When Roberto Bautista-Agut began 2014, he was a relatively
unknown Spanish player ranked outside the top 50 in the world. He may have a ways to go before shedding the
unknown label, but he is beginning 2015 at number 15 in the world. While he wasn't a threat to win the biggest
tournaments, he had an extremely successful year that seemingly came out of
nowhere. Since enough attention gets
placed on young stars likely to make the jump to the next level, here is a look
at some players 23 or older who could pull a Roberto Bautista-Agut in 2015 and
rise from outside the top 50 to inside the top 25.
Pablo Carreno Busta: Another three name Spaniard, Busta will look to make a big
jump following a somewhat disappointing 2014 season. Busta garnered some attention from his
breakout 2013 season, in which he seemed to win every futures and challenger
level tournament he played. Based on the
ranking points he gained from all his wins at the lower levels, Busta played
most of 2014 on the ATP Tour. He largely
struggled against the tougher competition, and failed to make much of an impact
at ATP level tournaments. However, with
a full year on the ATP tour under his belt, Busta should be more prepared to
handle the level of competition he'll face in 2015. Lots of players struggle when they first make
the move up from playing challengers, but this should all be behind Busta in
2015. He'll begin the year at 51 in the
world, but look for him to finish 2015 much higher.
Federico Delbonis: Big things were expected from the Argentinean when he first
started to make a name for himself on tour a few years back. He recorded a win over Roger Federer on clay
in 2013, but since then hasn't produced many noteworthy results. Now 24, the big lefty should be ready to make
his move after the experience he gained on tour the last few years. His best results come on clay, and Delbonis
should pick up enough ranking points on the surface to make his way up the
rankings.
Jan-Lennard Struff: The big hitting 24 year old German saw his ranking climb
from outside the top 100 at the end of 2013 to inside the top 60 in 2014. Another rise in 2015 wouldn't be surprising,
as Struff seems to be on the right track.
His results were a bit spotty in 2014, and he needs to improve his
consistency week in and week out.
However, he plays a big game and can crack the ball off both wings. Unlike grinders whose games don't need much seasoning,
Struff appears to be the type of player who will thrive from his mid-twenties
on as he fully develops his game. Struff
may be a bit of a wildcard, but a big jump wouldn't be overly surprising in
2015.
Donald Young: At age 25, Young may be about to enter the best stretch of
his career. His failure to live up to
the enormous hype has been well documented, but he did finish 2014 just outside
of the top 50 in the world. He now plays
like he belongs on the ATP Tour, and is still young enough to have a very
productive career. He no longer has to
deal with heavy expectations, as American tennis fans searching for the next
big thing have moved on to the next generation.
Young should have his sights set on the top 25, and his ranking has been
moving in the right direction since early 2013.
Surprisingly at 33 years old, Lopez has a great chance to get a new career-high ranking soon. I don't know if Goffin counts as a veteran but he will move up a lot in the rankings in the next five months. Great list of players. DY will be interesting since he has a lot to defend at AO but he's pretty light for the rest of the year.
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