The Young Guns Report

[Bryan Swartz]

There's always a lot of talk around here about where are the young players, looking for the next generation, the Top 10 keeps getting older, etc.

That's the reason for this thread, I put together a summary of the top young players, which I intend to update quarterly. The players in this list are all less than 22 years old and ranked in the Top 300. I put together a breakdown of their match results over the last 12-month period for those in the Top 150.

I'm sure we'll keep getting spammed with Dimitrov/Berankis/etc. threads but hopefully this will cut down on that some, and also provide a central location for celebrating/hating on the progression(or lack thereof), as the case may be, of the stars of tomorrow.

Some of the facts I learned putting this together were interesting. Schedule-wise, I intend to update this list at the first of the year(this initial one uses the ranking list as of 1/10), early April(after the IW/Miami Masters), early July(after Wimbledon), and early October(after the USO, doesn't make much sense to do one in the middle of a Slam).

Enjoy or flame, as your taste may run to.

The format is this: Player, Country (current ranking, career-best ranking, age in years, age in months). The rest should be self-explanatory.

Kei Nishikori, JPN(82, 56, 21 y. 0 m)

vs. Top 10: 0-2(Nadal, Djokovic)
vs. 11-20: 1-1(d. Cilic, l. Baghdatis)
vs. 21-50: 0-3(Becker, Gasquet, Montanes)
vs. 51-100: 5-2
vs. 100-200: 12-3
vs. Others: 22-3

Total: 40-14

Events played: 19
Titles: Knoxville CH, Binghamton CH, Savannah CH, Sarasota CH


Richard Berankis, LTU(86, 85, 20 y. 6 m)

vs. Top 10: 0-0
vs. 11-20: 0-2(Verdasco, Melzer)
vs. 21-50: 0-1(F. Lopez)
vs. 51-100: 3-2(l. Scheuttler twice, d. Przysiezny twice, Gabashvili)
vs. 100-200: 17-11
vs. Others: 28-2

Total: 48-18

Events played: 22
Titles: Nottingham CH, Helsinki CH


Grigor Dimitrov, BUL(108, 108, 19 y. 7 m)

vs. Top 10: 0-0
vs. 11-20: 0-0
vs. 21-50: 1-1(l. F. Lopez, d. Llodra)
vs. 51-100: 2-1(l. Sela, d. Lacko, Kamke)
vs. 101-200: 15-7
vs. Others: 42-10

Total: 60-19

Events played: 26
Titles: Germany F9, Germany F10, Spain F29, Geneva CH, Bangkok CH, Bangkok-2 CH


Donald Young, USA(129, 73, 21 y. 5 m)

vs. Top 10: 0-0
vs. 11-20: 0-0
vs. 21-50: 0-4(Hewitt, Gulbis, Chela, Simon)
vs. 51-100: 2-2(d. C. Rochus, Robert; l. Malisse, Anderson)
vs. 101-200: 11-8
vs. Others: 27-13

Total: 40-27

Events played: 28
Titles: Carson CH


Frederico Del Bonis, ARG(142, 117, 20 y. 1 m)

vs. Top 10: 0-0
vs. 11-20: 0-0
vs. 21-50: 1-0(Mayer)
vs. 51-100: 2-2(d. Koellerer, Przysienzy, l. Cuevas, L. Mayer)
vs. 101-200: 10-9
vs. Others: 21-16

Total: 34-27

Events played: 27
Titles: Rome-2 CH


Benoit Paire, FRA(148, 142, 21 y. 7 m)

vs. Top 10: 0-0
vs. 11-20: 0-1(Isner)
vs. 21-50: 0-1(F. Lopez)
vs. 51-100: 2-5(Falla, Scheuttler)
vs. 101-200: 8-4
vs. Others: 44-17

Total: 54-28

Events played: 31
Titles: USA F1, Portugal F1, Portugal F3


Milos Raonic, CAN(153, 153, 20 y. 0 m)
Martin Klizan, SVK(157, 155, 21 y. 5 m)
Jerzy Janowicz, POL(160, 160, 20 y. 1 m)
Thomas Schoorel, NED(165, 152, 21 y. 8 m)
Ryan Harrison, USA(173, 170, 18 y. 7 m)
Andrej Martin, SVK(180, 177, 21 y. 3 m)
Uladzimir Ignatik, BLR(201, 156, 20 y. 5 m)
Guillame Rufin, FRA(202, 139, 20 y. 7 m)
John Millman, AUS(203, 179, 21 y. 6 m)
David Goffin, BEL(205, 205, 20 y. 0 m)
Bernard Tomic, AUS(209, 209, 18 y. 2 m)
Brydan Klein, AUS(214, 174, 21 y. 0 m)
Andrey Kuznetsov, RUS(231, 163, 19 y. 10 m)
Facundo Bagnis, ARG(240, 240, 20 y. 10 m)
Joao Sousa, PRT(243, 234, 21 y. 9 m)
Greg Jones, AUS(254, 179, 21 y. 11 m)
Alexander Lobkov, RUS(255, 254, 20 y. 2 m)
Evgeny Donskoy, RUS(260, 235, 20 y. 7 m)
Sergio Gutierrez-Forol, ESP(265, 250, 21 y. 9 m)
Henri Kontinen, FIN(275, 220, 20 y. 6 m)
Thomas Fabbiano, ITA(277, 275, 21 y. 7 m)
Matteo Trevisan, ITA(278, 267, 21 y. 4 m)
Marius Copil, ROU(291 , 265, 20 y. 2 m)
Tsung-Hua Yang, TPE(294, 271, 19 y. 9 m)
Ilya Belyaev, RUS(299, 284, 20 y. 4 m)

[NadalAgassi]

Tomic is alot more meaningful up and comer than Young, Del Bonis, or Paire.

[Bryan Swartz]

I totally agree.

[Manus Domini]

Raonic and Harrison, give me their stats :)

could care less bout Young

[Bryan Swartz]

Tell them to get their butts in the Top 150(Raonic is already going to be there after the AO, Harrison appears to be rising as well) and I will :).

[HunterST]

How has no one given Kei Nishikori the nickname Kobra Kei yet?

[Manus Domini]

Tell them to get their butts in the Top 150(Raonic is already going to be there after the AO, Harrison appears to be rising as well) and I will :).

Raonic is, he just needs the update on monday

so do him cause he counts :)

[HackersRUs]

Tomic tunred 18 two months ago and he's (unlike the rest of them) into the third round of the AO.

leaving him in the also ran list is ridiculous, especially when you include guys in their 20s...

[Bryan Swartz]

Roffle. Well I have no problem doing special requests, but I'm not editing the list just because he wasn't there at the deadline. So here's Raonic for you. Interestingly, he lost 7 of 8 matches to start the year, then picked it up. Really a huge difference in his results over the last six months.

vs. Top 10: 0-1(Nadal)
vs. 11-20: 0-0
vs. 21-50: 1-0(Stakhovsky)
vs. 51-100: 2-3(l. Giraldo, Hanescu, Cuevas; d. Serra, Devvarman)
vs. 101-200: 9-8
vs. Others: 33-17

Total: 45-28

Events played: 28
Titles: Korea F2, Korea F4

[Bryan Swartz]

@HackersRUs:

It's not intended to be an also-ran list. I just did details on guys in the Top 150. Tomic isn't yet. The list is not a reflection of how good I think the players are in any way, shape or form.

It's about what they've achieved. Have to be in the Top 300 to make the list: have to be in the Top 150 for me to add up and put details below. I fully expect Tomic to rise from where he is: but he was ranked 209th on the 10th of January.

[HackersRUs]

Lol, fair enough

I'm just relishing my role as th forum's first TomicTard. (self appointed!)

Ironically, I am a recent convert, I didn't realise how young he was, even though I met him and even had a hit after the AO last year, I would have guessed him to be 19 then, not barely 17...

He seemed like a nice kid, though, although his dad and some minders turned up and ranted at the rest of us 'til we buggered off to the other side of the centre...

Charming man, his father. Not.

[Bryan Swartz]

Milos Raonic, CAN(35, 34, 20y 3m)

vs. Top 10: 3-3(3-2) d. Youzhny, Verdasco(x2); l. Ferrer, Roddick, Nadal
vs. 11-20: 2-0(2-0)
vs. 21-50: 4-0(3-0)
vs. 51-100: 6-3(4-1)
vs. 100-200: 13-5(4-2)
vs. Others: 33-7(8-1)

Total: 61-18(24-6)

Events played: 27
Titles: Korea F2, Korea F4

Milos has played like a solid Top 10 player so far this year, rocketing up the charts from #153 to #35. There’s no question he’s the best of the group to date.


Kei Nishikori, JPN(61, 56, 21y 3m)

vs. Top 10: 0-4(0-2) Verdasco, Nadal twice, Djokovic
vs. 11-20: 1-1(0-0)
vs. 21-50: 2-1(2-0)
vs. 51-100: 7-4(2-2)
vs. 100-200: 15-5(4-2)
vs. Others: 25-4(2-1)

Total: 50-19(10-7)

Events played: 25
Titles: Knoxville CH, Binghamton CH, Sarasota CH

Project 45 has hit a bit of a snag. Kei is good enough to be a Top 40 player but may not be consistent enough to get there. He needs to lose fewer matches against inferior players to continue moving up.


Grigor Dmitrov, BUL(70, 70, 19y 8m)

vs. Top 10: 0-0(0-0)
vs. 11-20: 0-2(0-2) Wawrinka, Tsonga
vs. 21-50: 2-3(1-2)
vs. 51-100: 3-1(1-0)
vs. 100-200: 20-7(7-2)
vs. Others: 43-8(6-0)

Total: 68-21(15-6)

Events played: 29
Titles: Cherbourg CH, Bangkok-2 CH, Bangkok CH, Geneva CH, Spain F29, Germany F10, Germany F9

Dmitrov remains an enigma, still the highest-ranked teenager on the tour. He hammers lower-ranked players, but is unlikely to rise much past Top 50 until he considerably refines his game.


Richard Berankis, LTU(74, 73, 20y 9m)

vs. Top 10: 0-3(0-3) Verdasco, Roddick, Ferrer
vs. 11-20: 0-1(0-0)
vs. 21-50: 1-2(1-1)
vs. 51-100: 5-4(2-2)
vs. 100-200: 16-8(4-1)
vs. others: 23-3(4-1)

Total: 45-21(11-8 )

Events played: 25
Titles: Helsinki CH, Nottingham CH

When you consider that two of his ‘bad’ losses this year have come against Raonic and Del Potro, Berankis has had a good start to 2011. He has not shown yet however that he has the firepower to rise all that much higher.


Benoit Paire, FRA(119, 117, 21y 10m)

vs. Top 10: 0-0(0-0)
vs. 11-20: 0-4(0-3)
vs. 21-50: 1-1(1-0)
vs. 51-100: 3-5(1-0)
vs. 100-200: 7-6(0-2)
vs. others: 31-19(9-6)

Total: 42-35(11-11)

Events played: 35
Titles: none

Prior to last year’s USO, Benoit did not have a single ATP win to his credit: he now has three. Probably a potential Top 100 player, but anything beyond that is pure conjecture.


Donald Young, USA(120, 73, 21y 8m)

vs. Top 10: 1-0(1-0) d. Murray
vs. 11-20: 0-1(0-1)
vs. 21-50: 1-5(1-2)
vs. 51-100: 2-6(1-5)
vs. 100-200: 11-7(3-0)
vs. Others: 27-9(7-0)

Total: 42-28(13-8 )

Events played: 28
Titles: Carson CH

Young’s perfect record so far this year against players ranked outside the Top 100 is a sign he may be maturing, but he’s still not able to threaten more established players consistently.


Ryan Harrison, USA(130, 130, 18y 10m)

vs. Top 10: 0-1(0-1) l. Federer
vs. 11-20: 1-0(0-0) d. Ljubicic
vs. 21-50: 3-1(3-0)
vs. 51-100: 4-5(1-4)
vs. 100-200: 6-6(0-0)
vs. Others: 22-12(9-2)

Total: 36-25(13-7)

Events played: 26
Titles: Honolulu CH

The highest-ranked player for his age by a significant margin, Harrison is young and inconsistent. He recently made a splash at Indian Wells, beating three Top 50 players en route to the fourth round, but there will be doubters until he proves he can produce at that level on a regular basis. He’s already up significantly from his 2010 year-end ranking of #173, and is a new entrant to the top half of this list.

Martin Klizan, SVK(157, 154, 21y 8m)(no ranking change since the beginning of the year)
Federico del Bonis, ARG(158, 117, 20y 5m)(-16)
Thomas Schoorel, NED(161, 152, 21y 11m)(+4)
Jerzy Janowicz, POL(162, 148, 20y 4m)(-2)
Uladzimir Ignatik, BLR(168, 156, 20y 8m)(+33)
Bernard Tomic, AUS(181, 180, 18y 5m)(+28 )
Andrej Martin, SVK(187, 160, 21y 6m)(-7)
Facundo Bagnis, ARG(190, 190, 21y 1m)(+50)
Evegeny Donskoy, RUS(212, 200, 20y 10m)(+48 )
Cedric-Marcel Stebe, GER(219, 219, 20y 5m)(+156!)
Marius Copil, ROU(220, 205, 20y 5m)(+71)
David Goffin, BEL(225, 205, 20y 3m)(-20)
Brydan Klein, AUS(228, 174, 21y 3m)(-14)
John Millman, AUS(234, 179, 21y 9m)(-31)
Filip Krajinovic, SRB(240, 170, 19y 1m)(-26)
Andrey Kuznetsov, RUS(244, 163, 20y 1m)(-13)
Alexander Lobkov, RUS(255, 249, 20y 5m)(--)
Jonathan Eysseric, FRA(258, 258, 20y 10m)(+55)
Gastao Elias, POR(269, 269, 20y 4m)(+181)
Harri Heliovaara, FIN(272, 272, 21y 9m)(+72)
Daniel Cox, GBR(274, 274, 20y 6m)(+54)
Dusan Lajovic, SRB(276, 276, 20y 9m)(+159)
Pablo Carreno-Busta, ESP(277, 272, 19y 8m)(+66)
Aljaz Bedene, SLO(282, 266, 21y 8m)(+258 )
Ilya Belyaev, RUS(285, 272, 20y 7m)(+14)
Rafael Camilo, BRA(294, 287, 21y 0m)(+12)
Guillame Rufin, FRA(297, 139, 20y 10m)(-95)

[tacou]

I dont understand where the win-loss records are coming from. past year? career...>?

[Bryan Swartz]

Have you read the OP? It's from the past 12 months.