Which NCAA Champ over the past decade do you expect to make it on the ATP ?

atatu

Legend
Looking the the list of winners since say 2009 you've got Britton, Klahn, Johnson x 2, Rola, Giron, Shane, MacDonald, Kwiatowski, Chrysochos, Jubb and Ruffice. Too soon to say for those last four, Johnson obviously has had a solid career, and Giron is doing pretty well as is Mackie. I guess I thought Britton would have made it but didn't.
 
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JW10S

Hall of Fame
Is the skill gap that deep?
Simply put, yes. I was never much impressed with Britton, I think his win was kind of a fluke--he was not the best player that year. I think Klahn had a good chance but back surgeries have been his undoing. I don't believe he has played a tournament this year. I would say Johnson has definitely 'made it' with over $7 million in prize money so far. Giron is on the rise for sure. He was set back with surgeries to both hips soon after turning pro but now that he is healthy is a solid player with some good wins so I think he will 'make it'. I think Mackie can 'make it' too in that he will a be consistent player and will earn some good money if he can stay healthy given that he is a smaller player. He too was set back with a pretty major injury last year. I don't expect much from the other players listed in the OP--their NCAA titles will be the highlight of their careers.

It should not go unsaid that players like Koepfer and Norrie have 'made it' coming out of college even though they did not win the NCAA Individuals. So being NCAA singles champ is a guarantee of nothing--it's just one tournament and not always an indicator of the player overall. I also think UCLA's Max Cressy has a good chance of 'making it' with his disruptive style of play. He is ranked #141 after just turning pro in 2019. Too bad he couldn't finish off Swartzman at I.W. when he held match point in the 3rd set, that would have been big.
 
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atatu

Legend
Simply put, yes. I was never much impressed with Britton, I think his win was kind of a fluke--he was not the best player that year. I think Klahn had a good chance but back surgeries have been his undoing. I don't believe he has played a tournament this year. I would say Johnson has definitely 'made it' with over $7 million in prize money so far. Giron is on the rise for sure. He was set back with surgeries to both hips soon after turning pro but now that he is healthy is a solid player with some good wins so I think he will 'make it'. I think Mackie can 'make it' too in that he will a be consistent player and will earn some good money if he can stay healthy given that he is a smaller player. He too was set back with a pretty major injury last year. I don't expect much from the other players listed in the OP--their NCAA titles will be the highlight of their careers.

It should not go unsaid that players like Koepfer and Norrie have 'made it' coming out of college even though they did not win the NCAA Individuals. So being NCAA singles champ is a guarantee of nothing--it's just one tournament and not always an indicator of the player overall. I also think UCLA's Max Cressy has a good chance of 'making it' with his disruptive style of play. He is ranked #141 after just turning pro in 2019. Too bad he couldn't finish off Swartzman at I.W. when he held match point in the 3rd set, that would have been big.

Agree with this, looking at college players in general, not just NCAA champs, Isner and Norrie are obviously two that stand out, let's not count Brooksby and Nakashima given that they didn't really play much college tennis.
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
I remember watching Jubb win NCAAs. I never thought he's breakthrough on the ATP tour - maybe qualify for a few Slams and do okay in some challengers, but not the consistent "big time."
 
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