After The Big Three...

 

After the Big Three…

At some point seemingly soon... Tennis’ “Big Three” of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic will have to pass the baton to the next generation of men’s tennis players. Who will fill the void? Will any of them have the skill, athleticism, competitive drive, and fitness/health to ever approach the accomplishments of the Big Three? 

It was easy to dismiss the 2021 Miami Open because a) it conflicted with the NCAA Final 4 b) it conflicted with the opening weekend of MLB and c) the Big Three all pulled out of the tournament.

The relative ‘“void” created by the absence of the Big Three created opportunity for younger players to seize the spotlight and 4 players in particular caught my attention and they all share a few qualities that may serve them well as they attempt to ascend the ATP rankings and compete for Major/Slam titles.

Sebastian Korda made the quarter finals in Miami where he lost to eventual semi-finalist Andrey Rublev (I’ll get to Andrey next). Korda is the rare American born player (also speaks Czech) that looks like an imminent contender. At 20 years old (6’5) Korda is being “slow-cooked” by his coaches. In other words, DEVELOPMENT is taking precedence over chasing tournament success. The plan is to develop a complete tennis game and not burn him out/bang his body up before he’s ready. At this stage in his development the focus is on building a foundation on fitness/athleticism, nutrition, recovery. Pete Sampras took a similar approach during his junior career and it worked out pretty well for him.

 Korda’s father Petr is a former ATP Pro (at one point was the #2 player in the World) and mom, a former WTA Pro, his two sisters play on the LPGA women’s golf tour.  Petr and his wife encouraged their children to experiment with multiple sports, so they would find what best suited them, and to understand the different skills required by each of them. The kids dutifully tried skiing, skating, taekwondo, hockey and ballet. Across the board at the highest level of sports a vast majority of the best athletes in the World participated in multiple sports as kids and/or come from extremely athletic/active families.

 Two former American tennis greats Jim Courier and Andy Roddick (in reality the last relevant American men’s tennis player on the ATP tour) are all in on Korda! They see something that American Men’s tennis has lacked for nearly 20 years… Hope! 

 I love watching tennis for its athleticism and the movement. Korda is an athlete that plays tennis and with that comes a high ceiling!

 Andrey Rublev is the 8th ranked player in the World and made the semis in Miami. Rublev is 23 years old and stands 6’2. His dad was a former boxer, mom and sister are tennis coaches. As a kid Rublev boxed, played basketball, and speaks three languages! I love watching Rublev play, he’s extremely aggressive and hits absolute lasers with his forehand (the hip/torso rotational speed is crazy!).

 Jannik Sinner is ranked 23rd in the World and made the Finals in Miami. Sinner is 19 years old and stands 6’2. Sinner was a champion skier in Italy from ages 8 to 12. Sinner eventually chose tennis over skiing at age 13. He also played soccer as a kid and continues to play the sport now! He also speaks three languages!

 Hubert Hurkacz won the Miami Open and rose to #16 in the current ATP rankings. Hubert is 24 years old and stands 6’5. Hurkacz’s mom, dad, sister and uncles all played tennis (mom was a junior champion in Poland). His grandfather was an international level volleyball player. His parents were also on the same swim team in college (it’s how they meet). Hubert participated in gymnastics, basketball, and soccer as a kid.  

 

In quick summary these young men have a few traits in common. They come from athletic/active minded families, they played multiple sports as kids (did not specialize in tennis from a young age) all are at minimum bilingual and at least 6’2. If you aspire to be a great tennis player it would be wise to follow their lead as the only one of these traits that is not modifiable is your height. I guess you can blame your parents for that one and potentially not leading by example without their own fitness and sport participation. For parents no one spends more time than you with their kids particularly during their formative years. Show them the way!

 You may have noticed that I made a big deal about speaking multiple languages… Why is that important? Basically it boosts your ability to process information faster (amongst several other benefits), pretty important in a sport like tennis!

 Keep your eye out for the next generation of men’s tennis players. The four mentioned above are extremely intriguing prospects from my perspective and I am excited to see how they progress.