Saturday, February 27, 2016

Is There a New "Big Four" Brewing on the ATP Tour?

Within the last few years there has been an influx of young talent on the ATP Tour, but no one seemed truly ready to challenge the game's best.  The likes of Kyrgios, Kokkinakis, Zverev, Coric, Thiem, Tomic and others all posted some good results, but many tennis fans wanted more than they were giving.  It finally appears that fans who have been hoping to see some fresh faces at the top may be getting their wish before long.  Since the Australian Open several young players have made serious strides, and they appear closer to reaching the games elite.

20 year old Nick Kyrgios has made waves based on winning a 250 level title in Marseille (which included several quality wins), and following it up with a run to the Dubai semifinals before retiring against Wawrinka.  22 year old Dominic Thiem has been on a tear of late as well.  He won a 250 on clay while beating Nadal along the way, reached a semis the next week which included a win over Ferrer, and is currently in the finals of the 500 level tournament in Acapulco.  Thiem is clearly headed toward the top 10, and will enter the top 5 in the points race for the year after this week.

18 year old Alexander Zverev has been in good form as well, and has cracked the top 60 in the world.  Another 18 year old, American Taylor Fritz, has been rolling in 2016.  He fell to Sam Querrey in the quarters of Acapulco after coming through qualifying, and earlier made the finals of the 250 level tournament in Memphis.  Fritz's goal for the year was reportedly to crack the top 100, but has already done so just a couple months into the year.  His should now have his sights set on a spot in the top 40 by the end of 2016.

While there's a handful of other talented young players, Kyrgios, Thiem, Zverev and Fritz all seem to have grand slam champion level talent.  Someone will have to win slams after the "Big Four" move on in a few years, and these guys seem to be as likely of bets as anyone.  Kyrgios, Zverev and Fritz all have natural "point ending" power that lends itself to grand slam titles, and Thiem should be a dark horse threat at the French Open as early as this year. The slightly older Kyrgios and Thiem already seem to be on their way to passing the "second tier" top ten guys, i.e. Ferrer, Berdych, Gasquet, Nishikori, etc, and at this rate Zverev and Fritz may just be a couple of years behind.

Lots of things can change over the next few years, but if the last month is any indication this group of young stars isn't going to waste much time in making their moves.  It may be a bit early to start calling them the next Big Four, but their future and the future of the ATP Tour appears to be extremely bright.

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