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Six #NextGenATP Stars Nominated For Newcomer Of The Year In 2020 Awards

The Newcomer of the Year in the 2020 ATP Awards goes to the #NextGenATP player who entered the Top 100 or Top 150 for the first time in 2020 and made the biggest impact on the ATP Tour this season. There are six nominees this season: Carlos Alcaraz, Sebastian Korda, Lorenzo Musetti, Jurij Rodionov, Emil Ruusuvuori and Thiago Seyboth Wild.

ATP Awards winners will be revealed later this month.

Carlos Alcaraz, 17 (Spain)
Alcaraz started the year barely inside the Top 500 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, sitting at No. 492. But the Spanish teen would soon take off on a meteoric rise that would rocket him up to a career-high No. 136.

Coached by former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz signalled his intent early on as the started the season by putting together a 14-match winning streak to win two ITF 15K events and reach the final at another. He went on to win his first ATP main draw match in emphatic fashion, outlasting No. 41 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round of Rio de Janeiro.

Alcaraz lifted his first ATP Challenger Series trophy in Trieste, and backed it up a week later by reaching the final again at Cordenons. But the Spaniard’s best was yet to come: on home soil, Alcaraz lifted back-to-back Challenger trophies in Barcelona and Alicante – the latter sealed with his second Top 100 victory of the year in the final. As a result, Alcaraz joined an exclusive club of players who have won at least three Challenger titles before turning 18, including Richard Gasquet, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

 

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Sebastian Korda, 20 (USA)
20-year-old Sebastian Korda’s strong late-season results – highlighted by an electric Roland Garros main draw debut – sent the American soaring up the FedEx ATP Rankings and have him knocking on the door of the Top 100.

Korda started the year ranked No. 242, and steadily chipped away at his ranking on the back of solid results at the ATP Challenger and ITF circuits, including third rounds at Indian Wells and Newport Beach. But he saved his best for the fall, and after making his Grand Slam at the US Open he went on to stun the field in Paris, reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros from qualifying.

The American closed out the season with his first Challenger trophy in Eckental. It was a long time coming for Korda, who had dropped his first eight finals as a professional.

 

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Lorenzo Musetti, 18 (ITA)
There’s no place like home for Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti. The 18-year-old fought his way into the main draw at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and once there he turned heads with some big-name upsets over former Top 5 stars Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori to reach the third round.

Musetti used his Masters 1000 success as a springboard and he continued the momentum a week later in Forli, where the Italian claimed his first ATP Challenger Tour title. He closed out the season with some more success at home, reaching his first ATP Tour semi-final in Sardinia.

“I’m playing really good tennis, my best tennis and I’m confident. I think I have the weapons… to compete at this level,” Musetti said. “The ball is a tennis ball and the other guy is a human being, so everything can happen on the court. I’m just playing and trying to do my best.”

“I’m taking a lot of emotions and wins. I’m very proud.”

 

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Jurij Rodionov, 21 (AUT)
Jurij Rodionov cut his FedEx ATP Ranking by more than half to finish the year inside the Top 150 after a breakthrough season saw him check off a lot of milestones. The Austrian claimed his second Challenger title early on in Dallas, defeating Andreas Seppi and Denis Kudla – two Top 100 players – along the way. He reeled off eight match wins in a row to claim the title in Moreles and reach the semi-finals in Columbus.

The 21-year-old didn’t slow down despite the ATP Tour’s suspension, and Rodionov qualified for his first Grand Slam main draw at Roland Garros. He made an epic debut as he ousted French player Jeremy Chardy, No. 65, in the first round after coming back from two sets down and having to save match point, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, 10-8.

Rodionov closed out the season by scoring one of the biggest victories of his career: playing against a Top 20 player for the first time and on home soil in Vienna, the Austrian defeated Denis Shapovalov in straight sets to claim a statement first ATP Tour win.

 

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Emil Ruusuvuori, 21 (FIN)
Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori broke the ATP Top 100 as he continued his slow and steady rise to the top of the game. The 21-year-old made a strong start of the year with a run to the final at the Canberra (Bendigo 1) Challenger, defeating Jannik Sinner along the way.

Ruusuvuori continued to chip away at his FedEx ATP Ranking as the season resumed, he reached his biggest main draw after qualifying for the Western & Southern Open in New York. He made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open, claiming his first major win against Aljaz Bedene in a roller-coaster five-set clash, but was forced to retire in the second round due to injury.

The 21-year-old saved his best tennis for the end of the season, reaching his first ATP Tour semi-final in Nur-Sultan, tearing through the main draw from the qualifying rounds. 

 

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Thiago Seyboth Wild, 20 (BRA)
Thiago Seyboth Wild lifted his FedEx ATP Ranking by almost 100 spots to reach a new career-high in 2020 by claiming some big-name upsets and checking off a lot of ‘firsts’.

Even though the Brazilian had won just his second ATP Tour main draw match at the Rio Open, his home tournament, Seyboth Wild played like a veteran the next week to lift his first ATP Tour trophy in Santiago. The 20-year-old took a set off home favorite Cristian Garin in the quarter-finals to claim his first Top 20 win (Garin retired in the second set).

Seyboth Wild continued his steady progress as he made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the US Open, and went on to reach the final at the Aix de Provence Challenger – taking down No. 80 Gianluca Mager in the opening round. 

 

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The Last Time… Dusan Lajovic

In the latest installment of our popular series, World No. 26 Dusan Lajovic reveals the last time…

I missed a flight?
The last time I missed a flight was five years ago. I was flying from Barcelona to Belgrade via Zurich. I missed the flight in Zurich and then we took a flight through Munich and missed the flight from Munich. We then took a flight to Frankfurt and finally, after 26 hours, got home. The first flight was late and then everything else [went wrong].

I lost something important?
I lost an iPad and headphones in 2013 on a flight to Kenya to do pre-season. It is my fault because I left them in the seat pocket on the plane. As soon as I got into the car to drive to the house, I realised I was missing them. Trying to get something back in Kenya was very difficult.

I cooked for myself and others?
In August, I made my famous chia pudding for breakfast for my team, my coaches and myself. It was a Michelin star meal.

Being famous helped me?
A couple of free meals in Serbian restaurants, when they recognise us, is always a good thing. We used Novak’s image in LA to get into a restaurant. It helped knowing Nole.

I went to a music concert?
After Wimbledon last year, I went to a festival in Serbia, in Novi Sad. It is called Exit. It is one of the most famous in Europe and I had a blast. I liked it because it was in a fortress and you had all different kinds of music. I went to [visit] electronical [acts], a couple of DJs. DJ Solomun was one of them, he is one of the best in Europe right now. It was really fun because I stayed up late and stayed there [until] the sunrise. It is really magical place.

I paid to rent a tennis court?
It was in Uzbekistan, ages ago. I remember we paid three dollars for one hour.

I paid to buy tennis balls?
Last December. I bought a box of tennis balls. It was €90 for a box of 72 balls, I think.

I strung a tennis racquet?
I did in Kenya six years ago. [I took me] two hours for one racquet. I am very bad. 

I watched a new TV series?
[I recently was watching] Dark, it is a German show about time travel. I recommend it. 

I shared a hotel room with another player?
I did a couple of times this year with my doubles partner and friend Nikola Cacic, just because we were not getting into some tournaments and then it would be tough for him to pay for an extra room. Since we are childhood friends, for us it is like we are brothers.

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Remembering Gordon Forbes, Good Player, Great Writer

Gordon Forbes, who has died at his home in South Africa at 86, was a fine tennis player. But a better writer. He was, in fact, a writer of unique style and observation; a writer with the priceless gift of sprinkling stardust on the characters who inhabited his books, turning backhands and banter into tales infected with laughter.

At his side throughout most of his life, on court and off, was his doubles partner Abe Segal who died in 2016. Larger than life could have been a phrase invented for Big Abe who partnered Forbes in numerous Davis Cup battles for South Africa, twice taking their nation to the semi-finals. Together, they reached the final of Roland Garros in 1963, the same year they were Wimbledon semi-finalists. As a singles player, Forbes won the South African title in 1959 and 1961 and was runner-up four times.

Segal would probably have become a legend in the game anyway but Forbes’ descriptions of him ensured his name would live on. A sample from A Handful of Summers goes like this: “Abe was really rough and ready (when we first met). He used to wear purple T-shirts and sing The Nearness of You very loudly, with his mouth full of Chiclets….He’d already been on one hectic, do-it-yourself tennis tour – had worked his passage on a freighter, lived on the smell of an oil rag, been mistakenly billeted in a brothel, harvested apples, befriended several surprised millionaires and once alarmed an ancient English umpire at Hurlingham by shaking his seat and implying he was blind.”

Thinking of the great Gordon Forbes. I will be forever grateful for his support, I cared for him deeply. Gordon’s life was full of accomplishments, too many to list. A Handful of Summers is my favourite book of all time. My thoughts are with Gordon’s family at this sad time. #RIP

— Craig Tiley (@CraigTiley) December 10, 2020

Handful of Summers helped me romanticize the tour grind. Truly fantastic writer https://t.co/KcSmCotuiJ

— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) December 9, 2020

Forbes was equally, unsparingly, perceptive about himself. “Having learnt my tennis in Johannesburg at an altitude of 6,000 feet, I was a true net rusher and had only a scanty selection of ground shots, none of which were really well produced although they were better than Abe Segal’s. Rushing the net on a really slow Italian court while using the Pirelli balls of the early sixties was an eerie experience – like being in a movie, half of which was speeded up while the other half was in slow motion. I was the speeded up part. I would come barrelling up to the net, only to arrive there far too early and have to hop about in a frenzy of suspense while my opponent (who often seemed to be Pietrangeli or Merlo) decided on which side to pass me. Desperate anticipatory decisions had to be made. Lobs were too frightful to contemplate and had to be blanked out of one’s mind to preserve sanity.”

Gordon’s intellect was always more powerful than his self-confidence. He was forever questioning himself as well as life itself. He thought deeply and too much. But his melancholy was always tinged with the humor that made his writing and his company so irresistible.

He became a voice that demanded attention at the Enshrinement Committee meetings for International Tennis Hall of Fame that we attended at Wimbledon every year, sometimes offering detailed numerical studies in an effort to ascribe ranking points to candidates. He became a little fussed when some of us could not follow his Forbesian logic.

He had a son, Gavin, who is a Vice-President at IMG, and a daughter, Jeannie, a fine writer herself, who died far too young from his first marriage. And then another son, Jamie, from his marriage to Frances who survives him.

I shall miss our earnest talks over tea in the Last Eight Club at Wimbledon, laced with sudden flashes of sardonic laughter. The rest of us will have no need to miss his writing. It will live for posterity.

Gordon Forbes, tennis player and writer, born 21 February 1934, died 9 December 2020.

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Alex Olmedo, 1936-2020

Alex Olmedo, the 1959 Australian Championship and Wimbledon titlist, passed away on Wednesday aged 84 due to brain cancer.

Olmedo, the son of a court caretaker, was born and raised in Peru, first hitting a ball at the International Club of Arequipa, where he was a ball boy. Olmedo made his major championship debut aged 15 at the 1951 US Nationals at Forest Hills and was the best player in Peru by the age of 17. Before long, $700 was raised and in February 1954, Olmedo travelled from Lima to Los Angeles, unable to speak a word of English.

Coming under the wing of Perry T. Jones, one of the most powerful officials in amateur tennis, Olmedo thrived and attended Modesto Junior College. He was recruited by George Toley, the pro at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, for the University of Southern California. On a student visa, he studied business and won the 1956 and 1958 NCAA singles and doubles titles.

In late 1958, after almost five years’ residency in the United States, Olmedo made his Davis Cup debut for his adopted country, going 6-0 in two ties under the captaincy of Jones, who had fought so hard for his inclusion on the team. Upon clinching the tie-winning point in Brisbane over Australia’s Ashley Cooper, Olmedo yelled to Jones, “We did it, Cap. We’ve won the cup!” His father, Salvador, wept upon hearing the news in Peru, which did not have a Davis Cup team at the time. His mother, and younger brother, Jaime, were delighted when Olmedo toured his native land with the trophy later on. The following year, Australians Neale Fraser, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson gained revenge in the Challenge Round.

Olmedo, known as ‘The Chief’ because of his Inca heritage, was renowned for his style, artistry, big serve, forehand drive and good sportsmanship. Modest and likable, Olmedo captured the 1959 Australian Championships over Fraser 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, then took his attacking game to the All England Club at Wimbledon, where he took apart Emerson 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 in the semi-finals and Laver, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the title match. An active amateur for just two years, he rounded out his career at the US Nationals, the same year, losing to Fraser 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the final. In doubles, he partnered Ham Richardson to the 1958 US Nationals crown (d. Sammy Giammalva Sr./Barry Mackay).

^{Stan Smith presents Olmedo with his International Tennis Hall of Fame ring in 2017.}
Lance Tingay, the doyen of tennis correspondents for The Daily Telegraph of London, adjudged Olmedo to be World No. 2 in 1959, his final year as an amateur. Upon turning pro, the 5’10” right-hander beat Tony Trabert 7-5, 6-4 for the US Pro title and retired five years later. He coached Hollywood stars for more than 40 years at the Beverly Hills Hotel and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.

Olmedo is survived by his children, Amy, Angela and Alejandro, Jr.

Stan Smith, the International Tennis Hall of Fame President, said: “Alex Olmedo came from humble beginnings and he made sacrifices and worked hard to chase his dreams of a tennis career, ultimately becoming a major champion and Hall of Famer. He was a terrific player and a Davis Cup hero. Personally, we shared a love for the USC Trojans, Davis Cup competition, and tennis overall. He was a great champion, a great friend, and he will be missed.”

Alejandro Olmedo Rodriguez, tennis player and coach, born 24 March 1936, died 9 December 2020.

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Djokovic's Rally Against Monfils Tops ATP Comebacks Of 2020

Yesterday we looked at three of the best ATP Tour comebacks of the season. Now, we will complete the top five with the two best comebacks of 2020.

2) John Millman def. Tommy Paul, Astana Open, Nur-Sultan, QF, 30 October 2020 (Match Stats)
John Millman has made his career as a workhorse, grinding away no matter the score or opponent to achieve his results. That’s how he beat Roger Federer at the 2018 US Open and nearly defeated the Swiss legend at this year’s Australian Open.

But one thing missing from his resume was an ATP Tour title. In 2018, he fell short in the Budapest final. Last season, he went on a dream run to the Tokyo championship match, but was outplayed by Novak Djokovic.

At 31, Millman is playing some of his best tennis. But time loses to no man, and there was no guarantee the Aussie would earn another chance at tour-level glory. At the Astana Open, he was in heaps of difficulty against Tommy Paul.

The American served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, playing aggressively to put himself in a winning position. He earned two match points in that game, but double faulted into the net and missed a mid-court forehand long. A majority of the time, Paul would have smacked a winner or gotten an easy volley off that forehand, but it was an opportunity lost.

Somehow, Paul settled himself and took a commanding 5/0 lead in the ensuing tie-break. He appeared in control, counter-punching aggressively to put the Aussie on the back foot. But Millman put on his hard hat and went to work, forcing Paul to take the match from him, making no mistakes. That put pressure on the 23-year-old, who began mis-firing, allowing the Aussie to pull off the stunning 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5) win. Two matches later, he lifted his first ATP Tour trophy.

“When I was facing those match points in the quarter-finals, I wouldn’t have thought that a couple of days later I would be lifting the trophy. But it is something that I have built my brand on, I guess. It is the one thing I can control: to never say die and never quit the fight,” Millman said. “Tommy was playing some good tennis and probably deserved to win, but it is funny. Sometimes when you are so close to going out of a tournament, it is funny how quickly you can turn that around. It just goes to show you are never out of a fight until it is over.”

1) Novak Djokovic def. Gael Monfils, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Dubai, SF, 28 February 2020 (Match Stats)
Novak Djokovic doesn’t often find his back against the wall. That’s why he’s the No. 1 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings. But the Serbian needed every bit of skill and luck he could muster to save three match points against Gael Monfils in the Dubai semi-finals.

When the Frenchman is firing on all cylinders, there’s very little any opponent can do about it. Monfils is arguably the fastest player on the ATP Tour and he has the ability to hit through any opponent when he decides to play aggressively. When everything clicks, he has the talent to beat anyone.

Monfils entered this semi-final clash with an 0-16 ATP Head2Head record against Djokovic, but it appeared to make no difference. Within five games he hit a jumping swinging backhand volley, sprinted forward to hit a winner off a drop shot few players would have gotten to and showed his intention to dictate play.

Djokovic’s 16-match winning streak to begin the season seemed in jeopardy. The World No. 1 was not at his best, making some errors, especially as he began to earn more opportunities in the second set. But part of that was because of the pressure Monfils was putting on him, which helped the Frenchman go up 6-2, 3-1.

The Serbian got back on serve, but the second set went to a tie-break, in which the pressure hit its climax for Monfils. The Frenchman took a 6/3 lead, earning three consecutive match points. “It’s all or nothing. It’s a matter of life or death at that point,” Djokovic later said.

There was one glaring issue for Monfils: he had to finish the job. Djokovic wouldn’t let him do so. The Frenchman went for and landed a huge second serve down the T at 6/3, but the Serbian guessed the right way and made a forehand return deep in the court, eliciting a backhand error from Monfils, who would then miss forehands on the next two points to watch his final two opportunities slip away.

Monfils was so close to earning his Vitas Gerulaitis moment and being able to say, “Nobody beats Gael Monfils 17 times in a row!” But Djokovic summoned his best tennis under pressure, and he ran away with the third set in a 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-1 victory.

“It’s like being on the edge of a cliff,” Djokovic said.. “You know there is no way back, so you have to jump over and try to find a way to survive I guess and pray for the best and believe that you can make it.”

Djokovic went on to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas for the title and win his first 26 matches of the season and 29 straight overall, marking the second-longest winning streak of his career.

One timely shot by Monfils — or a mis-step from Djokovic — could have changed it all.

Read All Best Of 2020 Stories

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