"Young" slam winners done?

[Sabratha]

Do you think there will ever be another teenage/early twenties slam winner? The last one able to do this was Del Potro in 2009, and after him there's been nobody able to accomplish this feat. Federer was only 21/22 when he won Wimbledon, so he was relatively young, too. Then there's Safin and Hewitt. Michael Chang, too. Will there be another player, like Nadal in the future, who just comes out with an early slam win? Thoughts?

[RCizzle65]

I don't see why not, there's nothing stopping them, there hasn't ever been a trend of young slam winners, they just pop up every now and then. So I don't see that changing.

[cc0509]

Of course there will be.

[jokinla]

Delpo won the 09 Open at 20.

[Sabratha]

Originally Posted by jokinla

Delpo won the 09 Open at 20.

Oops, forgot about him. Thanks for reminding me.

[*Sparkle*]

I think it could happen, but when we're not expecting it. One of the biggest advantages the younger players is that they are unknown quantities. They may be playing a much more experienced, and possibly better player, but the older player's strengths and weaknesses are also well known.

With modern technology, it will be harder for a young upstart to make it far up the rankings or towards the business end of a slam without there being plentiful video evidence of how they play, so I think that advantage isn't what it used to be.

[Gonzo_style]

Of course there will be!

Btw 20 years old Djokovic won AO 2008....

[sureshs]

What about Donald Young?

[Mainad]

Nadal was the last teenager to win a Slam. He was just 2 days past his 19th birthday when he won the 2005 French Open. He is the youngest man to win a Slam of all the current Slam winners on tour.

Age of currently active Slam winners when they first won a Slam (in order of youth):

1. Rafael Nadal: 19 years and 2 days (2005 French Open).

2. Lleyton Hewitt: 20 years, 6 months and 16 days (2001 US Open).

3. Novak Djokovic: 20 years, 8 months and 5 days (2008 Australian Open).

4. Juan Martin Del Potro: 20 years, 11 months and 22 days (2009 US Open).

5. Roger Federer: 21 years and 11 months less 2 days (2003 Wimbledon).

6. Andy Murray: 25 years and 4 months less 5 days (2012 US Open).

[Sabratha]

Does Raonic have potential?

[Towser83]

first of all in recent times not many of any age outside the top 3 even have a shot at winning a slam. It's all about Fed/Nadal/Djokovic and Murray has recently joined the party. (delpo was an exception) 2nd the youngsters like Raonic and Tomic are not good enough yet.

[thejackal]

To win a slam you got to be able to play slams. Most of the good players under 20 are still playing futures and challengers. No one that age can pull a boris becker or michael chang because nowawdays even the top prospects come onto the pro tour ranked in the 600s in the world (as opposed to 150 for a good female player). Cant win if you dont even get a chance to qualify (would need to br inside the top 250 or so). Compare career rankings for filip peliwo and genie bouchard and you ll see what I mean. There are just more ranked players on the atp tour than ever before. And every one can play some good tennis on a given week.

It takes about two years of solid tour results to put yourself in a position to make any sort of a run. Jack Sock and Denis Kudla have been doing fantastic compared to other players their age, but looking at their rankings, you dont immediately get the sense that theyre ahead of the pack. But they are

[Razoredge]

Originally Posted by Sabratha

Does Raonic have potential?

Maybe if grand slams were just ace competitions he could win but they're not.

[Hood_Man]

Someone will come along who does it, it's just a matter of time.

[PCXL-Fan]

Ferrer is getting better and better. I think he's the next one.

[Razoredge]

Originally Posted by Hood_Man

Someone will come along who does it, it's just a matter of time.

True.

10chars

[reaper]

The last 9 players to win their first Grand Slam that I can think of are:

Safin (about 20yo 2000 US Open)
Hewitt (20 2001 US Open)
Federer (21YO 2003Wimbledon)
Roddick (21YO 2003 US Open)
Gaudio (26yo 2004 French Open)
Nadal (19YO 2005 French Open)
Djokovic (20YO 2008 Aust Open)
Del Potro (20YO 2009 US Open)
Murray (25YO 2012 US Open)

Two things stand out:
1) 7 of the 9 players were 21 or under when they won their first slam. That suggests that if you don't win a slam by the age of 22, you will probably never win a slam.

2) Five of the 9 players had their break through at the US Open suggesting that's the easiest tournament to record a first time victory. Maybe because the older established players are tired?

[tennis_pro]

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

Ferrer is getting better and better. I think he's the next one.

But he's not neccessarily a youngster.

[Phoenix1983]

Originally Posted by tennis_pro

But he's not neccessarily a youngster.

That's a bit of an understatement - dude is almost 31 !

If Ferrer were to win a slam, he would be the oldest first-time slam winner since (off the top of my head) Gimeno at the 1972 French.