I often back the underdogs and tennis is no exception. In the past ten years, there have been 3 male newcomers that impressed me enormously the first time I saw them play. I would have put significant sums of money on them reaching the upper ranks, barring injuries. The last of the three, Carlos Alcaraz, entered the Top 10 for the first time today, one of the fastest rises in history.…
For those that follow men’s tennis, you know it’s been dominated by 3 players for more than 15 years. Out of 60 grand slam tournaments that have been player, 85% of them have been won by these three players.
If tennis is not your sport, imagine that a single team or player won 85% of every major event for 15 years.…
Not since my 2016 pick of Alexander Zverev (now in the top 10!) have I been this excited by a new player. This year it’s Alex de Minaur. Currently ranked 208 in the world, this is definitely my biggest longshot of a pick ever.
He has a long list of things going for him:
Denis Shapavalov is my pick for promising new player of the year. A very aggressive lefty, scrappy, and an excellent volleyer. Lots of positive energy although a bit too much temper.
Someone to watch in 2017. Currently ranked over 100 in the world.
Other predictions:
New tennis face for 2018
New tennis face for 2016
New tennis faces for 2011
I did this for 2011 but I thought it would be fun to put my pick or picks for the next hot player in writing and see how I do.
I was watching a match on Court 5 at the US Open in 2015, which shares seating with Court 4 so you can watch two matches at once.…
First world problem.
I record a lot of tennis on TiVo partly because it’s usually inconvenient to watch it live (time zone differences) and if I time-shift it, I can zap the commercials or skim matches I don’t have time to watch all of.
It’s gotten increasingly difficult to not have the outcomes of matches I’ve queued up be spoiled before I’ve gotten a chance to see them.…
The highlight of the Australian Open this year for me was seeing three very promising players that I’ve never seen before, two of which I’ve never even heard of:
I played tennis recently at a “public” court owned by Valley Church in Cupertino, CA. I was browsing their website today and came across a page about the tennis courts:
Valley Church: Sports Ministry
I think the mission statement bears repeating:
…Building bridges with people through sports, introducing them to Jesus Christ, establishing them in their faith, assimilating them into the church and training them to reproduce.