The new generation is coming?

[Sudacafan]

8 eight years later we are still waiting for them.

Well, Nishikori and Dimitrov made the top 4 and 3. So they kind of accomplished something.
The rest of the pack did not show much.
Fast forward: In the NextGen we got A. Zverev into the top 4. Will see what happens with the rest of them.

 

[torpantennis]

IMO, the reason why more youngsters don't climb up in rankings is the importance of MS1000. Ever since you get to like top50 it's madatory to play them, and it's very tough for a newcomer to start consistently beating top30 day in day out. If the youngsters were allowed to rack up points in lower competitions like it was before this best 18 stuff then more of em would burst to scene IMO.

 

[George Turner]

Let's forget for a while for Rafa and Roger,who is GOAT and all ****wars that enjoy you so much lately!Let's look at the future tennis hopes(or future disappointments)and see how they are performing lately, what's new going on around them and what to expect in the future!!
I made a small list! But maybe I missed someone! Anyway, everyone is welcome to add new names and to share their vews for so long waiting (at least by me) new generation of tennis!
These are the names that I know:

1.Richard Berankis age:20
The young Lithuanian is a former junior #1 and winner of US Open for juniors.I don't know much about him except that he was one of the leading players in the junior tour and had high hopes for his future!This year he posted some good results-reach the QFs at San Jose(lost to Verdasco)and 2nd rounds at Wimbledon and US Open(losses to Feliciano Lopez and Jurgen Melzer)Won one challanger and made final to another!
YTD Won/Lost:42-15
Start year at #319
Current ranking:#110

2.Kei Nishikori age:20
Nishikori is already well known and I'm not sure he should be in this list,but he is young enough to be still a tennishope!After a long break because of injuries Kei manage to came close at top100 again!He won 3 challangers and made second round at Roland Garros and third at US Open!But still after his 2008 results a lot of people expect more from him!
YTD Won/Lost:31-10
Start year at #898
Current ranking:#123

3.Grigor Dimitrov age:19
The Bulgarian hope is junior #1 and Wimbledon and US Open champion!His breakthrough came in 2008 with some good results, but unjustified comparisons with Federer forced him to believe that hi is a star already and the success is sure!Anyway after a lost 2009 (main reason is Lundgren)with his new coach McNamara Dimitrov shows good results! Over the last three months he won six titles (three consecutive challanders) recording 42 wins from 47 matches! Now he is very close to the Top100 and the hopes that he will show soon his potential among the best are becoming more real!
YTD Won/Lost:52-14
Star year at #288
Current ranking:#136

4.Ryan Harrison age:18
Honestly I didn't know him before this year US Open but he impressed me with his performances there, it looks like he's the new American hope in tennis!But it seems is a "little" advantage to be American and to receive so many WC for ATP tournaments! Anyway I will leave the U.S. members of this forum to explain more about it and how fair is this!
YTD Won/Lost:20-21
Start year at#358
Current ranking:#176

5.Andrey Kuznetsov age:19
Junior Wimbledon champion in 2009!Totaly unknown for me,but I read that he is the bigest russian hope fo the future!If here is anyone from Russia who is more familiar with the latest news about this kid,please tell us more!
YTD Won/Lost:33-17
Start year at#303
Current ranking:#192

6.Filip Krajinovic age:18
The young Serb is still not well known, but make some good matches this year and had a good progress in the rankings! He is young enough and if he improve his game a little more can easily arrive near by his compatriots Tipsarevic and Troicki! And who knows he may reach Djokovic someday!
YTD Won/Lost:22-23
Start year at#351
Current ranking:214

7.Bernard Tomic age:17
I read so much about him in this forum(good lord the kid even had a lot of haters around here)and I really don't think someone need more information!He doesn't make fantastic season exactly,but he is still 17years old!So there is enough time for improvements!Hope he will make it!Australian tennis needs new faces!
YTD Won/Lost:27-15
Start year at#286
Current ranking:218

I expect Nishikori soon to be a strong Top50 player with jumps and downs in the rankings(injuries) and strong rival for all in Top20!Berankis and Dimitrov atleast will make Top20(or more)!For the others I'm not still so sure,but I hope all of them will enter soon in Top100 and make tennis more interesting and who knows,maybe someone of them will be next Rafa,Roger or Pete!I know only that tennis needs young players to compete with the oldes to make this sport more exciting!And is realy sad that now we have only one 19years old in Top150(Dimitrov)!And not even one in Top100!I hope this is going to change soon!
So your thoughts are welcome if you stop to excite so much with how many Slams will ends Rafa and Roger careers, and who is the GOAT! You can write a few lines here for your expectations on these young players and of course to tell us if you think there are other young unknown talents,that deserve our attention!
Sorry if I have too many grammatical (or other) errors, just still learning to write in English! I hope at least is understandable!

Lets see how accurate these predictions were.


Berankis; Complete waste of talent. You can't always judge a player by juniors. Prediction accuracy; 0/5

Nishikori; Pretty good prediction; correctly predicting his injury troubles which have been evident from the start of his career. Prediction accuracy; 4/5

Dimitrov; just about spot on; pointing out comparisons with Federer are too much. He's forever a baby Federer (less politely, a poor mans Federer.) Prediction accuracy; 5/5

Harrison; The great hope of American Tennis turned out to be a poor mans Sam Querrey. Prediction accuracy; 1/5

Kuznetsov; Who? Prediction accuracy; 1/5

Krajinovic; could be a late bloomer with his run in Paris. Djokovic comparisons are absurd but could still be a Tipcki. Prediction accuracy; 2/5

Tomic;

 

[Sum Buddy Ells]

I believe in Dimitrov...he'll only take those Fedal beatdowns for so long

 

[Steve0904]

Must be said that some of the predictions of failure for these guys have by and large been very accurate.

 

[zagor]

Definitely, any day now.

 

[Stilljonesing]

Well, Nishikori and Dimitrov made the top 4 and 3. So they kind of accomplished something.
The rest of the pack did not show much.
Fast forward: In the NextGen we got A. Zverev into the top 4. Will see what happens with the rest of them.

I think tennis is at a weak state but Zverev has to be the most likely "next big thing" that has come along since 2010. He's probably the player most likely at this point we can look to finally unseat Fed and Nadal. As you can see by comparison to where some of these guys were by 20 years old and to already be top 4 at the same age says something. He's also beat healthy Fed and Djokovic and at 6'-6" has some elite tools to work with most players do not. He should only improve while all the big 4 and and Stan continue to decline.

I believe looking 3 or 4 years into the future I'd put my money on Zverev being #1 if I had to put it on anyone currently. I believe the most likely outcome 3 years from now is Fed or Nadal will have gotten injured and struggled a lot when they came back or either just walked away into retirement or after they cameback and struggled more so than actually playing. That seems to be what happens to a lot of players.

If Fed and Nadal are still healthy I cant see anyway there isn't some natural decline. I think they both could still be top 20 players 3 or 4 years out if they don't mind that and are still having fun and grinding along. Could still go deep in majors and be legit threats on their surfaces. I hope that's the case. I think Stan and Murray will be all but done but that Djokovic could have a second wind in his career not to the level of Fed but still in the top 10 if he gets healthy. He also could never get healthy and walk way a year from now. None of that would shock me because I certainly didn't see Fed being #1 again 3 years ago. It wouldn't even be shocking 3 years from now if he was in the top 3 still.

 

[Badabing888]

I believe in Dimitrov...he'll only take those Fedal beatdowns for so long

Haha, Federer will beat Dimitrov 9/10 they will play. Yeah Grigor maybe wasn’t 100% in the Rotterdam final, but the gulf in class was still massive. Was just a repeat of their meeting at Wimbledon from last year.

 

[Badabing888]

Well, Nishikori and Dimitrov made the top 4 and 3. So they kind of accomplished something.
The rest of the pack did not show much.
Fast forward: In the NextGen we got A. Zverev into the top 4. Will see what happens with the rest of them.

Sascha Zverev is currently proving to be like Cilic at the same age. Maybe better with two masters, but I think Del Po had more game at the same age, or whose game was more consistent and dangerous at 20 than Sascha’s. Sascha is in danger of getting the overtaken by Chung and Shapovalov IMO.

 

[mental midget]

zverev has a game that will bring him a good amount of success, already has. but i don't see the 'racket skills' there. i'd be interested to hear who, of the young generation, people see a genuinely high tennis IQ and adaptable game. one name i'll throw out is deminaur...it's early stages and he certainly isnt the physical threat that some of the other guys pose, but i really like his court positioning, opportunistic playing and early-ball-taking. shapovalov also at least seems to be trying to fashion himself in that mold. tsitsipas has a nice game but looks a bit clumsy with racket control at the moment, we'll see where he goes from here. any others?

 

[NGM]

Tennis doesn’t lack new talents right now, it lacks a new talent at All Time Greats level. That’s two different things. And ATG talents don’t come easily otherwise we will have ATG showing up every year.

I have no hope on Thiem and Zverev. They’re not ATG level talents that’s for sure.

 

[dudeski]

How about a get to freakin slam final talent? Last time new young gun did was in 2009 AO.

 

[NGM]

How about a get to freakin slam final talent? Last time new young gun did was in 2009 AO.

We have 2 Master talent in Zverev, what else do you want?

 

[Stilljonesing]

Tennis doesn’t lack new talents right now, it lacks a new talent at All Time Greats level. That’s two different things. And ATG talents don’t come easily otherwise we will have ATG showing up every year.

I have no hope on Thiem and Zverev. They’re not ATG level talents that’s for sure.

Thiem, I highly doubt that as well being 24. He's getting close to being what he is going to be but I completely disagree with you about Zverev. He's 20 years old and has the elite physical tools. He has plenty of time to improve, and has already been ranked as high as #3 and he hasn't even hit really got into his early 20's when most of these guys make their biggest leaps.

Roger Federer didn't look like an all time great at 20. It took him over 2 years longer to reach #3 in the world. At the time he was getting lost in the mix of guys his same age at the time like Hewitt, Safin, Roddick, Ferrero all won majors prior to him and or got to #1 before he did. Even Nalbandian beat him the first 4 or 5 times they played. No one really thought he would own them like he eventually did.

Not to say someone else want pass him like Fed eventually did Hewitt and blow him away but he looks like the odds on favorite today, and more so than anyone else I've seen or would bet on the last 8 years.

 

[Badabing888]

Thiem, I highly doubt that as well being 24. He's getting close to being what he is going to be but I completely disagree with you about Zverev. He's 20 years old and has the elite physical tools. He has plenty of time to improve, and has already been ranked as high as #3 and he hasn't even hit really got into his early 20's when most of these guys make their biggest leaps.

Roger Federer didn't look like an all time great at 20. It took him over 2 years longer to reach #3 in the world. At the time he was getting lost in the mix of guys his same age at the time like Hewitt, Safin, Roddick, Ferrero all won majors prior to him and or got to #1 before he did. Even Nalbandian beat him the first 4 or 5 times they played. No one really thought he would own them like he eventually did.

Not to say someone else want pass him like Fed eventually did Hewitt and blow him away but he looks like the odds on favorite today, and more so than anyone else I've seen or would bet on the last 8 years.

Sascha is 6 foot 6 and I have doubts a player that tall can be a dominant player/All time great. Look at how many players at 2 metres have won grand slams and reached number 1? Cilic and Del Po have 2 Slams between them and neither have reached number 1 or look likely to. For sure Sascha can buck the trend, but I just don’t see him having multiple Majors I.e. more than 2 by the end of his career and having long stints at number 1 which total in excess of 100 weeks.

For now Sascha also needs to retool his forehand, as it’s making far too many errors at the moment and he still instinctively stands too far behind the baseline during rallies instead of stepping up closer to the baseline. Until those parts of his game improve significantly he won’t be going much further than the 4th round at any major. He’s also yet to beat a top 50 player at a major, which despite his age, is not a great indicator of ATG. That’s shocking for a player who was world number 3. Let’s be honest he took advantage of the fall of Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka. His natural ranking right now had those players been fit, would probably be around 7.

 

[Stilljonesing]

Sascha is 6 foot 6 and I have doubts a player that tall can be a dominant player/All time great. Look at how many players at 2 metres have won grand slams and reached number

Myopic thinking. If anything being 6-6 is a huge advantage in tennis. #1 all tall guys aren't created equal and #2 there are far fewer to even judge. Being 6-6 isn't like being 6-11 although I wouldn't rule out a special super tall guy either coming along and dominating and even changing the game at some point, it's just most even 6-6+ guys are pushed into basketball I believe. Kevin Durant is really a 7 footer. 25 years ago people would have said a 7 footer couldn't shoot and dribble like he does or be an all time great wing either. I think that's even less myopic thinking than to believe a 6-6 guy can't be as good as a 6-1 or 6-3 guy.

1? Cilic and Del Po have 2 Slams between them and neither have reached number 1 or look likely to.

Look at the era they played in with 3 of the top 4 players off all time. Probably the toughest generation ever to win in. How is this a good indicator of anything really. Cilic was never as good early or talented enough to compete in that era anyway, and Del Po probably had the talent to compete with the big 4 when he hit his prime but unfortuantly that got derailed by multiple injuries.

For sure Sascha can buck the trend, but I just don’t see him having multiple Majors I.e. more than 2 by the end of his career and having long stints at number 1 which total in excess of 100 weeks.

Look around. Who is he going to be competing with? Shaplov, Chung, Thiem (Older) Dimetrov (way older)? That's the whole point, tennis is really weak right now about to hit a reset and the old generation is just getting older and will only decline more. It's not budding with stars and up and comers and he's already doing more than anyone in his generation and at as young or a younger age. That's the reference point.

For now Sascha also needs to retool his forehand, as it’s making far too many errors at the moment and he still instinctively stands too far behind the baseline during rallies instead of stepping up closer to the baseline. Until those parts of his game improve significantly he won’t be going much further than the 4th round at any major. He’s also yet to beat a top 50 player at a major, which despite his age, is not a great indicator of ATG.

The dude is 20 freaking years old. He has plenty of time to fix all of that if it even needs fixing. As far as the majors, Fed had been to like 2 QF's by the time he was 22 and had lost a lot more in the 1st round even 3 times between 20 and 22 years ol. What about that screamed 20 major track.

That’s shocking for a player who was world number 3.

It is shocking for a 20 year old to reach #3. Few have done it, and clearly he had to be winning something big to get there. I think that is a better indicator than majors anyway. Only 26 guys have been #1, high rankings are exclusive, tons of fluke deep Major runs.

Let’s be honest he took advantage of the fall of Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka. His natural ranking right now had those players been fit, would probably be around 7.

Dude they are all over 30 years old. That's what happens, players star missing time, declining etc. You want to look over the history of tennis well father time is a lot more relevant because it always wins eventually. Fed, Nadal or Aggassi might be the outliers but this is completely the normal track for the majority of 30+ year olds so there is no taking advantage of anything, it is what it likely will continue to be unfortunately to breakdown and decline if you want to use history and the most likely outcome.

 

[Badabing888]

Myopic thinking. If anything being 6-6 is a huge advantage in tennis. #1 all tall guys aren't created equal and #2 there are far fewer to even judge. Being 6-6 isn't like being 6-11 although I wouldn't rule out a special super tall guy either coming along and dominating and even changing the game at some point, it's just most even 6-6+ guys are pushed into basketball I believe. Kevin Durant is really a 7 footer. 25 years ago people would have said a 7 footer couldn't shoot and dribble like he does or be an all time great wing either. I think that's even less myopic thinking than to believe a 6-6 guy can't be as good as a 6-1 or 6-3 guy.

Well tall guys do tend to struggle on low balls. Maybe this is a reason why they haven’t been consistently in the top 3. Also very tall guys don’t tend to be the best movers. I think there is a reason why there is an optimum height for number 1 players in Tennis. That is 6 foot 1. Sampras, Nadal, Federer are all this height. Who is the tallest year end number 1 so far? Andy Murray at 6 foot 3.

Tennis and basketball are totally different sports.

Look at the era they played in with 3 of the top 4 players off all time. Probably the toughest generation ever to win in. How is this a good indicator of anything really. Cilic was never as good early or talented enough to compete in that era anyway, and Del Po probably had the talent to compete with the big 4 when he hit his prime but unfortuantly that got derailed by multiple injuries.

True, but even the previous era of Todd Martin, Richard Kraijek , very tall players didn’t get to number 1 in the era of Sampras and Agassi. The latter only winning 1 slam like Del Po and Cilic. I just don’t really see anything that special in terms of Tennis skills in Sascha to really make him that different from a Cilic or Del Potro.

Look around. Who is he going to be competing with? Shaplov, Chung, Thiem (Older) Dimetrov (way older)? That's the whole point, tennis is really weak right now about to hit a reset and the old generation is just getting older and will only decline more. It's not budding with stars and up and comers and he's already doing more than anyone in his generation and at as young or a younger age. That's the reference point.

Yeah, but my point is that he yet to do anything in the slams to justify the hype. Look who he lost to in the prvious two: Coric and Chung. Both players in his age category. He won 4 points in that final 5th set v Chung at the AO. These are contemporaries of his, it’s not like they are any more experienced than him at Grand Slam level. Losses to Rafa, Verdasco and Raonic were acceptable as they have more experience at GS level.

Yes, when eventually the old guard are pushed out, Zverev will be at the forefront to take over, but I think right now he will be one of many jostling to get to the front.

The dude is 20 freaking years old. He has plenty of time to fix all of that if it even needs fixing. As far as the majors, Fed had been to like 2 QF's by the time he was 22. What about that screamed 20 major track. That's hardly an indicator of anything. Also he has won huge tournys and beat All time greats when they were healthy in the top 3 like Fed and Djoko. He's shown plenty of upside.

Yes, and I am not disputing that he can’t turn it around at 20. I can only comment what I am seeing right now. But Federer had beaten Sampras on centre court at the age of 19. Sascha has not beaten top 50 player yet at a Grand Slam yet.

It is shocking for a 20 year old to reach #3. Few have done it, and clearly he had to be winning something big to get there. I think that is a better indicator than majors anyway. Only 26 guys have been #1, high rankings are exclusive, tons of fluke deep Major runs.

It is a great achievement but on the back of best of 3 set matches. Ultimately, his career will be judged at the 4 Grand Slams and best of 5 sets. He’s down to number 5 right now and since his win at Montreal has really struggled. As we have seen on the other thread he has split with Ferrero.

Dude they are all over 30 years old. That's what happens, players star missing time, declining etc. You want to look over the history of tennis well father time is a lot more relevant because it always wins eventually. Fed, Nadal or Aggassi might be the outliers but this is completely the normal track for the majority of 30+ year olds so there is no taking advantage of anything, it is what it likely will continue to be unfortunately to breakdown and decline if you want to use history and the most likely outcome.

Yep, I was really agreeing with Rusedski who made the point that Sascha is really overachieving right now and that his showing at the Majors have really exposed his real level. Is Sascha really the 5th best player at the moment - yes best on results of the last 12 months, but that can change very quickly and I think he’s realised that sacking Ferrro.

Right now I just don’t see anything that special in his game. Yes, he’s young and gotten the run in terms of rankings and two Masters 1000s, which is amazing for a 20 year old. But I think things are beginning to level off. And until he starts getting past the 4th round of majors and beats players in the top 50 in those big tournaments, I will continue to be sceptical. Just like I have been with Grigor and I really like his game.

I will be excited to follow what happens though with how Sascha develops.

 

[papertank]

Pretty funny that people were calling Nishikori "glass" when he was only 20 years old.