Australia has a number of promising young players who have made headlines in the past few seasons
The likes of Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis, and Bernard Tomic have all at various points helped Australia re-emerge as a country with players who can do well at tournaments.
Yet amongst the three Kyrgios is the only one to finish 2017 in the Top 100, but he isn’t the only Australian. Step forward Matthew Ebden. The 29 year-old has a career-high ranking of No.61 in the world, achieved in 2012 on the back of reaching a Masters 1000 quarter-final in Shanghai.
In early 2016 Ebden suffered a knee injury that required surgery, forcing him to miss six months, causing his ranking to slip to No.698.
So low was his ranking that his home Grand Slam, the Australian Open, did not offer him a wildcard for the 2017 tournament. Forced to try and fight his way through qualifying, Ebden was beaten in the second round by Evgeny Donskoy in a close three-setter.
Ebden reached a quarter-final at the Memphis Open as a qualifier, before a run of three straight opening round losses. After failing to pick up many points during much of his historically strong grass court season, Ebden found success at the last grass event of the season in Newport. He fought his way through qualifying all the way to the final, where he was defeated by John Isner. It was Ebden’s first career ATP singles final.
Ebden’s season picked up, as he often qualified for ATP events before winning a round or two in the event proper. However, it was at the end of the season that Ebden really hit top form.
More than two years after his last title, Ebden won the Canberra Challenger by defeating Taro Daniel in a straight sets final. Two weeks later he won in Toyota, finishing the season with an 11-1 record over his last twelve matches.
His late season run perhaps left him under the radar when it came to significant recognition. Ebden started the year ranked No.699, with his ranking now at No.80. Remarkably, There is still another week left for Ebden to better his meteoric 619 rankings rise in 2017. He is the top seed in the Hua Hin Challenger.
Perhaps surprisingly, Ebden did not feature in the year-end ATP Comeback Player of the Year nominations. He has had a bigger ranking move than any of the players who actually were nominated, though many of his points have been accumulated right at the end of the season, after the award had been given.
Ebden, speaking to the ATP World Tour on his comeback in April: “I’m absolutely satisfied. Last year I had over half the season out injured, but I’ve played really well the last six months. I started the year well in Australia and at the Hopman Cup I got to train with Roger Federer for a few weeks, which was huge, playing lots of sets.”
The Australian has put the building blocks in place for a strong season in 2018. With a ranking inside the Top 100 he will gain direct entry into at least the Australian Open, and will likely have to play far fewer qualifying events. Ebden is just 19 places away from his career-high ranking, and on current evidence, there is a strong chance he will get to improve on that in 2017.
