Yes, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are dominating headlines right now with possibly one of the greatest rivalries in the history of tennis. But, saying that, who and where are the next generation of champions?
A few players and names to watch over the next few years are Jonathan Eysseric who I am sure you remember gave Andy Murray the scare of his life at this year’s French Open by taking him to five sets. Eysseric is a former world No. 1 junior who is currently ranked No. 378 and just won a futures event (France F11). He is 18 years old. He has been a favorite of Federer to practice with as he is a lefty but I would not be surprised if Fed is also keeping an eye on him.
Kei Nisihikori blew onto the scene by beating James Blake and winning his first ATP title at the Millenium Tennis Championships – Delray Beach this year as a qualifier. Kei has risen as high as No. 99 on the rankings but I see him within the top 60 by years end. Kei has incredible ground strokes but will need to work on his serve and conditioning to really make a run at the top 20. Kei is 19 years old and a name to watch.
Ricardis Barankis is another former world No. 1 junior who is having a great year on the pro tour, he has improved his ranking by nearly 300 spots from April 7th to July 14 from 750 to a current 471. Ricardis is very talented and beats most players with smarts. He will have to overcome his smaller frame but bigger is not always better on the pro tour nowadays. Ricardis is 18 years old.
Last but not least is a player from France named Alexandre Sidorenko who is originally from Russia. Alex is a former world No. 3 junior and an Australian Open junior champion who has been making nice progress on the men’s circuit. Alex has improved his ranking by 140 spots since April to a career high of No. 211. Alex has a big game and I hope to see him within the top 100 by the middle of 2009.
These are just a few names to look for but watch closely as they are coming fast, I bet Nadal and Federer know who these guys are, James Blake and Andy Murray certainly do.
Cheers.
Great article! Except for Nishikori, I never heard of these other players until I read this.
Well…potential is a big word. As a fan who’s watched the game for many, many years, I feel that it just takes so many thresholds to cross before being a Grand Slam champion. And even then, once a person wins 1 slam, there’s always that anticipation of “when is the next time I’ll win a slam”, and the player gets badgered by the press and fans if they don’t. I personally disagree: even winning just 1 slam is an awesome, terrific achievement that many will never have.
I’d be interested in watching the progress of the players mentioned here, and again thank you for this article. To be honest though, I see absolutely no one right now that will ever equal the likes of Federer or Nadal. I’ve watched this game for many, many years and this is the first time I can honestly say this. During the early part of the decade, and in the previous 2 decades, there was always that future hopeful, that exciting one to watch who very soon went on to fulfill the expectations set on them.
There’s just no one like that now, in my opinion. I do like Nishikori’s game. He reminds me of Sebastien Grosjean, with flat, deep groundstrokes and deceptive foot speed and court smarts. I think he can reach the top 25 with more and more experience. Ernest Gulbis looks very promising too, with his big serve and big overall game. But he played simply horrible in his match against Acasuso in Toronto. He just can’t have these kinds of mental slip ups if he’s going to be a world class champion, and hopefully experience will help some of that.
Andy Murray is improving greatly, but I still think he’s got a few more threshholds to cross before being a Grand Slam champion. He does have a chance at this year’s US Open, with Nadal having played so much tennis, and Federer just not doing so well in recent times, and his recent wins over Djokovic. But I think Murray is still a bit more susceptible to losing to lower-ranked players in big events than several of the other top players. And again, it’s a threshold he just needs to cross in order to progress even further. I think he will get to his first slam semi at this year’s US Open.
This is going to be an exciting US Open, with all these variables, and we all look forward to it.
Steve –
You have del Potro on your “Who’s Hot” list for the Open, but not this list? Hmmm.
Also, do you think that Tsongas is just too injury-prone to make the list? Rafa predicted Nishikori would some day be Top 5 — and of course I believe Rafa — but Nishikori got a wildcard for the Olympics and then we just … haven’t heard from him recently. But it was Tsongas who took Rafa out in the AO, wasn’t it?