We break it down, country by country, with the following criteria:
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At just 18-years-old, Geller is already at an Anderson/Isner level of service speed; in the Wimbledon junior boy’s final his average first serve was 217 km/h. The young Argentine is the current boy’s world No.1 and, shortly after competing for Stanford in the American college season, reached the final of two junior boy’s singles Grand Slam events. Has a similar game to countryman Juan Martin del Potro.
Kyrgios beats out Ash Barty because he has reached the second week of a Grand Slam four times, including the quarterfinals twice. The Australian’s career-high ranking came at 21-years-old, but form and injury issues have since derailed his impressive trajectory.
Just scrapes in at 24-years-old. You might have thought Thiem got close to the top this year with a ranking of world No.4, but he was still miles behind Roger and Rafa on points. Thiem has the fitness, drive and maturity to reach the top spot, but he must quickly develop consistency on hard courts or else the younger guns (including Wimbledon bolter and countryman Sebastian Ofner) will fly past him. Will win a French Open when Rafa retires.
Mertens joined Garbine Muguruza as a Hobart International champion in 2017 and showed plenty of signs as a top ten talent in bigger tournaments throughout the year. At 22-years-old, the Belgian is on the precipice of breaking out.
The Canadian showman put himself on the map by beating Rafael Nadal in his home country Masters 1000 event and then backed it up with a win over Jo-Wilfred Tsonga at the US Open. The 18-year-old is a lock for top ten in a few years’ time and might even win a Grand Slam before countryman Milos Raonic.
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Wu is the current boy’s world No.2 and China’s best prospect since Li Na. The 18-year-old became the first Chinese male to win a Grand Slam title when he took out the boy’s singles and doubles US Open championship. He was also a semifinalist at the Australian Open boy’s singles and doubles events.
Borna Coric gets an honourable mention, but Konjuh is the clear pick here. The 19-year-old defeated WTA finals champion Dominika Cibulkova to make the fourth round of Wimbledon this year – after reaching the US Open quarterfinals in 2016 – and was also a finalist in Auckland. Konjuh’s back end of 2017 was rough but that is to be expected from such a young player; the world No.44 will be a force with a few more tours under he belt.
Vondrousova mainly played ITF tournaments this year and, with a 60-12 win/loss record, completely dominated. The Czech has already won one singles title on the WTA tour as well as five titles on the ITF tour. At 18-years-old (and not turning 19 anytime soon), Vondrousova has so much room to grow it’s scary.
Pouille is not the most talented tennis player in the world, but he is strong on every surface and never beats himself. Hardly a praise to the sky, but that’s more an indictment of the young talent coming out of France rather than a criticism of Pouille himself.
If my editor would allow it, I would just put a padlock emoji here. Alas, she will not, so I cannot, but the point still stands.
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Considering his age (21), Quinzi’s world ranking of No.329 isn’t that impressive, and neither was his Next Gen finals campaign (lost every match), but the fact that he featured was positive.
Osaka registered wins over Venus Williams, Angie Kerber, Anastasija Sevastova and Barbora Strycova this year. She did have a lapse towards the end of the year, as most 20-year-olds do, but given she has made the third round of a major five times already, there is plenty to like.
At 20-years-old, Ostapenko is a French Open champion and world No.7. All the young Latvian needs is a reliable serve and more composure in big moments, which will undoubtedly come with the more tournaments she plays.
Andrey Rublev would be a popular pick, but the Serena-less future of women’s tennis makes it slightly easier for Kastakina to make it (four world No.1s this year alone). Daria enjoyed a tantalising 2017 season, and at such a young age (20), it was really impressive to see her form remain solid from start to finish. The young Russian won a WTA Premier event against Jelena Ostapenko, made the fourth round of the US Open and the final at another Premier event in Moscow.
After a successful era that included Djokovic, Ivanovic and Jankovic, it appears there may be a dry spell in Serbian tennis. While still very raw, the most interesting prospect is 16-year-old Danilovic, who is ranked world No.324 in the WTA and inside the ITF girl’s top ten. At 15-years-old she won the 2016 French Open girl’s doubles title.
There isn’t a whole lot of young talent coming through the Spanish ranks, but Fokina is one to watch. The 18-year-old made three Futures finals in 2017, but really put his name on peoples’ radars when he won the 2017 Wimbledon boy’s singles championship without dropping a set.
Bencic was ranked world No.7 at 18-years-old but her career spiralled downward due to repeated back, thigh and wrist injuries, and then form troubles. Still, you can’t just lose natural talent, and Bencic has that in spades. The aggressive ball striker closed out 2017 with three titles in three months and a triumphant return to the top 100.
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Clarke doesn’t have any titles or decent Grand Slam performances to his name (yet), but folks in the UK are crazy about the kid. The 19-year-old world No.219 has been travelling with the British Davis Cup team and was Andy Murray’s hitting partner throughout the French Open and Wimbledon. Clarke was at the pointy end of almost every Futures tournament he competed in this year.
There are quite a few names you could include, but I still think Keys is North America’s best chance at a world No.1 player. With a devastating forehand, Keys is a transcendent talent who, on her day, can beat anyone not named Serena Williams. Keys has three WTA titles, reached the semifinals, quarterfinals and finals of Grand Slams and already has a career-high ranking of world No.7. Her injury issues are the only real concern.
Given the 22-year-old won three Premier-5 and was just 675 points behind the world No.1 in 2017, this is a pretty safe bet. Svitolina has beaten past Grand Slam champions such as Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza and Petra Kvitová.
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