A collection of jaw-dropping upsets of prime 10 gamers on the Australian Open by fearless youngsters has fueled pleasure about the way forward for males’s tennis because the outdated guard fades into historical past.
With Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray retiring final yr and Novak Djokovic within the twilight of his record-breaking profession, the torch has already handed to the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
But the giant-killing exploits in Melbourne of Joao Fonseca, Learner Tien and Jakub Mensik signaled one other era is already knocking on the door.
Highly-rated Brazilian Fonseca, 18, thrust himself to the world’s consideration with a first-round upset of ninth seed Andrey Rublev, and 19-year-old Czech Mensik matched him by beautiful sixth seed Casper Ruud.
They have been outdone by American Tien, 19, who brought on a large shock by beating fifth seed and three-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in a five-set epic.
It is the primary time two youngsters or extra have overwhelmed top-10 gamers at a serious since 2006 when Djokovic and Murray achieved the feat at Wimbledon.
“New blood is coming,” declared Mensik, already ranked 48, after his first-round Ruud win. “For the fans, for tennis, for everything, it’s really great.”
Nine-time Grand Slam-winning doubles champion John Fitzgerald referred to as Mensik’s sport “frightening.”
“At times we all get ahead of ourselves but this kid to me looks like he could be a future Grand Slam champion. He’s a serious player,” the Australian nice stated on commentary duties on the match.
“He’s here to stay … what a game he has, it’s a frightening game.”
As Mensik went about his business, Fonseca was hogging the worldwide headlines.
Just unimaginable
The Brazilian is taken into account one of many hottest abilities in years, saying his arrival in December by beating Tien to turn out to be the youngest winner of the NextGen match since Sinner claimed the title 5 years in the past, additionally aged 18.
Mensik was additionally on the occasion in Saudi Arabia.
With his seismic floor strokes and unshakeable confidence, Fonseca was a category above Rublev earlier than nerves received the higher of him when he met Italian journeyman Lorenzo Sonego and was knocked out in spherical two.
Undeterred he stated: “Of course, my expectations are larger now. I need increasingly.
“I think that’s the mentality of the champion.”
Alcaraz tipped him to be among the many world’s prime gamers “really soon.”
“What can I say about it? Just incredible,” stated the four-time Grand Slam-winning Spaniard, himself solely 21.
“We’re going to put Joao Fonseca’s name on the list of the best players in the world really soon.”
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, stated he had been monitoring Fonseca’s progress and was equally impressed with the teen who is about to interrupt into the highest 100 when the brand new rankings are launched.
“I’ve been following his rise, and I just love how he plays the big points. Courageous, very clean hitter, all-around player,” he stated.
“Brazil is a huge country. Super important for our sport to have a very good player coming from Brazil.”
Tien’s victory over Medvedev noticed him turn out to be the second youngest American man within the Open period to succeed in the third spherical in Melbourne – behind solely 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras in 1990.
Born to Vietnamese mother and father in California, he stated the success of Fonseca and Mensik had pushed him to better heights.
“It was undoubtedly fairly inspiring. They clearly received these wins earlier than I performed my match (towards Medvedev), stated Tien, presently ranked 121.
“Just trying to almost join them. I think just seeing them, the wins they’ve had this week, just adds a little bit more belief that it’s possible.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com