My post-tournament gradings for the men. Final was more watchable than I thought it would be, but Murray made way too many errors when it counted (65 UEs in 3 sets put him on course to beat Djokovic's 100 against Simon if it went 5).
S:
Novak Djokovic: He didn't play his best for much of this tournament, playing a dire match against Simon and letting his level drop in the second set of the final against Murray, but nobody looked anywhere near coping with him when he did. Accuracy on his return of serve, precision with his serve, unmatched fitness, relentless power on his forehand cross-court, absolute defense, dodgy overheads, we all know his game. The invisible weapon that wins him so many matches is in his mental strength - he deals with errors and losses of momentum better than any other player I can remember except Nadal in his prime. Notionally he's on a 14 match win streak, but if we ignore his loss to Federer in the WTF round robin (and why not? He won the tournament.) we can say he's won 38 matches since losing to Federer in the Cincinnati final, taking seven titles at the USO, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, WTF, Doha and the AO, one of the most dominating runs in tennis history. Now for Roland Garros.
Milos Raonic: Even after winning Brisbane, I think there was a lot of scepticism about Raonic - attacking the net and serving consistent bombs across best 2/3 is simply not the same as doing it against elite players best 3/5. After taking out Stan Wawrinka, his biggest GS win, and pushing Murray to five sets only for his body to let him down once again, there's genuine hope he can challenge the dominant players, especially on the faster surfaces. The improvements in his game have been manifold and rapid, but most noticeably his return games won stat has jumped up from "worst on the tour" tier to "average", over 20% so far this year. His volleys are confident and his precision body serves give him a weapon that the other big servers don't. The challenge will be to recover from injury, stay healthy and perform consistently through the rest of the year.
A:
Andy Murray: He doesn't get much adulation in the tennis world, and he can be a supremely frustrating player to watch, peppering his game with needless unforced errors, but he's a good Djokovic V1.0, which puts him right near the top of the tennis world. Most pre-tournament predictions I saw didn't have him reaching the final, but in the end he did, coming through a close battle against Raonic and seeing off Ferrer and Tomic with dominating baseline play, hitting with piercing power on his forehand. He doesn't have the consistency to really trouble Djokovic as he did back when he won his Slams and Olympic Gold, but he has improved his second serve and retains a supreme record against the field. Takes a month off to help look after his first child before heading to Indian Wells and Miami.
Roger Federer: Same story as at the last two majors for the man who continues to scoff at age. He schools players through till he faces Djokovic, then gets blasted off the court, unwilling to back off the baseline and struggling with the pressure of the big points. Can always enjoy watching him wipe the floor with the likes of David Goffin and Tomas Berdych (after a tight first set) in the middle rounds, knowing he still has a chance to get his 18th major, if only he'd get out of the way.
Gilles Simon: Managed to frustrate Djokovic with his central soft shots, drawing countless errors and enraging him like few have. At 31 years old there's little expectation that Simon is going to add much to his game, but this was an impressive tournament from the careful Frenchman.
David Ferrer: After changing his racquet and losing to Sock in Auckland, many thought Ferrer would be vulnerable here. Instead he played some of his best tennis, nullifying Isner's serve with his superb returning before taking a long, gruelling set from Andy Murray. Continues to defy age with his physical style, winning the ground war against much younger players.
Gael Monfils: If you asked most people to pick a seeded player to get knocked out early by unremarkable opposition, they'd probably pick out Monfils, known for his lack of concentration and professionalism. But here, for the most part, he knuckled down and got the job done, making his first GS QF since the 2014 USO, taking advantage of the quarter where Nadal was upset in R1. Managed to take a set off Raonic too, although the old habits were in evidence as he immediately threw in a poor service game to start the third set and lose the momentum he'd gained.
Robeto Bautista Agut: I didn't watch his matches, but he beat Cilic in straights and went down 2-3 to Berdych in the fourth round, so he was doing something right. Inside the top 20 in the rankings after this result.
Noah Rubin: Showed immense fight to pull off a massive upset against Benoit Paire in three tie-breaks, but wasn't able to provide much of a challenge against Hughes-Herbert in R2. Since lost in the Maui Challenger to Wu Di after winning the first set.
B:
Kei Nishikori: Did manage a superb win over Tsonga, exposing his backhand and opening the court up repeatedly to rout him in straights, but the defining memory of his AO will be his collapse after being broken from 40-0 up at 2-3 against Djokovic. Mentally still vulnerable when things go wrong, and still his body finds new ways to let him down (he had a wrist injury against Garcia-Lopez, but recovered and escaped).
Tomas Berdych: Typical Berdych tournament. Dealt with the lower ranked players, displaying tough, controlled tennis to outlast Kyrgios in the marquee 3R, but dropped two sets to Bautista Agut before getting routinely beaten by Federer in the QF, giving up an early break in the first set with a sloppy service game and never recovering.
Stan Wawrinka: If I'm praising Raonic so much then I have to extend the hand of sympathy to those he knocks out. Wawrinka easily won his first two matches before getting caught out by Raonic's body serves. Rallied well from two sets down and could easily have escaped the match in the fifth. Probably a one off early exit from him, caught by a player who'd revamped his game.
Taylor Fritz: Looked for much of his match against Jack Sock that he was going to pull off the win, but came up short. Showed he's got what it takes to make it as a pro, opening the court with his forehand.
Bernard Tomic: Showing signs that he's improving his endurance, he fought Murray till the end, making the third set a battle instead of a cruise. Dropped sets in R1 and R2 against Istomin and Bolelli, but held his seed. Has potential to improve significantly, but the years are ticking by.
C:
Grigor Dimitrov: Could be more generous with Grigor, whose low seeding led to him facing Federer in the third round. He did take a set, but immediately folded at the start of the third and never looked like he was going to win.
David Goffin: Got utterly destroyed by Federer, but did manage a good win over Dominic Thiem in the third round, where he held his nerve better in the big points. As enjoyable as his game is to watch, I don't see him learning how to deal with players who take the ball early and take time from him. Look out for him on clay.
Nick Kyrgios: Still the most promising player under the age of 25, still not showing much evidence of learning to control his emotions on court. Spent most of his match against Berdych complaining to the umpire about music before throwing the match away in the 4th set with a terrible service game.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Won the matches he was meant to win, but was easily beaten by Nishikori in R4, his movement exposed by a player who repeatedly takes the ball early. Heading for 31 years of age, you wonder if his best days are behind him.
Marin Cilic: Knocked out in straights in the third round by a journeyman battler. Hasn't done a whole lot since his USO SF last year. As the youngest active Grand Slam champion, you'd expect more.
Dominic Thiem: Lost his nerve against David Goffin, where to me it seemed like he was bailing out of the baseline exchanges too early. Big year for him - can he establish himself inside the top 20 and threaten those above him, or will he slide into reverse.
D:
Rafael Nadal: Didn't look too great in Doha, but managed to reach the final. Looked to be in total control against Verdasco for much of the match before his opponent began blasting winners everywhere. In sharp contrast to his old self, his forehand seemed to fall shorter and shorter as the pressure rose, and he threw in a crucial double fault in the first set tie-breaker to hand the set to his opponent. The bottom line is he lost a match he surely could have won had he held his nerve. Hopefully he has his confidence back in time for the clay swing.
Borna Coric: Thrashed in R1 by Ramos-Vinolas in probably the worst performance of his career. Usually so mentally solid, he completely lost his temper during the defeat too. Hopefully he'll learn from it.
Jack Sock: Taken to five sets by Fritz, behaved unprofessionally all through the match, threw the third set to conserve energy, and then put out in straights by Rosol. Hope he gets his act together (I was very unimpressed by his attitude against Federer in Basel too, where he acted like it was an exhibition).
Benoit Paire: Knocked out in straights in the tournament's biggest upset and was then utterly classless in defeat.