Boxing has seen a wave of incredible talents arise out of Russia and the eastern European nations in the last five years. Vasyl Lomachenko, Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev have electrified boxing with their sensational skills and talents.
It suddenly appears that tennis could be on the verge of a similar Russian revolution, with a brigade of young male players apparently on the verge of becoming elite players.
Nineteen year old Alexander Zverev (based in Germany) is the most popular of the young Russians, already with an ATP title (St.Petersburg) under his belt, a top 20 ranking, and several stunning performances against the ATP elite. The likes of Rafael Nadal, John McEnroe and Roger Federer have already praised Zverev as a future No. 1 player and major title winner.
Following closely behind the lead of Zverev are two other very impressive, hard-hitting prospects who are both arresting a lot of attention with their heavy hitting and quality results.
Karen Khachanov is 20-years-old and ranked around 50 in the world. Double K names Del Potro and Safin as his tennis idols and he has shown a similar extraordinary ball striking capability that has already garnered an ATP singles title (Chengdu) and thirteen match wins last year. Khachanov has wins over Viktor Troicki, Roberto Bautista-Agut, Janko Tipsarevic, Alberto Ramos-Vinolas, Sergey Stakhovsky and also a junior Roland Garros win over Nick Kyrgios in 2013.
Another player who has emerged in recent months is Daniil Medvedev, who cracked the top 100 late last year. Medvedev earned his first ATP points as a fifteen year old in 2011 by qualifying at a Moscow Futures. But this year Medvedev has made a giant leap, winning a set from Novak Djokovic in Davis Cup last week before retiring later in the match with cramps. Medvedev showed that fine result was no fluke by dominating Fernando Verdasco yesterday in Montpelier 63 63. The spectacular Medvedev showed everything against the Spanish veteran lefty, including firing winners off both wings, accurate service winners, and deft touch on volleys, drops shots and also swing volleys. Also Medvedev had a natural cool on the court, looking perfectly comfortable with the pressure. It was Verdasco who showed constant facial expressions of discomfort and pressure.
Based in France (he speaks Russian, English and French), Medvedev (no relation for former Roland Garros finalist Andrei Medvedev) is coached by Jean-Rene Lisnard, a former ATP pro from France, Gilles Cervara and a former top ranked junior Julien Jeanpierre. Already, Medvedev has career wins over Kukushkin, Troicki, Kozlov (at Wimbledon qualies last year), Zeballos and a junior win at Prato over Alexander Zverev.
All three of these mighty Russians look like possible, if not probable, top ten players – and that may be making a conservative estimate of their potentials.
Slightly behind this talented trio is another highly-touted Russian – Andrey Rublev. This nineteen-year-old first emerged two years ago in 2015 where as a wildcard, Rublev beat Pablo Carreno-Busta in Miami in three sets. Then at 2015 US Open Rublev lost in four sets to Kevin Anderson. Rublev posted an 8-13 ATP Tour record in 2015 but regressed last year with a 3-5 record, though his ranking actually climbed last year (174-156) despite falling outside the top 200 for seven weeks.
Rublev won his first ATP title – in doubles in 2015 – while paired with Dmitry Tursunov in Moscow (youngest ATP doubles winner since Nadal in 2004 in Chennai). Another career highlight for Rublev was clinching a 3-2 Davis Cup win for Russia vs Spain by beating no. 32 Pablo Andujar in 2015 Group 1. Rublev also has ITF junior wins over Hyeon Chung, Taylor Fritz, Stefan Kozlov, Quentin Halys, Tommy Paul, Noah Rubin, Alexander Zverev and Stefano Tsitsipas.
We all know the United States, Canada, Australia are looking very strong right now with excellent foundations of NEXT GEN players steadily rising up the ranks. But Russia, though not nearly as ballyhooed, could wind up in the mix or perhaps even, with Medvedev, Rublev and Khachanov continuing their fine play, as the leading tennis nation in a few years.
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« Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »catherine bell · February 13, 2017 at 5:37 am
Scoop –
Germany was of course without Kerber but whether that would have made a difference or not, Angie being far from her best recently, who knows ?
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 8:30 am
Which player Catherine did you nearly do a biography with?
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 8:35 am
I saw the video and Oakley was acting like a jackass to security and he assaulted the one by physically poking his finger at his face – Oak must’ve done or said something to warrant a crew of security to be sent to accommodate him – Is Oakley a peaceful law abiding turn the other cheek kinda guy or a troublesome antagonistic cop/security hating (by media inciting) black man? I’d lean toward the latter based on the video I saw – Obey the law and respect the law and you have no problems – it’s really quite simple Dan –
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 8:37 am
Kerber vs Coco rematch would have been great to see – How about Coco acting like she had a leg injury then winning ten straight games to clinch the tie vs Petkovic – and then playing the dead doubles right after! Talk about a suspect phantom injury!
Hartt · February 13, 2017 at 9:42 am
Apparently CoCo was cramping and people are speculating that it was indeed a fake injury time out. I did not see the match so have no idea if the speculation is correct.
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 9:45 am
I saw it and it looked fake – she was down 2-4 and acting like her leg was hurt and then took inj timeout down 2-4 and then got up and won ten straight games and played the dead doubles when she could have sat out and let Rogers or Riske or Sands play instead –
Hartt · February 13, 2017 at 9:52 am
Doubles News: The Rotterdam tournament has a very deep draw for doubles. There are doubles specialist teams, teams with a singles and a doubles player and some teams comprised of 2 singles players.
Some of the ones listed are: Herbert/Mahut (Herbert just won his singles match in Rotterdam against Feli Lopez), Nestor/Roger-Vasselin (Nestor was in final in Montpellier), Feli Lopez/Marc Lopez, Cilic/Zimonjic (won Sofia).
Others include Goffin/Verdasco (Goffin finalist in Sofia), Dimitrov/Pouille (Dimitrov Sofia winner), Kohlschreiber/Thiem (Thiem still playing a ton of matches), Berdych/Bopanna.
And last, but not least, Sascha and Mischa Zverev. I wonder if they will still play doubles after their exploits in Montpellier.
Hartt · February 13, 2017 at 9:53 am
Scoop, I was not a CoCo fan before and this has made me like her even less.
catherine bell · February 13, 2017 at 10:47 am
Hartt – I totally agree re Coco
Scoop – It was Rosie Casals
Dan Markowitz · February 13, 2017 at 1:28 pm
Scoop, we’re talking about James Dolan here who hired Isiah Thomas, who sexually assaulted a black woman who worked for the Knicks and Dolan had to pay her millions of dollars because it was proven in court. We’re talking about James Dolan, who ousted his father from running Madison Square Garden. Dolan has antagonized Oakley for many years now. Oakley is one of the most popular Knicks ever, up there with Walt Frazier and Willis Reed, Bill Bradley and Patrick Ewing, but Dolan won’t include him in any reunion get-togethers.
Oakley is a physical man. When you send eight security guards up there to confront him and they disrespect them, this is not a guy who’s going to say, “Aw shucks guys, you’re right.” Dolan was a fool for making a big scene about it.
Look at the court of public opinion. Everyone in New York City is favoring Oakley and no one is in Dolan’s corner. Don’t try to make this into a black man running roughshod against the law. This was entrapment pure and simple and Knick fans are not buying it. They see Dolan for what he is–a pompous uncouth, former alcoholic who like Trump loves to ostracize people and condemn them.
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 1:34 pm
Hartt; I don’t think you should hold it against Coco. Faking injuries is a part of the professional tennis tours. Rafa is allegedly guilty of having done the same thing Coco just did a number of times over the years. I still remember the most blatant time was when Rafa was down two sets to one to Petzschner at Wimbledon and he stopped the match for his supposed knee problem and then when the match resumed Rafa was running around like a wildman and gangbusters. The five or ten minute delay totally froze Petzschner who lost his rhythm and momentum and of course the match. I was just told Mladenovic complained in the media about Baczsinsky alleged fake injury in Fed Cup yesterday. Kiki was quoted saying: “One minute she can’t run then she’s jumping around like a kangaroo…” I find it very interesting that fake injuries played a pivotal role in both Fed Cup victories by Switzerland and USA. Injury trickery is a very sophisticated skill and weapon that is still highly effective in disturbing an opponent – and in may cases bluffing and beating the bewildered opponent. With these examples of successes this weekend I expect to see many more faked injuries for the rest of the season. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it adds drama and intrigue to a match.
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 1:35 pm
Catherine: Did Rosie ever do a book? I bet it could have been a very good read.
catherine bell · February 13, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Scoop- No, as far as I’m aware Rosie never did a book.
Also, I think she would have done better to have hired an American writer, looking back.
Maybe she could’ve produced a good instructional based book at one time, but of course the game changed so much since her heyday that it might not have appealed to publishers later on.
Rosie was (is) a very honest person and wanted to discuss things which weren’t always agreeable to others. She wasn’t interested in bland whitewashing. I agreed with her there.
Andrew Miller · February 13, 2017 at 2:03 pm
Rankings news for week of 2/13:
– No us men in top 20
– Four US men in top 30! Sock at 21.
– Four Spaniards in top 30. Ferrer at #27, not used to seeing the mighty David Ferrer so low *despite having a completely respectable top 30 ranking*
– Top twenty looks doable for Sock, he’d have to get over his fear of big guys like Tsonga.
– Despite the ranking tumbles out of the top ten like Berdych, the top twenty looks top to bottom solid.
– Ryan Harrison leapfrogs all other us next Gen whatever and is at #62 poised for top 50.
– UK now has count em TWO top 50 players as Edmund sneaks into the club of fifty best at the moment
– DY is #6 on us depth charts, Tiafoe also top 100
– Donaldson IS #100. Frankly the guy who’s doing best among young fellas us Tiafoe and Donaldson is doing fine.
– And all of these guys are ahead of Fritz, who is just a handful of slots ahead of Kid Kozlov at #120. It’s time to call BS on Fritz’ inevitable rise to glory. This isn’t glory when you are around the top 50-60 and then double up your ranking. That’s called regression to the mean or average. He may want to hire a real coach.
– Vesely slumming around the top fifty but id wager on his way down to rankings held by other “talented and less than serious lefties” like Bellucci.
Andrew Miller · February 13, 2017 at 2:15 pm
I realize it’s easy to rain criticism on poor Fritz, it’s just as easy to look at Escobedo’s #117 ranking and Polansky’s top 125 ranking and say so what? Those guys actually fought very hard to get close to career highs. I point out Fritz because there was considerable talk and hype about his game and cut throat ability on the court, but I think it’s important to note the obvious: He’s stumbled since being the Memphis finalist last year.
I also wanted to note something that I read Wertheim and Sports Illustrated who alluded to Djokovic’s off court issues in a way that made me think that maybe there is some kind of open secret among the tennis community. He didn’t speculate but observed that Djokovic has more or less underperformed significantly since his French triumph with mostly hiccups since then and said obviously what’s going on off court showed up in his game. I have no reason to speculate either but I was surprised that Wertheim went ahead and said this level of performance is way off the rails and whatever is bothering him is real because you can’t explain it any other way than off court things derailed Djoker or Djoker derailed himself off court. Same thing.
Hartt · February 13, 2017 at 4:12 pm
Andrew, the UK has 3 players in the top 50, Dan Evans is No. 44 (he moved up 3 spots).
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 6:41 pm
I’d be interested in what a player like Rosie Casals has to say about her career – it would be interesting in a Spadea/Break Point kind of way –
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 6:47 pm
Fritz earned ALL the hype at Autralian Open qualies last year where he was in the final round and was up a set and break on Zverev the elder and then proceeded to blow the second set tiebreaker and was down 0-4 in the third set then suddenly raised his level and won SIX STRAIGHT games to qualify for the main draw – It was an incredible display of which I have not forgot and never will forget – He then lost to Sock in five sets and then finaled at memphis with two more late third set wins over established experienced veterans one of which was Benjamin Becker – Fritz then lost a tough final to Nishikori – He was spent and lost early at Delray and then the real downturn of his year was the three set loss to Tiafoe in Indian Wells – Fritz played a good match in Halle vs Federer but the rest of his year’s results were rather ordinary – But still it’s way too early to write off Fritz who has an explosive gave and an uncanny ability to outplay and outsmart far more experienced players in the clutch moments –
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 6:51 pm
Regarding Djokovic – I have heard and seen too much smoke about infidelity and the conclusion is there has to be a fire somewhere causing all this smoke – the point of decline was at Wimbledon when the rumors first hatched – We have seen with Tiger Woods that personal issues can result in decline in athletic performance though Djokovic’s problems are far less publicly embarrassing though it should be pointed out Djokovic’s decline is far less drastic and stunning than that of Woods –
Hartt · February 13, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Wasn’t Fritz’s wife due to have their baby by now? He may be somewhat preoccupied.
Andrew Miller · February 13, 2017 at 8:09 pm
Trend lines show Fritz has doubled his ranking and is on his way to the outer orbit of the 120th ranking spot and could pass Kudla going the wrong way by month’s end. I don’t dispute ball striking ability, or to some extent the bad luck of drawing seeds in main draws. Only that, like Brad Klahn, whose lefty power game i appreciate, Fritz rocketed to the top 70 and finds himself a year later with a sub 110 rank. I’m not about to write the kid’s obit or write him off, but at some point you have to pop the balloon, let some air out, and hope he hires a good coach. Dent would be a good pick up.
I too have seen the ambitious Fritz up close obliterating forehands and striking his wacked backhand with authority (however much I dislike it, it cam have a deadly accuracy and is moves far faster through the court than I had imagined, though falls a tad short if I recall). He does have the southern Californian laid back nature reminding me of Sampras, and has shown a cut throat competitiveness when squaring off against just about anyone.
But without more of a team around him my guess is Kozlov moves past him and he finds himself qualifying for IW and Miami.
I’m not saying he isn’t good. I’m saying like Stathovsky said repeatedly that the hype around young American male stars isn’t good and has done him mo favors, no matter how great he played in Memphis.
Tennis is cruel. The sport eats players for breakfast and as much as your peers are your friends they like nothing better than tagging other players with a straight set scoreline. And sadly our own memories of how fantastic a player is on a day is NO MATCH for the grind of the tour. Manning up is the only respectable response.
Look no further than any player on tour. Some players learned their lessons and decided they were going to make the improvements and stick to training and on occasion mix it up.
Look no further than Coco, whose coach Kardon said the one thing he hates most on tour is when players say all they need to do is play their game. Yeah, play it, and improve it! Scout your opponent! Have a game plan! Or look at Kudla last year who would say how the hardcourts during the summer didn’t favor his game.
What does that even mean? Gullickson once told Sampras, who said the same thing about the Wimbledon grass, to get over his complaining and learn how to respect and play on the surface. Results speak for themselves.
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2017 at 8:10 pm
Yes I believe the birth happened weeks ago but not certain of that – I was told by a person connected with the Fritz Family that father and son have a disagreement on the marriage and that is another distraction Taylor has to deal with – The pressure on Fritz to develop and show extraordinary results will not be easy with a young family also on his mind – You have to wonder how the careers of Federer Sampras Nadal Agassi etc would have turned out had they married and had a child at age nineteen –
Andrew Miller · February 13, 2017 at 8:12 pm
And Zverev the elder never stopped improving. That’s what good vets do. No surprise he is top fifty and Frotz isn’t.
Andrew Miller · February 13, 2017 at 8:12 pm
Hartt am shocked Uk has three top fifty players, that is unheard of!
catherine bell · February 14, 2017 at 2:34 am
Djokovic and Jelena are expecting a second child I heard.
catherine bell · February 14, 2017 at 2:39 am
Scoop/Dan
You may be enthralled to learn that, while my computer system has crashed all around me, the T-P site is the only one I can access, anywhere 🙂
Dan markowitz · February 14, 2017 at 4:53 am
The power of Tennis-Prose.com, wonderful Catherine. Itd the tennis and internet Gods at work!
Dan Markowitz · February 14, 2017 at 12:11 pm
Interesting that a guy like Chardy, no. 68, will play in a French Challenger, but you don’t see any of the top 70 Americans playing American challengers.
Andrew Miller · February 14, 2017 at 1:48 pm
True, if you are an American in the top hundred you are looking for main draw cash.
Overseas Lucas Pouille is sucking it up. He will be out of the top twenty soon and Jack Sock should take advantage and swap spots. I thought Pouille was ready for prime time by beating Nadal, and via his work ethic Nadal is back in a big way and Pouille is kissing the future goodbye.
In Memphis impressed so many are playing dubs. Harry and SteveJo, and Opelka and Donaldson I think. This should be an interesting week to see what happens in Memphis, but id counsel against seeing anything out of Memphis as a read on how the players will do. Memphis isn’t anything like even Delray beach, which features a surface that’s more true to form.
But appreciate Memphis for what it does, which is give a forum for American players and a spotlight to catch them before they get clobbered in the US masters tournaments in IW and Miami 🙁
Opelka squares off against DY. I can’t imagine DY is over his loss to Opelka in front of a home crowd in Atlanta. Either it will be DY and payback or Opelka asserting himself on a court that is even more favorable to his game than Atlanta was. Opelka does remind me quite a bit of Karlovoc in terms of his lack of control on the groundies, but he’s a lot further along than Karlovic was at the same age. The issue today will be the DY return of serve. If he can get ahead of it he should find himself in a match. If not its more fuel for Opelka to raise his ranking before he’s injured again.
Andrew Miller · February 14, 2017 at 1:50 pm
Isner excepted given past performance as a finalist at US masters draws in IW and a good run in Miamo before Ginelstob jumped ship and left Isner in the dust.
Hartt · February 14, 2017 at 2:06 pm
Scoop, I got to see part of the Tsitsipas vs. Tsonga match in Rotterdam. After you talked about how impressed you were with the youngster I have been paying attention to him, so was pleased to have the chance to see him play in an ATP 500 event against a veteran player. Unfortunately I had to leave just as the 2nd set TB began, which I see Tsonga won. But given the situation and his opponent Tsitsipas did not look out of his league. He even held his composure when the chair umpire made an incorrect overrule on an important point, and went on to win that particular game.
He was very impressive, especially for an 18-year-old.
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2017 at 2:15 pm
Hartt: Tsitsipas is a beautiful elegant player! Love his game and also his very nice laid back friendly approachable demeanor – I think this is the only match in tennis history where two players played with Ts as the first two letters in the last name 🙂 One day Tsitsipas will be lauded as having the most beautiful one hander in the ATP I predict –
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2017 at 2:18 pm
Dan: Querrey played those two Calif Challengers a couple of years ago and Q Ball is in negotiations to play the Sarasota Challenger in April –
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2017 at 2:19 pm
Catherine: T-P has a life of it’s own 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Could Zverev the elder have been inspired by Estrella Burgos? I’d guess Yes –
Dan Markowitz · February 14, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Qball did play those Cally challengers and really didn’t face much competition in bagging both of them. But QBall was on the skids when he played those events. I guess Harry going back and winning Dallas was akin to an ATP level American playing a Challenger, but you wonder why DY doesn’t play a Challenger lately.
jg · February 14, 2017 at 3:42 pm
also don’t understand why the younger US players don’t play in the South American clay court tournaments, I would think many of them would get in the main draws and its great experience over a challenger tournament on hard courts. It would help their play come the spring clay court season.
Hartt · February 14, 2017 at 4:22 pm
That is fun – both Tsonga and Tsitsipas starting with “Ts.” They showed a replay of the TB and although Tsonga won 7-2 he had to work harder than the score indicates. Elegant is a good adjective for both Tsitsipas’ game and his BH.
Hartt · February 14, 2017 at 4:38 pm
Pouille had a foot injury that affected the start of his season. It is a little early to start writing him off.
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2017 at 4:50 pm
Pouille also trained with Federer in Dubai in off season and if you follow the history of other Fed practice partners it could be a reason to write off Pouille 🙂 Hope not though because Pouille has a big potential and could be a top ten or top five type player –
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2017 at 4:53 pm
jg: The Younger Americans probably prefer to be in US soil in Tennessee and Delray and also Tempe Az has a Challenger this week (Kozlov is no 2 seed) – Best way to get ready for Indian Wells (which is only a month away) is to play on US hardcourts – By the way I hear there are even more improvements to IW this year like every year and the objective is for the tournament to be the fifth Grand Slam someday –
Thomas Tung · February 14, 2017 at 6:53 pm
Scoop, wouldn’t IW be competing with Miami in that regard? I remember (back in the late 90s – early 2000s) that Cliff Drysdale used to proclaim Miami as the “Fifth Grand Slam”, and ESPN even featured a few quickie interviews with players that said so, too (as did Tennis magazine and other publications).
Andrew Miller · February 14, 2017 at 7:52 pm
Americans played South America last year, with Sock playing one tournament there before Houston and Isner playing two tournaments there before Houston. They didn’t net much, no wins, but that took guts. Young guys definitely should play there – if anything to go against the grain. Donaldson is actually a fine clay courter and most us guys don’t mind the dirt these days, I’m sure they can equal the fourth round Roland garros mark that Roddicks generation left for them.
Roddicks generation was allergic. Querrey and Isner have been in European clay final, Baker was at his best on clay though he is Roddick generation. I’d definitely advocate for Americans doing that.
It’s a ranking risk and costs a bundle, so no surprise that the two best Americans Sock and Isner did this last year, probably among the few guys that could afford it.
Andrew Miller · February 14, 2017 at 8:33 pm
Scoop, the curse of Federer practice partners!!!
Scoop Malinowski · February 15, 2017 at 8:27 am
T2: That was the apparent plan but Indian Wells is now WAY ahead of Key Biscayne in regards to prestige – Cliff Drysdale has relocated to Austin TX – I was surprised Cliff left KB – I love Key Biscayne tourney but everyone I talk to in tennis says IW is far better and constantly growing and improving – Key Biscayne is not allowed to grow or change according to a business deal made with the family who donated the original land for Crandon Park – It’s quite complicated but there has even been threats and lawsuits about moving the event from Key Biscayne to another site in Florida or even out of the country – Img owns the Key Biscayne tourney but is not allowed to grow it or change any of the current set up on the land – I like the old school feel of the grounds but compared to the modernity of IW it’s kind of archaic –
Scoop Malinowski · February 15, 2017 at 8:29 am
Andrew: I agree with it – it happens in boxing also where very good boxers work as sparring partners to star boxers and some struggle to break out of that secondary subservient role – I think a lot of tennis players feel an obligation to defer to Federer – In a sense I can understand why Donald Young rejected the opportunity to train with Nadal which was a controversy a few years ago –
Andrew Miller · February 15, 2017 at 9:14 am
Scoop have Nadal practice partners suffered? I don’t know if Nadal pulls the same hit me a gazillion top spun backhands to my backhand stunt (in fairness I have no idea what Federer puts his practice partners through other than for the most part they say they are better for it and perform at am abysmal level afterwards).
Scoop Malinowski · February 15, 2017 at 9:57 am
I talked with two Nadal sparring partners and one (top junior but struggling low ranked pro) said he was nice and helpful and the other (now a top 150 player) said Nadal did not speak one word during their practices – Nadal usually practices with other Spaniards at majors – one thing about Nadal in practice is that all the players I interviewed for Facing Nadal said that Rafa comes out firing at full power from the first ball of practice – Rafa has no mercy on anyone on the court whether it’s a match or practice the guy always goes all out –
Andrew Miller · February 15, 2017 at 10:31 pm
DY d. OPELKA. nice win, DY gets him back for the loss in Atlanta, where Opelka made the semis by beating most Americans before being stopped by Isner.
Didn’t know Dimitrov bagged a title in Bulgaria on his home turf. That’s like winning Wimbeldon for a player, winning at home.
Hartt · February 16, 2017 at 6:10 am
See that young Kasatkina just defeated Kerber. So Angie’s poor start to the season continues.