
Ah the Colonel was one of the good ones - some of his night matches at US Open over the years were best I watched. Will be missed.
Clearly the end of the road though for many of these guys like Youzhny, Muller, probably Ferrer (and Lorenzi I would assume). Better to go out now than hang on and play qualies for years.
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