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The 2018 tennis season saw the seasoned veterans hold their ground especially in Grand Slams. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic kept the flag of the 'Big 4' flying high by notching up Grand Slam wins yet again in their 30's. Things were slightly different at the ATP Masters 1000 level with the likes of Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov notching up title wins. However, there too, the stamp of the 'Big 4' remained with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic combining for 5 out of the 9 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.
The biggest statement of intent to disrupt the existing order of men's singles tennis came from Alexander Zverev, who beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals. Spirited performances from the Next Gen players like Alex De Minaur, Dennis Shapovalov, Francis Tiafoe, Jaume Munar and Andrey Rublev have led many to believe that their time is going to come sooner rather than later.
However, with the likes of former Grand Slam champions like Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka returning to the Tour fully fit and rejuvenated, things may not pan out as the Next Gen may hope.
We delve into the prospects of 4 young guns who could pull off a surprise with a Grand Slam win or two in 2019:
#1 Borna Coric
After getting knocked out in the first round of the Australian Open, Croat Borna Coric helped his country qualify for the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup by beating fellow rising star Canada's Dennis Shapovalov. He made the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells beating the likes of Kevin Anderson, Albert-Ramos Vinolas, Roberto Bautista Agut along the way. He lost to Federer despite leading by a set and a break. Next, he made the quarters at Miami, losing to Alexander Zverev. He had a disappointing clay court season.
His biggest win came at the Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany which he won. Astonishingly, he beat Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer in the same week to win the Halle Open. Riding into Wimbledon high on confidence, Coric looked to carry forward his fine form on grass.
But he was beaten in the first round of Wimbledon by Daniil Medvedev. He endured a string of disappointing results en route to the US Open. At the US Open, he exacted revenge over Daniil Medvedev by beating him but eventually fell in straight sets to Del Potro in the Round of 16. He later helped Croatia qualify for the Davis Cup final by beating USA in the semis.
His reserved his best for the final few weeks of the season, reaching the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. En route, he beat the likes of Stanislas Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and most notably Roger Federer for the second time in the year. He ended his season with a 3rd round defeat at the hands of Dominic Thiem at the Paris Masters.
Attaining a career-high ranking of World Number 12, Coric will look to start off the 2019 season on a high with a good showing at the Australian Open unlike his outing there in 2018, where he lost in the 1st round.
#2 Stefanos Tsitsipas
Born into a tennis family where his mother was a professional on the WTA Tour and his father a trained tennis coach, Stefanos Tsitsipas took up the sport at the young age of 3.
The long-haired 6'4'' Greek youngster has had a breakthrough year of sorts. He made a solid start to the year, making the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open losing to Dominic Thiem. The next month, he faced setbacks getting knocked out in the 1st round of a handful of tournaments.
His first defining moment of the season came at the Barcelona Open where he beat Dominic Thiem and Pablo Carreno Busta to make the final which he eventually would lose to Nadal. Another impressive win over Kevin Anderson at the Estoril Open followed.
By now, the tennis world was taking keen interest in him. He reached the 4th Round at Wimbledon -- his best ever Grand Slam finish. At the Citi Open, he managed to scalp another Top-10 player in David Goffin.
The best week of the 20-year-old's budding tennis career came at the Rogers Cup. He beat 4 top-10 players (Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson sequentially) en route to his way to the final. Though he lost in straight sets to Nadal, Tsitsipas had made a huge sign of intent and sent a strong message to his competitors on the ATP circuit. He won the Stockholm Open to claim his maiden ATP trophy.
At the 2018 Next Gen Finals in Milan, he went 5-0 as he won all his matches to win the title for the very first time. His victories over fellow youngsters Francis Tiafoe, Andrey Rublev and Alex De Minaur over the course of the tournament would have given him immense confidence.
At 20, Tsitsipas is already the most successful player ever from Greece and looks set to scale new peaks in 2019.
#3 Karen Khachanov
Russian Karen Khachanov started off the year matching his best performance at the Australian Open, losing in a tough 4-set contest to Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round. He won his second ATP title at the Marseille Open beating Lucas Pouille in the final.
He again beat Lucas Pouille en route to his 4th round loss to Alexander Zverev at the French Open, This was his best ever performance in a Grand Slam. At the Halle Open, Khachanov pulled off a win over Kei Nishikori in straight sets. He matched his French Open result by making it to the 4th round at Wimbledon where he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
He was one of two youngsters (the other being Stefanos Tsitsipas) who were creating ripples in the tennis world at the Rogers Cup. He made the semis beating the likes of Pablo Carreno Busta and John Isner. Just like Stefanos, Khachanov's run was stopped by Rafael Nadal. He won his second tournament of the year at the Kremlin Cup.
Khachanov's career-defining moment till date came at the Rolex Paris Masters. Despite beating Top-10 players like John Isner, Aleander Zverev and Dominic Thiem on the way to the final, few would have given him any chance of beating top seed Novak Djokovic who was in marauding form.
But that is exactly what happened as he beat Novak in straight sets to win the biggest tournament and prize cheque of his career. His win at Paris meant that he rose to a career-high ATP ranking of World Number 11.
Khachanov will be looking to be the first Men's Grand Slam winner from Russia since Marat Safin.
#1 Alexander Zverev
Perhaps no other young player is as highly rated as 21-year-old Alexander Zverev. It is for no mean reason that this is the case. The talented 6'6'' German came into the 2018 season ranked World Number 3 with already 2 ATP Masters 1000 titles under his belt. But progress to the second week of Grand Slam tournaments always eluded the young Zverev.
A disappointing outing at the Australian Open where he lost to Hyeon Chung in a 5-set contest in the Round of 32, meant that his failure to move to the second week of a Grand Slam continued. A disastrous first round loss to Joao Sousa at Indian Wells and it looked like Zverev was struggling. However, he was runner-up at the Miami Masters, losing to John Isner.
Cheered on by an enthusiastic German crowd, Zverev won the BMW Open at Munich beating compatriot Kohlschreiber in the final. He then won his 3rd ATP Masters 1000 title at the Madrid Open beating Dominic Thiem in the final. By then, Zverev had more ATP Masters 1000 titles than any other player currently on the Tour barring the Big 4. An impressive performance at the Rome Masters saw him lose in 3 sets to Nadal in the final.
Zverev finally broke his Grand Slam second week jinx as he made the last-8 losing to eventual runner-up Dominic Thiem. He won his third title of the year at the Citi Open beating his brother Mischa along the way. At the Rogers Cup, he lost uncharacteristically to Stefanos Tsitsipas and lashed out at his opponent after the game.
Zverev kept his best moment for the last at the Nitto ATP Finals. He became only the 4th player after Rafael Nadal, David Nalbandian and Andy Murray to beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in back-to-back matches at a prestigious tournament like this. The young German tamed Djokovic in the final despite the Serb coming to the final with a near perfect set and service record.
With Ivan Lendl as his coach and the confidence that he can beat the best of the best in successive days, Zverev will surely be the favorite to break the stranglehold of the Big 4 in Grand Slams.
