#NextGenATP players De Minaur, Humbert, Hurkacz, Mmoh, Munar broke into the Top 100 this season
Every year, new faces break out on the ATP World Tour. This season has been no different.
ATP World Tour players will vote for the Newcomer of the Year in the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards Presented by Moët & Chandon, with eligible players being #NextGenATP competitors who have cracked the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time this season (as of 15 October). The nominees are as follows:
ALEX DE MINAUR (Age 19, Career-high No. 31 on 15 October) Alex de Minaur began the 2018 season at No. 208 in the ATP Rankings, with just two tour-level match wins to his name. But the 19-year-old Aussie has taken the ATP World Tour by storm, climbing to his career-best of No. 31.
Read: 5 Things To Know About De Minaur
Not only did De Minaur qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held in Milan from 6-10 November, but the teenager has become a consistent threat week-in and week-out. De Minaur reached his first two tour-level finals at the Sydney International and Citi Open in Washington, D.C., and he also claimed his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Nottingham.
UGO HUMBERT (Age 20, Career-high No. 99 on 15 October) Ugo Humbert’s second ATP Challenger Tour title came at the perfect time, as Humbert rode the momentum of his victory in Ortisei, Italy, into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings on 15 October. It’s an impressive rise, considering the 20-year-old Frenchman owned just five main draw Challenger match wins before beginning the Gatineau Challenger in July.
Read: Humbert’s Milan Charge, Rises To Ninth With Ortisei Crown
After starting that event as the World No. 257, Humbert won 23 of 27 Challenger matches to soar to a career-best ranking. Humbert earned his first two tour-level match wins in the past two months, qualifying for the US Open, where he advanced to the second round, and defeating Bernard Tomic at the Moselle Open in Metz.
HUBERT HURKACZ (Age 21, Career-high No. 88 on 15 October) This time last season, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz was outside the Top 400 of the ATP Rankings. But the #NextGenATP 21-year-old has combined strong efforts at tour-level as well as the ATP Challenger Tour to soar into the Top 100, reaching a career-high No. 88 on 15 October.
Read: Hurkacz Wants To Climb ‘As High As Possible’
“I was imagining that I can be here,” Hurkacz said. “But obviously it was a very long way away.”
Hurkacz claimed his maiden Challenger trophy in Pozan, Poland, and also advanced to the final in Zhuhai, China, earlier in the season. The Pole has tallied six tour-level match wins in 2018 after beginning the year with just one.
You May Also Like: Vote For Your Favourite Player & Team In 2018 ATP World Tour Awards
MICHAEL MMOH (Age 20, Career-high No. 96 on 1 October) Michael Mmoh has found the best form of his career in the second half of 2018, propelling himself into the Top 100 with success at both tour-level and the Challenger circuit. The 20-year-old American advanced to his second ATP World Tour quarter-final (also Brisbane in January) at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex in Los Cabos before going on a tear at the Challenger level, winning back-to-back titles in Columbus and Tiburon, both in the United States.
Read: From Riyadh To Bradenton To Milan? Mmoh’s Journey Speeds Up
While Mmoh remained between No. 140 and No. 200 in the ATP Rankings from November 2016 and April 2018, his surge helped him crack the Top 100 for the first time on 1 October. All six of Mmoh’s tour-level match wins have come in 2018.
JAUME MUNAR (Age 21, Career-high No. 79 on 8 October) Jaume Munar joins Mmoh as players in this group to lift back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour trophies in 2018. And not only did the Spaniard triumph in Prostejov, Czech Republic, and Caltanissetta, Italy, but he carried that momentum even after he broke into the Top 100 on 18 June.
Munar made his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final at the Generali Open, where he lost to eventual champion Martin Klizan. The Spaniard then won two matches at the Winston-Salem Open, including a victory over fellow #NextGenATP competitor Andrey Rublev.
British number one Johanna Konta reached just her second WTA semi-final of the year by beating Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Both players had chances in a tight decider before Konta prevailed 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-2) against the world number 31.
The victory takes Konta, who has dropped to 44th in the world rankings, into her first semi-final since June.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or sixth seed Daria Kasatkina await in the last four.
Konta, 27, split with her coach Michael Joyce last week and is working with Dimitri Zavialoff, a former coach of Stan Wawrinka, on a trial basis in Moscow.
She earned an impressive win over world number 16 Elise Mertens in the opening round and followed that by beating Daria Gavrilova in round two.
Against Sasnovich she raced into a one-set lead by winning four consecutive games from 2-2 but lost her opening service game of the second set with the Belarusian clinching it on her ninth break point of the game.
Sasnovich then comfortably levelled at one set apiece before both players failed to take break points early in the deciding set.
In the tie-break, Konta hit a fine backhand winner to move 4-2 in front and won the following three points to seal victory.
The “vast majority” of coaches break on-court coaching rules and allowing it would help “attract new people” to tennis, says Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
On-court coaching is banned in Grand Slams but is allowed in WTA events.
Mouratoglou admitted coaching Williams during her dramatic US Open final loss last month with Williams later docked a game for calling the umpire a “thief”.
The Frenchman says on-court coaching “adds to the drama” of the sport.
In a lengthy statement, Mouratoglou also said that banning coaching “almost makes it look as if it had to be hidden, or as if it was shameful”.
“It is time tennis leaders amend the status of coaching,” he added. “If we don’t get people involved, then tennis is only ever going to be followed by pure tennis lovers.
“We need to show the viewers the personalities of the people they are watching.
“We have to keep those elements that make tennis so special but we also have to appeal to a modern, younger audience.”
Williams received a code violation during the US Open final defeat by Naomi Osaka when Mouratoglou made a hand gesture to the American but she denied she received coaching.
Last month, Wimbledon said it was open to a discussion around its approach to on-court coaching, which is not allowed on the men’s ATP Tour.
“It’s a very basic truth that the vast majority of tennis coaches are actually coaching on court, despite the rules,” Mouratoglou said.
“Look how many times players looks towards their boxes during a match. Some do it after every point.”
World number one Simona Halep has withdrawn from next week’s WTA Finals because of a lower back injury.
The Romanian sustained the injury – a herniated disc – during a training session before last month’s Wuhan Open.
“I’m not ready to compete at this level and I’m still sore,” the 27-year-old said. “I didn’t practise for the last four weeks.”
World number 10 Kiki Bertens takes Halep’s place in the event, where $7m (£5.34m) of prize money is available.
Halep added: “It’s always difficult to withdraw from a big tournament. Actually, I think it’s the first time in my life. So it was a tough decision but it’s better for my health.”
Here’s One Reason Why Rafa, Novak Find Separation From Peers
Oct172018
Spaniard and Serb buck overall downward returning trend
There is a fascinating juxtaposition in our sport regarding Return Games Won.
If you analyse the best player in this specific metric at the end of each season since 1991, you would see there is real improvement being made in recent years on the return side of the net.
But if you expand the data set to include the leading 40 players each season with Return Games Won, you would come to a very different conclusion. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Return Games Won since 1991 (when statistics were first kept in tennis) to this season uncovers two very conflicting results.
Leading Player – Return Games Won 1991-2018
The line in the sand is very clearly at the turn of the century. The leading six seasons for the player that led the tour with Return Games Won have all been since 2000, with three of them since 2010.
Return Games Won: Season Leader Since 1991
#
Year
Tour Leader / Return Games Won
Win Percentage
1
2016
R. Nadal
40.75%
2
2011
N. Djokovic
38.84%
3
2003
G. Coria
38.73%
4
2012
R. Nadal
37.70%
5
2005
R. Nadal
37.54%
6
2004
F. Volandri
37.46%
You May Also Like: If Tennis Eliminated The Second Serve, Federer Would Dominate Even More
Novak Djokovic’s breakout season in 2011 – when he won three majors and five ATP World Tour Masters 1000s – was underpinned by his tour-leading 38.84 Return Games Won percentage.
You would naturally think because these players are putting up ever-increasing totals that the same must be for the rest of the tour. It’s simply not so when you look at the bigger data set.
Leading 40 Players – Return Games Won 1991-2018
This is much more an examination of the depth of our game regarding proficiency breaking serve. This analysis is an average of the leading 40 players with Return Games Won each season since 1991, and it uncovers a vastly different result than the examination of the season’s tour leader.
Return Games Won: Average Of Leading 40 Players Since 1991
#
Year
Win Percentage
Leading Player & Win Percentage
1
1991
29.69%
M. Gustafsson (36.48%)
2
1994
29.14%
A. Berasategui (36.83%)
3
1993
28.94%
A. Agassi (37.34%)
4
1995
28.75%
T. Muster (35.92%)
5
1992
28.74%
M. Chang (36.70%)
6
1996
28.55%
M. Chang (35.28%)
All six of the leading categories now occur before the turn of the century, with 1991 – the first year that records were kept – producing the highest Return Games Won percentage by the leading 40 players.
When you compare apples to apples – with the Top 40 Return Games Won average from the past six years (2013-18) and the first six years (1991-96) – you uncover just how big the disparity has become.
Top 40 Average – Six Year Period 1991 – 1996 = 28.97% 2013 – 2018 = 23.96%
A substantial 5.01 percentage point gap exists between the two periods.
One conclusion that we may draw is that while some players are definitely breaking serve more often, not everyone is progressing at the same rate. And when you look at the players bucking the overall downward trend in recent years, it reveals one important reason why they are finding separation from their opponents.
Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers writer Craig O’Shannessy is a member of Novak Djokovic’s coaching team.
We use technology such as cookies on our website, to provide functions and analysis of our visitor data. Click Accept to confirm that you agree to its use.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
