Back in January, Juan Martín del Potro was ranked No. 1,041 and Maria Sharapova had just reached the quarterfinals of another Australian Open, with all of her sponsors in tow.
Only a time traveler could have predicted then that del Potro would finish the season on Sunday on the highest note possible and that Sharapova would finish it with no ranking at all after being penalized and suspended for using the newly banned drug meldonium.
It was that kind of tennis year: an uncommon brew of the deeply troubling and the deeply reaffirming.