Next week, Andy Murray will move past Roger Federer for the #3 world ranking. Murray has been the hottest player on tour in recent weeks. This will be the lowest ranking for Federer in about 8 years. The rankings will look like:
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Andy Murray
4. Roger Federer
Djokovic has produced some of the best tennis ever in 2011. Nadal has experienced confidence issues, especially against Djokovic. Nadal is also susceptible to injuries. Murray is on a roll right now and appears to be healthy. Federer is not playing enough tournaments at the moment to stay ahead of Murray in ranking points. Understandably, Federer is primarily focused on winning Grand Slams. At his age and stage in his career, Grand Slams are what Federer gets up for. Federer trains hard and remains remarkably injury free. Still, Federer may need to play more tournaments to keep his ranking high and his seeding high in the major tournaments.
The health of the top players will play a large roll in the outcome at the Grand Slam tournaments. Nevertheless, my predictions for 2012 in the Grand Slams are:
Australian Open - Roger Federer
French Open - Raphael Nadal
Wimbledon - Novak Djokovic
US Open - Novak Djokovic
I will probably change my mind many times on these predictions. But for now this is my story.
