With the 2016 tennis season merely days away, we take a look at how the likely British hopefuls could fare over the coming year. In the first of our two-parter, we'll take a look at the potential fortunes of our top male players. Will it be a year to savour for Andy Murray? Can Kyle Edmund break into the top 50? Is a Davis Cup defence possible? Let's find out.
Andy Murray
#WR2 and British #1 Murray will start with the Hopman Cup, before moving onto the first slam of the year at the Australian Open. Participation in the Hopman Cup has proved beneficial to the Brit in previous years, and usually the Brit has a good run at the Slam following on. For example, last year after taking part in the Hopman Cup, Murray reached the final of the Australian Open, only to lose out to Novak Djokovic.
The Brit should be feeling good about his tennis, as he was instrumental in guiding the GB team to claim the Davis Cup last year, and there is no reason Murray cannot repeat his final appearance at the first slam of the year and should be in a good place to take the Serb in the final.
February (and possibly end of January, depending on the timings) will see the Brit skip some tournaments as his wife is due to give birth.
In March we will see the first round of the Davis Cup 2016 with Britian as defending champions, Murray is committed to playing at least the first round, as winning the tie with Japan will keep Britain in the World Group and avoid any relegation play offs.
Just before the summer will be the clay season, Murray has two titles to defend, and a semi final at the French Open, the performance on clay last year was stunning, on what is admittedly (by Murray) the Brits worst surface. The summer will see the grass court season with the Brit due to play at Queens and Wimbledon. Grass is one of Murrays favourite surfaces, so again the Brit should do very well and could reach the final of both events - hopefully winning both, or Wimbledon at least (Murray seems to win Queens in odd numbered years).
Following on from Wimbledon is the American Hard Court season leading to the final slam of the year in New York. Murray usually plays well at Flushing Meadows and frequently reaches the final stages, discounting last year when the Brit lost in the fourth round. Murray should finish the year no lower than #WR4.
Aljaz Bedene
Bedene is the British #2, after officially changing nationalities last year and the Brit has made a steady climb up the rankings. Bedene will start the year in Chennai playing the ATP 250 event held there, where he is currently seeded 10th in the main draw.
Bedene will be looking to improve his ranking throughout this year and hopefully end the year higher than he starts. Once again the Brit will be excluded from playing for the defending champions in the first round, as the appeal to the ITF commission regarding his participation in Davis Cup for his new country was postponed until March, after the first round has taken place.
Focus in late March will be on trying to win this appeal, and give the British Davis Cup team more depth as Murray will likely take a step back after the first round. Bedene is pretty handy on clay, so with another Brit on board who actually likes the red stuff, there should be a clay title heading his way, progressing through a few rounds at the French Open before going out in week two. Bedene will go into the grass season full of confidence, although he has not performed well on the green grass of home. After Wimbledon it will be back to the hard courts for the American Swing, Bedene could perform well in this part of the season.
Kyle Edmund
British #3 and just outside the top 100 the young Brit will be starting the year in Doha. Playing qualifying for this ATP 250 event Edmund is sixth seed, also finding himself as seventh alternative for the main draw.
But, the 20-year old will not have to qualify for the first slam of the year as withdrawls have placed him into the main draw. Edmund was on the cusp of entering the main draw without the need for withdrawls, but several players used protected rankings to enter the tournament, pushing the Brit just outside. With the withdrawl of Richard Gasquet the young Brit now finds himself in the main draw for the first slam of the year. After taking the Belgian #1 to a two sets to love lead in November the young Brit can build on this and progress past the first round. Getting a few ranking spots further up will also see Edmund safely into the main draw at the French Open and Wimbledon without having to rely on wildcards. Building on the success he had at the end of last year the Brit can cement himself in the top 100
James Ward
The current British #4 had a bit of a rough time towards the end of last season.The season started with a very impressive win over John Isner in the first round of the Davis cup in Glasgow as he overcame the American 15-13 in the final set. Overlooked for the Davis Cup semi final due to lack of results since the terrific run at Wimbledon, suffered early losses at the US Open and several other tournaments, his career high ranking of 89 did not last long.
However, once the news had broken regarding the serious illness of his coach and mentor Darren Tandy things became clearer. Ward headed over to play challenger events and after losing in the second round in Belgium moved over to India and the hard courts. With two good weeks, a winners trophy and a semi final finish, the Brit showed he was back in contention. Over to South American clay challengers and an unlucky draw once again saw him against the top seed in round one, but he put up a fight before bowing out, the next event the Brit went out in the second round.
Ward will have to find another coach to guide him through 2016 and beyond as unfortunately Tandy passed away on Christmas Eve from the cancer that had been diagnosed earlier in the year. Ward is starting in Chennai by playing the qualifying rounds, and is currently seeded 10th. The confidence gained from the end of the year run will help with the first few tournaments of the year, with a good run Ward can edge back towards the top 100. With a third round showing at Wimbledon to defend in the Summer it will be important to get as close if not to that marker before that event. By the end of the year Ward can edge right back to that high ranking if the Brit capitalises on the Davis Cup performances.
Men's Doubles
Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares
Jamie Murray will begin 2016 with a new doubles partner as he and John Peers announced their split towards the end of last season. Having had a very good season winning titles on the tour throughout the year, reaching the final of both Wimbledon and the US Open only to be defeated both times, the pairing finished last year in the top 10.
Murray has chosen to team with Bruno Soares, a very good doubles player and but he is yet to win a grand slam. Being close twice last year, Murray will be hoping to get over the line and achieve a mens double title to go along with the mixed doubles at Wimbledon. Coming off the back of the Davis Cup campaign where Jamie paired with younger brother Andy for three of the four ties to win the overall event, Murray senior will be hoping to cross the finishing line with the new partnership.
Dom Inglot
Inglot is British #2 in doubles (behind Jamie Murray) and 2015 was a slightly odd season for the Brit. Starting the year playing with Florin Mergea, the pair beat the Bryan Brothers twice in a short period of time.
Reaching the quarter finals of the Australian Open and the Semi finals in Dubai. Their two finals of the year were in January in Auckland and February in France, losing both. Inglot was selected to play the first round tie in Glasgow of the Davis Cup, after Andy Murray and James Ward had both won their respective rubbers. Teamed up with Jamie the scratch pairing lost the first two sets before coming back to force the match to a fifth set, but lost in the end.
In April, Inglot was informed by Mergea that they would no longer play together as the Romanian wanted to team up with Rohan Bopanna in future. Teaming up with Swede Robert Lindstedt just before the US Open, they reached the semi final at Flushing Meadows, the first time Inglot had progessed that far. In August they won their very first title together at the Winston-Salem Open. November saw Lindstedt and Inglot reach the Semi final of the Paris Masters. The Brit/Swede pairing can build on this short time together over the next season, hopefully winning more titles and reaching Grand Slam finals.
Wheelchair Tennis
Gordon Reid
Reid is the British Men #1 in Wheelchair Tennis and the 2015 season was a good one for Reid starting with a win in Melbourne, in Sydney Reid reached the semi finals of the singles and the doubles before bowing out of the event.
Back to Melbourne for the Australian Open and Reid lost in the QF of the singles, but reached the final of the doubles before losing. This repeated itself at the French open in the singles, but the doubles Reid and his partner won. Following on Reid also made the doubles final at Wimbledon but finished runner up. The following event in Nottingham Reid and his partner won. In the final slam of the year again Reid progressed to the final of the US Open doubles and won this event, but the singles remained elusive.
Reid ended the year with a singles title from the Nottingham indoor event to finish the year at #WR5 in the singles but #WR1 in doubles. The Brit will be looking to build on this and will hope to win a singles slam (or more) and will also have one eye on Rio and the Paralympics.