Countdown to the 2021 Season: 5 players to look forward to on the ATP Tour in the coming year
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With the 2020 season coming to a halt with the conclusion of the Nitto ATP Finals 2020, all eyes will be set on the 2021 season. This year was extraordinary in all circumstances with the coronavirus suspending the regular tennis season from March-June. This year witnessed just 3 Grandslams instead of the usual 4, as the Wimbledon Championships could not be held due to scheduling difficulties amid the coronavirus.
The year witnessed Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal winning a Grandslam each, with Dominic Thiem winning his first major at the US Open. Among several other regular top players, this year witnessed a new generation of players who played their hearts out and took a huge step in their careers. Andrey Rublev was a standout performer of the year with 5 titles to his name.
In this article, we will have a look at the 5 most promising players to look forward to in 2021.
Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev was one of the standout performers of the year, winning 5 titles this year, the most by any player on tour in 2020. The Russian made huge in-roads in his rankings, as he entered the top 10 rankings for the first time in his career in October. Rublev won titles in Hamburg, Doha, Adelaide, Petersburg and in Vienna. He also qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in London but did not manage to get past the round-robin stage.
Ranked eight in the world going into the 2021 season, the Russian has raised a lot of expectations for himself after his tremendous 2020 season. Having made the quarterfinals at the US Open and the French Open, the youngster will be looking forward to a better performance at majors in the upcoming year. He certainly has the quality to match the higher ranked players but will have to work on his temperament in the coming years.
Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner had a terrific second half of the season, post the lockdown. The Italian claimed his first ATP title at the Sofia Open just before the season drew to a close. Sinner reached the quarterfinals at the French Open where he beat the likes of Alexander Zverev and David Goffin before eventually losing to the champion, Rafael Nadal in the last 8 match-up. Among his other credible performances, he reached the semifinals at the Bett1Hulks Indoor Championships, last 16 at the Italian Open where he beat Tsitsipas in the 2nd round.
Jannik Sinner will be hoping to continue this form, come 2021. The young Italian has attracted a lot of attention on him after his magnificent performances in 2020, so he will have to deal with the pressure of performing well. Having beaten the likes of Zverev and Tsitsipas in 2020, the Italian has showed he has the caliber to take the game to the big guns.
Casper Ruud
One player that has enormous potential in him is the Norwegian, Casper Ruud. Ruud has won just one title in 2020 at the Argentina Open earlier in February but has a couple of noteworthy performances to his name. He reached his first Masters semifinal at the Italian Open after he defeated the likes of M.Berrettini, M. Cilic to reach that far in Rome. He also reached the semifinals at the German Open and a decent outing at the French Open, where he reached the 3rd round.
Towards the end of the year, Ruud’s form eclipsed away. But the Norwegian does possess the quality to have a breakthrough 2021 season and take further strides in his career. He is known to be good player on clay courts, but has to develop his game on the hard courts.
Ugo Humbert
Ugo Humbert is one of the most well-known youngsters who has been spoken about in the past year. The Frenchman won 2 titles in 2020, winning the ASB Classic and the European Open. The young Frenchman defeated the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Marin Cilic in his highly successful season in 2020. Humbert defeated Alex De Minaur to lift the European Open title in Antwerp.
A lot is expected from the Frenchman going forward into the 2021 season. One particular aspect, Humbert will be hoping to do better is to perform well at the Grandslams. Humbert has not quite hit the ground running at majors, as he has suffered early round exits. He also did reasonably well in his final tournament of 2020, reaching the last 8 at the Paris Masters.
Alex De Minaur
The 23 ranked Australian, Alex De Minaur is one of the young guns to look forward to in 2021. Minaur did not play many singles tournaments in 2020 but has beaten the likes of Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov in 2020. The Australian also leapfrogged Nick Kyrgios to become the top ranked Australian currently.
Alex De Minaur did not have a good clay court season but hard quite a few good runs on hard courts. He reached the quarterfinals at the US Open, losing to Thiem in straight sets and also reached the finals of the European Cup, losing to Ugo Humbert. The Australian surely does have a bright future in front of him.
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Nirmit Mehta
(2425 Articles Published)