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How the 2024 [Tennis] Season has been Detriment to 2 of the Best Players in the World & yet the Pinnacle for Another 2

The 2024 US Open Championships are now done. Dusted. Complete. Were the winnings that surprising? Not really. Were the finalists surprising? You bet. Oh, and did some of the BEST players in the world suffer early exists, yes. That is what is more interesting.

The World No. 2 and No. 1 on the WTA and ATP tours, respectively, claimed the final Grand Slam of the season. A third for Sabalenka and a second for Sinner. Both of these players achieving ‘replicated success’ as I’ve not only theorised but repeatedly scientifically established throughout my 11 x Books (there’s 12, but 11 are non-fiction). The interesting part really is about why and how. Neither of these players played the Olympics and both of these players had ‘injury’ timeouts — but not significant enough to take them away from competition for more than 2-3 weeks. In other words, not that serious despite the hype.

A reward, nonetheless, was to come. This served as a huge ‘rest’ period for both players whereby the likes of Swiatek and Alcaraz both played the Olympics and won Bronze and Silver, respectively, and both Won the 2024 French Open and went on to play Wimbledon — Alcaraz winning there, too. An absolute huge season for both.

Needless to say, seeing both of these No. 1 players fall early (now Alcaraz has been pushed back to No. 3 which really should be No. 2), it goes to show what a little extra time off can achieve.

But then come the Finalists. Pegula missed the French Open. Fritz was in. Fritz started the year inside the Top 10 but per our data, he was pushed out. Another win for the data I I’ve developed over the past 20+ years. Pegula, nonetheless, should have been pushed out of the Top 10 but for some reason, this wasn’t the case. The results didn’t add up. Arguably, if Pegula didn’t have that Top 10 ranking for the US Open that Finalist result may not have been. But, most importantly Pegula was on fire.

Where did this come from? Near zero fire all season and then all of a sudden, the lights turned on. It happens. And with all of that added time off, Pegula was the opposite of burnt out. Fresh and raring to go allowed Pegula her first semi-final & final at the Grand Slam stage. Fritz on the other hand was a little surprising but really, how the draw panned out, not so much. The draw in fact worked for Fritz and he took the advantage unlike other players.

It’s relatively easy to note that the 2024 season has now been the pinnacle for Sabalenka and Sinner with 2 x Grand Slams. But what’s also forgotten, is that Alcaraz has won 2 x Grand Slams this season plus a Silver medal. And whilst Swiatek has 1 x Grand Slam and a Bronze medal, she has taken zero periods away from tour this season. Of course, there have been moments where the traditional ‘rest’ period is taken before and/or after Grand Slams, but arguably Swiatek has had a heavy season and also, Alcaraz slightly more so than Sinner.

Unfortunately come the tail-end of the season, some players may suffer simply from burn out irrespective of how good they are. Others, if they’ve been lucky enough to take advantage of a niggle here and there and take the time away, it seems as though this season, it really has been quite obvious how that has worked in their favour.

By no means is this said to take away from our newly crowned Champions, not at all, although to make it clear that the load of the 2024 season has been immense and Top 10 players are human, too and will respond to increased loads over time like any human — worn out and in much need of rest.

Of course, the 2024 season isn’t over even though the Grand Slams are, and I for one am looking forward to the upcoming weeks to see if our current No. 1’s remain at the top or if Sabalenka manages to ‘just’ overtake Swiatek, or if Alcaraz edges closer to Sinner. 

Tune in to this Week’s episode on Beyond Top 10 Tennis — episode #121 for further insights.

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Join Dr Berge’s Newsletter on Substack, come say “hi” on TopicthreadBlueSkyXYouTube or Instagram that may very well include quick snippets you can apply in your game, today, or even consider leaving a review on Amazon or Google.

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The Official WTA & ATP Tour Wrap of [TENNIS] Player Rankings, Results & Insights for Week of 19 August

This is episode 114 of ⁠⁠Beyond Top 10 Tennis⁠⁠ as we come LIVE to you from ⁠⁠AM8 International⁠⁠ with the latest Rankings & Results on the WTA and ATP tours with [NEW] insights shared. From ⁠⁠Top 10⁠⁠ Rankings to the Results of the past week that have set them in motion, we review all ⁠⁠key⁠⁠ matches and ⁠⁠key⁠⁠ players from last week’s (& those still in-action this week) tournaments on the WTA tour: the Barranquilla Open (Columbia) & the Cincinnati Open (Cincinnati) plus this week’s events in Cleveland (Ohio) & Monterrey (Mexico); followed by last week on the ATP tour: Cincinnati Open (Cincinnati) plus this week’s Winston-Salem Open (North Carolina). The Video for episode 114 is available on both Spotify & YouTube whilst remaining available wherever you enjoy listening. ⁠⁠Key⁠⁠ Players this week include Podoroska (W), Sabalenka (W), Pegula (R/u), Sinner (W) & Tiafoe (R/u).

Tune in to Beyond Top 10 Tennis and jump to Episode #114 to learn more.

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Top 10 [Tennis] Rankings Corrections and how the 2024 Wimbledon Championships tightened the Top 5 Players on both the WTA and ATP tours

Over the past near 21 days the unfolding of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships has taken place from the lead up to the aftermath and with equally polarising results and yet still those players that are compounded by the data and how the past season has continued to unfold has been cause for a much needed realignment. A cautionary tale here is in respect to being mindful of the past season — 12 months until now, as if we only consider the current season and how the results have unfolded, then there’s a significant gap between the anticipated and what has more recently unfolded.

The beginning of the Championships noted the respective seedings take place on the Women’s and Men’s sides of the draw, as is typical, but what’s interesting here is in fact how the pending reshuffle of the rankings on both the WTA and ATP tours has been widely discussed on Beyond Top 10 Tennis this season with 50% of current Top 10 players not correlating with their ranking…

To read the full article please consider supporting my work through my new Book (pending release late 2024) that incorporates a variety of my writing — Dr Berge

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTokTwitterThreads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today. 

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The Final 8 of Roland Garros Explained, the Top 10 to Expectations, [TENNIS] Players in their Prime to who’s next in line for a Grand Slam

Last week we just touched the surface on essentially what we were really able to witness throughout the 2024 French Open with only a handful of players highlighted with so much more depth to come. As promised, this week it’s time to dive into a little more detail to really showcase the depth of the field and players that did not progress to the finals, however, still made an impressive appearance in the final eight. Needless to say, at the Grand Slam level it really is in part the luck of the draw that allows the eventual Champion to cross the line. That said, it is also incredibly clear that this 2024 French Open was not the case on the woman’s side of the draw with the eventual Champion within millimetres of bowing out in the 2nd Round due to her opponent and the quality of play demanded.

Swiatek entered Roland Garros as almost a clear favourite. It would be incredibly unfair not to have placed Sabalenka in the top two with the potential to claim her third Grand Slam. By all accounts, whilst this wasn’t the case and we know the outcome and what unfolded, Sabalenka was still incredibly close to progressing to the finals if her health was maintained…

To read the full article please consider supporting my work through my new Book (pending release late 2024) that incorporates a variety of my writing — Dr Berge

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTokTwitterThreads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today. 

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The Countdown towards Roland Garros 2024, Swiatek’s Mantle and Tennis Players in Contention

This week on Beyond Top 10 Tennis specific players inside the Top 10 on both the WTA and ATP tours were highlighted for various reasons with an emphasis placed on whether or not they were or were not in the running for the second Grand Slam of the season. With Swiatek’s success over the last couple of weeks, it is easy to forget how both Collins and Sakkari have been surging ahead in their own rights and how Sabalenka was with a Championship point to claim the title in Madrid. What Swiatek has been able to accomplish over the best part of the last 6 to 8 weeks plus is nothing shy of remarkable as her statistics continue to climb. This is a timely reminder, however, for each and every one of you that breakthrough’s do happen we do see these players come through at the French which means Swiatek’s next Slam is definitely under threat.

Nevertheless, Swiatek isn’t anything less favourite but Sabalenka has come incredibly close in the past fortnight despite Swiatek taking an even greater advantage in Rome. If anything, it is a timely reminder of how exciting the level and depth of play is on the WTA tour irrespective of the contradictions…

To read the full article please consider supporting my work through my new Book (pending release late 2024) that incorporates a variety of my writing — Dr Berge

To learn more about our data, predictive analytics and how to optimise your own performance, head on over to AM8 International. To learn more about AM8 International check out our selection of Books and/or options to join Dr B’s Pack to gain exclusive access to the best in the world. Not quite ready? Head on over to Beyond Top 10 Tennis for free access to 100+ episodes directly from Dr Berge of what it really takes to win multiple Grand Slams to securing that Top 10 tennis ranking with new episodes each week. More? Catch up on our Tips over on TikTokTwitterThreads or Instagram for quick snippets to apply in your game, today.