In this piece we look at how some of the next-gen of tennis, namely Denis Shapovalov, Karen Khachanov, Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner will go in 2021.
2020 saw the likes of Dominic Thiem, Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev step up the level and reach unprecedented heights, and set up 2021 with even bigger challenges for the Big Three. But, 2020 also witnessed other upcoming players making impressive strides and set themselves up to be forces to reckon with on the tour in 2021.
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Denis Shapovalov
Denis Shapovalov burst onto the scene in 2017 at the age of 18, by defeating Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro at the ATP Masters 1000 in Canada. What has followed since has been an up and down last three seasons.
While 2018 was a disappointing season for the Canadian, pairing up with Mikhail Youzhny as part of his coaching team, saw a marked improvement in 2019 as he won his first ever ATP title at Stockholm as well as made the finals of the Paris Masters 1000.
A shortened 2020 season saw Shapovalov break into the top ten for the first time, as well as make the quarter-finals of the US Open. Unfortunately, the latter part of the season witnessed disappointing losses, especially at the French Open and late in the indoor season, when he looked like he was in with a shot to qualify for the Tour Finals at year end.
The field gets stronger with increasingly more competitors and Shapovalov is at a stage where he needs the consistency to really belong. The Canadian will hope 2021 is the year where he not only continues to be in and around the top ten but has some breakthrough performances.
While being a force in the latter stages of the Majors still seems a ways to go, expect Shapovalov to be more consistent and perhaps add to his title count. Deep runs at the Masters 1000s a good next step for the Canadian in 2021.
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Karen Khachanov
The Karen Khachanov story seems to have lost impetus and focus in the 2020 season. The young Russian was very much the cream of the ‘Next Gen’ after pushing Rafa Nadal in the 2018 US Open and defeating Novak Djokovic to win the 2018 Paris Masters 1000 ever so convincingly.
Part of the ‘Russian Brigade’ with Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, their careers were expected to follow similar trajectories and just like them and the likes of Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, Khachanov was expected to carry the mantle as the ‘Changing of the Guards’ approached.
That however has not been the case. 2019 and 2020 saw a consistent decline in the Russian’s game, results and belief. Not only were the results poor and losses early in tournaments, the approach and manner of the losses was uninspiring.
This was beginning to take a toll on Khachanov’s temperament as well and was evident during the latter part of the 2020 season.
The Russian will need to go back to the drawing board metaphorically this off-season as he has lost his way somewhat and will need to fine tune both his game and mental approach to things as he looks to redeem himself next season.
A difficult season lies ahead for Khachanov, and it will take some doing for him to be a force to reckon with on the tour again. Big wins in 2021 look very unlikely at the moment for him.
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Matteo Berrettini
Italian Matteo Berrrettini had a breakthrough 2019 season with his second and third career ATP title wins, US Open semi-finals and breaking into the top ten of the ATP rankings. With a big serve and powerful forehand, Berrettini proved himself to be a force to reckon with on the grass, as well as on hard courts.
Continued success through the second half of the year from the grass to the US Open, and into the Asian swing and indoor season ensured that the Italian was a member of the top eight ranked players on the tour and a participant at the Tour Finals in London. Despite a less than inspiring showing there, he went into 2020 with plenty of promise.
2020 did not turn out to be the best for Berrettini, with injury related withdrawals, poor form and early losses. It was not much of a season for him to remember, and he was lucky to be ranked number ten in the world given all of the above.
Berrettini will look to get his ‘mojo’ back in the 2021 season as he may have felt the pressure of expectations after 2019 and that may be less of a factor in the new year. Given how the tour and the competition has evolved, the 24-year-old will need to evolve his game, apart from the powerful serve and forehand to be a force to reckon with.
The field is getting crowded and difficult, and a somewhat one-dimensional Berrettini approach will make it difficult for him to reach new heights in 2021.
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Jannik Sinner
Teenager Italian Jannik Sinner was an unknown entity when he defeated Gael Monfils in 2019 at the European Open in Antwerp. But, he came into the limelight more so when he won the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan soon thereafter, defeating tournament favorite Alex de Minaur in the final convincingly.
2020 did not start the best for the young Italian Down Under, but defeating David Goffin and making the Rotterdam quarter-finals shortly before the pandemic break was a positive outcome. An uninspiring US hard court season followed but it was the clay and indoors swings in the late Fall that really left one with high expectations.
Sinner defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to make the last 16 at the Italian Open and defeated Goffin and Zverev at Roland Garross with great confidence and conviction, before a round of eight loss to none other than Rafa Nadal. Semi-finals indoors at Cologne and a maiden ATP title at Sofia capped a truly inspiring 2020 for the young talent from Italy.
Only 19 years of age and already ranked number 37, it has been a very impressive run for Sinner. With great groundstrokes, a strong serve and a very balanced temperament, this Next Gen talent has left us with a lot to look forward to. Expect him to feature among the best in the world in the years to come.
2021 will be a strong year for the Italian and he may well pull of a first ever ATP Masters 1000 title and some big wins at the majors.