While tennis might never see a 17-year old Grand Slam champion again, it's finally beginning to look as if it has room for younger players doing well at the top as well.
Despite all these players in their 30's dominating, we've had a spate of youngsters this year who have finally started to realize the potential that they exhibited in the last couple of years or so. Let us take a look at five such breakthrough performers on the ATP Tour this season -
1) Alexander Zverev
Hailed by experts as the next big thing in tennis,19-year old German Alexander Zverev, also known as "Sascha", has done everything possible to strengthen these claims. Born into a Russian tennis playing family, Zverev stands at a towering height of 6ft 6in already.
While both his parents are former tennis players, Zverev's older brother, Mischa, is an active player on tour, with a career high ranking of 45. With that height, Zverev's game is obviously built around his serve, which tops 125mph most of the time.
But there's more to his game than just the serve. A thunderous backhand and fluid movement makes him a really dangerous prospect. “He is a clear possible future no.1. He has all the shots,” said Rafael Nadal, when once asked about Zverev.
Zverev had a stellar 2016 season, having started the year ranked 83, and finishing at 24.
He thus became the first teenager to finish in the top 25 since Djokovic and Murray in 2006. In October, he achieved his career high rank of 20, becoming the youngest player to enter the ATP top 20 since Djokovic in 2006. The German is also the youngest player in the top 50.
He had four wins against top 10 players this year, with the highlight being beating the great Roger Federer in Halle on grass, a place where Roger loves playing. Zverev also beat Stan Wawrinka in a humdinger of a match to win his first ATP title in St. Petersburg.
His other two top 10 wins were over good friend Dominic Thiem and the experienced Tomas Berdych. “I’ve had a great year, going from No.84 in the world to No.24,” said Zverev, when asked about what he thought of his performance this year.
Knowing that he has not reached his top physical shape yet, Zverev shut his season down early to extend his pre-season training to work on his strength and other fitness aspects. And with work on that front, one can expect him to wreck havoc in the 2017 season. He starts his season at the Hopman Cup in Australia, where he's going to team up with Andrea Petkovic to represent Germany.
2) Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios first announced himself on the big stage when he beat Rafael Nadal in the 4th round of Wimbledon in 2014, thus becoming the first male debutant to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon since Florian Mayer in 2004.
Kyrgios, born to a Greek father and a Malaysian mother, is known for flamboyant nature, both on and off court. Armed with a thunderous serve and monstrous forehand, he uses his relatively weaker backhand very effectively to keep himself in contention during points.
The 21-year old, who was born and raised in Australia, has made steady progress in the Emirates ATP rankings every passing year. Known to produce outrageous shots at the most unexpected times, Kyrgios has made himself a force to be reckoned with on the ATP tour.
Specially this year, Kyrgios has propelled himself to a career high ranking of 13, after having started the year ranked 30.
The jump from 30 to 13 might not look too steep, but is an extremely tough one to make. It was only made possible by the 3 ATP titles he won, which included his first career title at the ATP Marseille 250, another 250 title in Atlanta, and a 500 one in Tokyo recently.
"For anyone in only their second full year on tour to win three titles is pretty big. It was definitely a successful year for me," said the Australian No. 1, to Australian reporters. Kyrgios also made his first semi-final at the Masters 1000 level at the Miami Open, making the semis without dropping a set, before eventually falling to Kei Nishikori. Kyrgios also made the quarters at the Mutua Madrid Open, a clay court Masters event, even with clay being his least preferred surface. But all this success didn't come without controversies. Kyrgios was suspended by the ATP for eight weeks in October for having "tanked" his 2nd round match at the Shanghai Masters.
The ban was later reduced to three weeks, after Kyrgios agreed to see a sports psychologist.
But Kyrgios, who starts his 2017 season at the Hopman Cup partnering Daria Gavrilova, feels that his forced break from tennis was a blessing in disguise after a long & tiring year on tour. He now feels refreshed and believes that he can win the Australian Open, starting next month.
"Will I? I don't know. But will I slog my guts out trying to? Without a doubt," said Kyrgios, when asked if he thought he could win the Australian Open. Not only the Australian Open, with increased focus, he has the ability to win many more coveted trophies, given the enormous talent he possesses.
3) Milos Raonic
At 26, one might not necessarily describe Milos Raonic as ‘young.’
But with growing experience of playing at the top 20 level for the past four seasons, the 6ft 4in Canadian has finally managed to make his big breakthrough this year. Until a couple of seasons back, Raonic was just one of those "servebots", with a poor ground game and sluggish movement.
This is further confirmed by stats, which say that Raonic wins 91% of his service games on an average, which is the 3rd highest in the Open Era. But with dedicated work on his fitness in the past couple of years, Raonic has immensely improved his return game and movement as well. This has enabled him to finish the year ranked 3rd, only behind Murray and Djokovic, having started the year ranked 14.
Raonic started his 2016 season with a bang, beating Roger Federer in straight sets in the finals at Brisbane, avenging his loss against the Swiss Maestro in the Brisbane final the previous year.
Asked about Raonic after the match, Federer observed: "For a big guy he moves really well. He's improved his fitness the last few years. Also, tactically, I think he's better now than he's ever been."
Raonic later upset Stan Wawrinka in the 4th round of the Australian Open on his way to the semi-finals, where he lost in five sets to the then world no. 2, Andy Murray. His run at the Open made him the first Canadian man to reach the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
Raonic also reached the final of the Indian Wells Masters, an ATP 1000 tournament, losing in the final to Novak Djokovic, and performed fairly consistently in the clay court swing, reaching quarter-finals at Monte Carlo and Madrid, a marked area of improvement for him, given that clay is his worst surface.
The Canadian continued his great form into the grass season, advancing to his first grass court final at the prestigious Queen's Club Championships, losing the final to Andy Murray in three sets. He performed remarkably well at Wimbledon too, reaching the first Grand Slam final of his career, and beating Federer in the semi-finals in an epic five-setter before losing to Andy Murray in straight sets in the final.
As a result of his consistent performances throughout the season, Raonic earned himself a spot at the season ending ATP World Tour Finals event in London. He came second in his group behind Djokovic, thus qualifying for the semi-finals, where he lost to Andy Murray in the longest match in the history of the World Tour Finals, lasting 3 hours and 38 minutes.
After having become the first Canadian male to reach a Grand Slam final, Raonic looks set to do big things in 2017, where one can expect him to consistently challenge for the Grand Slams and Masters trophies.
Having split from Spanish former No. 1 Carlos Moya, he hired former Wimbledon champion, Richard Krajicek, as coach, to help him in this endeavor, after having parted ways with John McEnroe earlier this year. Raonic will look to start his 2017 season on a good note by defending the title he won in Brisbane last year.
4) Dominic Thiem
The 23-year old from Austria was built the tough way. His training growing up was not the usual training that a young tennis player would go through. Training under fitness coach Sepp Bresnik, a former track and field athlete, Thiem used to spend the entire day training in a jungle, carrying tree trunks from one corner to another, and doing sit-ups at nights until he could do no more.
A rather direct correlation was his liking for clay, a surface that is synonymous with similar toil and hard-work. Thiem is also one of the very few players from the younger generation who use the single handed backhand, making him a delightful player to watch.
To look at his 2016 season, Thiem did wonderfully well to win four titles, three at the 250 level, Buenos Aires(Clay), Nice(Clay) and Stuttgart(Grass), and a lone 500 title in Acapulco (Hard). This helped him breach the top 10 ranking barrier for the first time in his career, reaching a career high rank of 7.
What was all the more impressive about his wins was the fact that he beat all-time great Roger Federer on grass on his way to the title in Stuttgart, & beat Rafael Nadal, the undisputed King of Clay, on his way to the clay court title in Buenos Aires.
This bolsters the fact that Thiem is a player who can be very dangerous on all surfaces alike, despite his self-admitted liking for clay. Thiem also reached his first semi-final at the Grand Slam, reaching the last four of the French Open, before losing to eventual winner Novak Djokovic.
The only drawback from Thiem's season this year was the unnecessary burden he inflicted on his body, playing week in and week out, without giving his body proper rest. The Austrian played a total of 82 singles matches this season, to go along with 29 doubles matches. This led to him suffering a burnout at the end of the season, causing him to miss important tournaments.
With better scheduling in 2017, Thiem can definitely establish himself as a serious threat for years to come.
5) Lucas Pouille
Cha. To make a jump from being ranked 78th in the world at the start of the year, to being ranked 15th at the end, is no laughing matter, but Lucas Pouille has done it.
And for his incredible performances, Pouille was duly voted as the ATP Most Improved Player by his peers. The 22-year-old is the youngest of France's rich haul of 12 players in the top 100. He's also the French No. 3, only behind Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Pouille has had a stellar year, reaching the quarter-finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open. He also reached the first Masters 1000 semi-final of his career in Rome, losing to Andy Murray.
While he beat an in-form Juan Martin del Potro at Wimbledon, Pouille earned himself bragging rights for the rest of his life, when he beat 14-time Grand Slam champion, Rafael Nadal, in a four marathon in New York, one that had to be decided by a fifth set tie-break.
Pouille, born to a French father and a Finnish mother, has said that the turning point for him this season was the win against Ferrer in March in Miami, which gave him confidence that he could “win against the top guns, if he were to not think too much and just play each point as it comes.
A resident of Dubai, the young player is known to be a simple and quiet person, which he personally thinks helps him during tense situations in matches.
Pouille had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, when he got an invite to train with Federer for a week during the off season.
Federer, who has his training base in Dubai, rates Pouille very highly, and thought that the Frenchman would be his ideal training partner to prepare for his comeback in the new tennis season. Pouille admits that he's learned a lot from those sessions, and it stands him in good stead to capitalize on a great 2016, and go for even greater glory in 2017.
