Top 10 season starts

The 2018 tennis season is less than two weeks old but some standout players are already signalling their capabilities for a big year ahead. 

1. Angelique Kerber

From seven matches, Angelique Kerber has seven victories in 2018, including one over Belinda Bencic in the Hopman Cup final to start the year. In Sydney, she’s saved match points against Lucie Safarova and recovered from a first-set deficit to stun Venus Williams. Crippled by expectations in 2017, Kerber is now thriving with new coach Wim Fissette and seeming a lot like the fine-tuned Angie who emerged victorious at AO2016.

An (almost) perfect week comes to an end… ????@hopmancup! Thank you @alexzeverev123 for the great team spirit ????????! Congrats to @rogerfederer & @belindabencic ???? #HopmanCup #TeamGermany #SydneyNext pic.twitter.com/Qp11nYBy7J

— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) January 6, 2018

2. Nick Kyrgios

Multiple wins over Novak Djokovic, another over Rafael Nadal and a first ATP Masters final appearance in Cincinnati were among highlights of a big 2017 for Nick Kyrgios. But an obvious omission was the lack of a title, adding enormous significance to his Brisbane win. In his tournament debut, the Aussie overcame home expectations and spirited opponents, recording a trio of three-set victories for his fourth career win.

RELATED: Kyrgios ready for Grand Slam grind. 

3. Julia Goerges

With victory in Auckland, Julia Goerges soared to world No.12 – which not only underlined her position as the No.1 German woman, but marked a new career high. Defeating Caroline Wozniacki for the title, Goerges will be buoyed by a 14-match winning streak, having also triumphed at Moscow and Zhuhai at the end of last year.

4. Gael Monfils

After falling to world No. 46 through Injury and form challenges in 2017, a first title in his fourth Doha final marked huge progress for Gael Monfils. Among five match wins in the Qatar capital was one over world No.5 (and top seed) Dominic Thiem, before 29 winners helped him defeat Andrey Rublev for his seventh title on tour.

5. Maria Sharapova

Granted, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former No.1 would expect to win the International-level event in Shenzhen. But given her long absence until mid-last year, Maria Sharapova can also take heart from a semifinal run that ended with a three-set loss to Katerina Siniakova. With that, she was back inside the top 50 and heartened by progress ahead of an Australian Open return.

6. Andrey Rublev

The 20-year-old Russian is picking up where he left off 2017, the Doha final following his runner-up performance at the Next Gen ATP Finals (when he lost to Hyeon Chung).   Competitive spirit is clearly a strength for Rublev, who saved a match point against Guido Pella in a hard-fought semifinal.

Final of ATP in Doha #doha #qatar #atp250 pic.twitter.com/IObtMi7YIr

— Andrey Rublev (@AndreyRublev97) January 7, 2018

7. Aliaksandra Sasnovich

A first top-100 finish in 2017 was soon followed by another high for Belarusian Aiaksandra Sasnovich, who won seven matches to reach the Brisbane final as a qualifier. Among the wins were two over top-20 opponents – Kristina Mladenovic and Alize Cornet – suggesting the 23-year-old’s rise to a career-high world No.53 could soon be followed by even bigger gains.

8. Gilles Simon

From outside the top 80, the former world No.6 returns to No.57 after he returned to the winners’ circle in Pune. The French veteran defeated the highly-credentialled Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson for his 13^th career title, and his first  trophy in almost three years. Adding to an impressive week for 33-year-old Simon was a runner up finish in the doubles.

9. Alex De Minaur

Already elevated to world No.167 – from outside the top 200 – with his semifinal run in Brisbane, the “Demon” is now on a tear in Sydney, where he ousted former No.7 Fernando Verdasco in the first round. There is also a win over Milos Raonic on the Aussie teenager’s 2018 record and an Australian Open main draw appearance – secured by his win in the Australian Open play-off – still to come.

Thanks Brisbane for a week I’ll never forget ???? @BrisbaneTennis #bluewall #demon pic.twitter.com/JeYcHqIZb4

— alex de minaur (@alexdeminaur) January 6, 2018

10. Belinda Bencic

After a five-month absence due to wrist surgery in 2017, the 20-year-old Swiss built an impressive winning streak as she defeated Naomi Osaka, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and CoCo Vandeweghe at the Hopman Cup. It follows the hard work Bencic invested in lower-level events in her return from injury late last year. Claiming titles in Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Dubai, she built an 18-match winning streak before Kerber halted momentum in the Hopman final.