Predictions for the 2022 Tennis Season

Who will the WTA’s top-ranked player be in 2022? Which ATP player will win his first major? Will we see the retirements of Federer and/or Serena next year?

Welcome back, everyone, and Happy 2022. We hope the year is not merely new but improved. … With a nod to Nick K—gubernatorial candidate, Kristof; not episodically committed player, Kyrgios—let’s start with a game of predictions for the new year. We can revisit in 11+ months and see how we all performed. My answers in bold …

Peter van den Berg/USA TODAY Sports

• In 2022, Novak Djokovic will:

a. Again challenge for the Grand Slam.

b. Win multiple Slams.

c. Continue on in the manner of a volatile god, generating goodwill with astonishing tennis powers; smashing goodwill with astonishing powers of self-sabotage; regaining goodwill with astonishing tennis.

d. Suffer a 2017-like swoon.

• The WTA will:

a. Not only be recognized and praised internationally for its brave and principled stance on China but will be rewarded by the marketplace.

b. Capitulate and, in the face of loss, reengage with China.

c. In a pleasant surprise, see its demand met for a full and fair investigation into Peng Shuai’s allegations.

d. Pressure the ATP to follow its lead and divest from an authoritarian country with a government operating at variance with everything the tour purports to represent.

• By year’s end, among Roger Federer, Serena, Venus and Rafa Nadal (combined age 160) how many will still be playing?

a. 3

b. 2

c. 1

d. 0

• Peng Shuai will:

a. Announce a tennis comeback at age 36.

b. Relocate from China and become an outspoken dissident against authoritarianism, censorship and autocracy.

c. Continue to insist she is fine and walk back her allegations of sexual assault—her life forever changed.

d. Seek public office.

• Emma Raducanu will:

a. Win another major.

b. Turn in a year akin to Iga Swiatek’s 2021, adding no majors but proving she is an elite player.

c. Struggle, understandably, with change and expectation—making it all the more critical she signed so many deals in Q4 2021.

d. Quit tennis and apply early to Tulane.

• The Laver Cup will:

a. Continue to surmount “Davis” and tennis’ most relevant Cup.

b. Serve as the site of Roger Federer’s official retirement.

c. Continue to miss an opportunity by sticking with one gender.

d. All of the above.

• The highest-ranked Canadian player, male or female, will be:

a. Bianca Andreescu

b. Leylah Fernandez

c. Felix Auger Aliassime

d. Denis Shapovalov

• The highest-ranked U.S. player, male or female, will be:

a. Coco Gauff

b. Serena Williams

c. Sonya Kenin

d. Sloane Stephens

e. Jessie Pegula

f. A male

• The highest-ranked U.S. male will be:

a. John Isner

b. Taylor Fritz

c. Jenson Brooksby

d. A resurgent Jack Sock

e. Sebastian Korda

f. Other

• The USTA will:

a. Hire a new CEO from outside.

b. Hire a new CEO from inside.

c. Hire a search firm for cover.

d. Reconstitute itself, in the face of financial loss and rampant in-fighting.

• The ATP player to win his first major will be:

a. Alexander Zverev

b. Stefanos Tsitsipas

c. Andrey Rublev

d. Other

e. Carlos Alcaraz

f. No one

• The WTA player to win her first major will be:

a. Madison Keys

b. Elina Svitolina

c. Aryna Sabalenka

d. Karolína Plíšková

e. Other

f. None of the above

• Roger Federer will:

a. Go all-out for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. And, at age 41, retire at the Laver Cup, amid the great fanfare he deserves.

b. Struggle with that pesky knee and, resignedly, retire this spring.

c. Win his 21st major this year, improbably surging ahead in the GOAT race.

d. Enjoy yet another resurgence and plan on revving it up again in 2022.

• Serena Williams will:

a. Go all-out for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. And then, at age 41, retire amid the great fanfare she deserves.

b. Put down her rackets to start a Y Combinator for women, which she will call XX Combinator.

c. Win her 24th major this year, tying Margaret Court.

d. Pick her spots, play at a competitive level, fail to win a major but commit to playing another season.

• This male player will finish 2022 ranked No. 1:

a. Novak Djokovic

b. Rafa Nadal

c. Dominic Thiem

d. Andrey Rublev

e. Other

• This female player will finish 2022 ranked No. 1:

a. Ash Barty (putting her, remarkably, at more than 150 weeks)

b. Naomi Osaka

c. Iga Swiatek

d. Simona Halep

e. other

• Coco Gauff will:

a. Win a major, a full-fledged breakthrough.

b. Quit tennis to join a K-pop quartet.

c. Proceed steadily, playing a sensible schedule … winning some matches she shouldn’t, losing a few she shouldn’t.

d. Take a rumspringa from tennis and take a stint in the writers’ room for the next season of Stranger Things.

• Naomi Osaka—now outside the top 10—will:

a. Rediscover her groove and her love of the game and return to No.1.

b. Continue to make a considerable impact, irrespective of her results.

c. Defend her Australian Open title.

d. Have a harder time than perhaps she anticipated getting back to being a full-time player.

• Of all the trials and proposed rule tinkering, this change will actually be enacted in 2022:

a. Four-game sets

b. No lets on serves

c. Permitted mid-match coaching

d. A combined WTA/ATP entity

e. The ATP’s strategic plan, which will sharpen divide between the haves (Masters 1000s) and have-not events.

f. None of the above.

• In 2022, tennis will:

a. Survive just fine, despite the inevitable decline of Serena (turning 41, 23 majors), Federer (41, 20), Nadal (36, 20) and Djokovic (35, 20).

b. Continue its resourcefulness in dealing with COVID-19, though a few problem children still make some unfortunate decisions.

c. Take its entire business out of China.

d. Adjust to a changing media landscape, fully recognizing that the sport’s global appeal and mixed-gender fields are two golden assets these days, and improve as a value proposition. 

e. All of the above.