[BLOG] Open Era Gens, Part Fifteen: Gen 13 (1994-98) - A New Hope?

[El Dude]

I'm bringing this one out a bit early, both because I want to give folks some names to mull over as some of them are in Indian Wells qualifications, but also because I'm ready to move on from this monumental project!

Anyhow, here's Part Fifteen. I think I'm going to do one more wrap-up installment. Look for that next week.

 

[El Dude]

Here are the players of this generation and where they are both in terms of current rankings, but also relative to Indian Wells.

Seeded
27. Nick Kyrgios

Main Draw/Unseeded
47. Borna Coric
58. Alexander Zverev (replaced Roger Federer)
64. Hyeon Chung
82. Kyle Edmund (replaced Tommy Robredo)
87. Lucas Pouille (replaced Ivo Karlovic)

Wildcards
80. Taylor Fritz
158. Jared Donaldson
176. Francis Tiafoe
377. Mackenzie McDonald

When qualifications are done, I'll update with those who make it through to the first round of the main draw. But for now, two young players to look for are 18-year olds Andrey Rublev--who just won his first Challenger, is now ranked #161, and I think is poised to make a run at the top 100 this year--and Michael Mmoh, who is way down the list at #377 but worth mentioning. Also, 19-year old Tommy Paul and 20-year old Noah Rubin are in qualifications.

 

[Riotbeard]

Great post as usual Dude. I will be sad to see this series end.

This was definitely a great introductory piece to the generation. It will be exciting to see what happens with Fritz and Zverev, both are players with the game to cause trouble early. That's problem with Coric (even though I haven't given hope) is the parts of his game well developed at this point are consistency and speed which won't beat the top guys. Those two have the firepower to get hot and be competitive, even if they still need to improve as athletes.

 

[El Dude]

Thanks, Riot. And no worries - I have plenty of ideas in the hopper, although will try to avoid mega-series for the time being!

 

[El Dude]

On a different note, I'd love for someone with a better eye for the game than me (most of you) to take a look at video of Andrey Rublev on Youtube and tell me what you think. He seems to move well and hits the ball everywhere, with some truly impressive cross-court and down-the-line shots. But his serve seems rather weak to me, but I'm not sure.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

atp have seemingly made this gaggle of players #next gen stars.