It’s that time of the year when many pundits and punters draw a line under 2016 and instead focus on the 12 months to come.
As far as tennis is concerned, it has been another halcyon year for messrs Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka, but there’s a new breed of young talents coming through that could, one day, challenge for supremacy.
For now though, they are well worth following in the multitude of tournaments taking place around the world each and every week.
Alexander Zverev
What a year it has been for Zverev, who is up to number 24 in the world after a halcyon 12 months.
After Appearing in event finals in Halle and Nice, the consistent German finally bagged his first piece of silverware in St Petersburg in the autumn; and that could well be the first of many for the 19-year-old.
A powerful strokemaker with a heavy serve, the improvement in Zverev’s game since he was trounced in straight sets by Andy Murray at the Australian Open in January is astounding, and a pair of last 32 appearances in subsequent slam events is testament to that.
In 2017, he will be looking to kick on and add more trophies to his cabinet; the potential here is enormous.
Steve Johnson
Another venerable ‘veteran’ at 26, we have included Johnson in the list as he still has a few years of quality tennis in the locker, and here’s another guy that has stepped up to the play in 2016.
His results in the majors may not have been all that impressive, but let’s see who he has been knocked out by: an in-form and fit David Ferrer at the Australian, clay specialist Fernando Verdasco at Rolland Garros, Roger Federer at Wimbledon, del Potro at the US and Murray at the Olympics. As far as draws go, Johnson has had the rough end of the deal.
It is more notable scalps that catch the eye with the American. He has beaten John Isner in Washington where the big server has been so dominant, has beaten the likes of Kevin Anderson, Richard Gasquet and Grigor Dimitrov on grass, and took Murray to a final set tie-break in their Olympics match.
Johnson is getting close to making the breakthrough; in smaller ranking events, he could be the go-to guy in the outright betting markets.
Pablo Carreno Busta
Another young man that has climbed the world rankings this year is Carreno Busta, or PCB as he will be known from here-on-in for the sake of brevity.
The Spaniard burst onto the scene as something of a clay court specialist, unsurprisingly, but a growing maturity in his game saw him lift trophies on the hard courts of Moscow and Winston-Salem towards the tailend of the campaign, and that bodes very well for 2017.
PCB is now a proven winner on the ATP Tour following on from his excellent background on the Challenger circuit, and he will be looking to break into the top 16 in the world next year.
Kyle Edmund
Th young Brit has improved immeasurably in the past year, and has consistently reached the latter stages of tournaments: a semi-final in Antwerp a few weeks ago, quarters in Doha, Beijing and at Queens, plus a smattering of Challenger Tour titles.
What has been most-attention grabbing from the 21-year-old has been his level of performance against more established opposition. He took out Isner and Gasquet in the US Open before succumbing to Djokovic in a hard fought contest, took a set off Murray at Queens and was a game away from reaching the final in Antwerp against Gasquet once again.
At 21 Edmund offers the fearlessness of youth with an ever-maturing head on his shoulders; he can go all the way in the game and should take huge strides in 2017.
Juan Martin del Potro
Okay, so we’re using the term ‘young gun’ loosely here, but it is amazing to note that del Potro is still only 28 – it feels like he has been around for a lifetime.
The 2009 US Open champion looked set to join the top table of tennis after his breakthrough Grand Slam victory but it never quite panned out that way for the Argentine, and a career-threatening wrist injury almost ended his time at the top of the game.
After making several aborted comebacks in the past few years, 2016 was finally the year that del Potro returned to the spotlight; and playing some breathtaking tennis too.
Two ranking event titles in Shanghai and Stockholm have bookended a year which also featured a run to the quarter finals of the US Open, a silver medal at the Olympic Games and leading Argentina to Davis Cup glory. Not bad for a player who many thought was finished as a top-level entity.
His entry into the list comes with this theory in mind: he could win a major next year. With Djokovic struggling of late, Murray not a man for all seasons and other members of the sport’s elite – Wawrinka, Nadal, Raonic etc – having problems with form and injuries, the Argentine is very much one to watch; particularly on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows and Melbourne.
Jiri Vesely
What a strange year it has been for Jiri Vesely. Yet to really deliver upon his undoubted promise, a springtime defeat of Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters launched the Czech ace onto a wider stage.
He didn’t really kick on straight away – forgivable really, but a decent run in the grass swing with last 16 appearances at Queens and Wimbledon suggests Vesely has an excellent all-round game which can compete on all surfaces.
There’s bags of potential here, and it may well be that in 2017 he finally delivers.
Taylor Fritz
Fritz is leading the pack of modern young players coming through, and with his physically imposing frame it’s no wonder that the American is already making waves on the ATP Tour.
An outstanding 2015 on the Challenger Tour caught the eye, and the 19-year-old nearly humbled Jack Sock in his first career major appearance at the Aussie Open in an encounter that went to a fifth set.
Shortly after he reached the final of an ATP event in Memphis and hasn’t looked back since: reaching two ranking event quarter-finals and driving Stan Wawrinka very hard at Wimbledon.
Fritz has all of the physical attributes to be a huge star, and as his game management improves with age he will surely be a force to be reckoned with.
Reilly Opelka
Opelka might be a new name for many punters, but he really is an outstanding prospect that is already starting to deliver.
The foundation of his game is a huge, booming serve, and clearly in hard court events and potentially on grass too he can become a genuine threat to bigger names in 2017.
He won his first Challenger event at the tailend of the season, and his progress in main tour event has been decent too: wins over the likes of Jeremy Chardy, Donald Young and Kevin Anderson confirm that this young man can break the top 100 next term – and cause many a headache for established names along the way.
