Nowadays, when it comes to the post-00s in ATP tennis, many fans will be full of praise. Indeed, since the Spanish teenager Alcaraz won the first Masters title for the post-00s in 2022, they have made a series of breakthroughs in both the Grand Slam and the Masters. In less than three years, the post-00s have surpassed the once high-spirited post-90s and post-95s in the number of Grand Slam titles.
Nowadays, with the aging of many post-80s and post-90s players, ATP tennis has gradually become the world of post-95s and post-00s players. In the Australian Open final that just ended, the post-00 Italian teenager Sinner defeated the first post-95 generation and former US Open champion Russian star Medvedev in three sets in a row under the unfavorable situation of losing two sets first, which seems to be announcing to the world that the future will be the world of post-00 rookies.
However, unfortunately, the competition in ATP tennis is brutal, and while the post-00s players are slowly gaining the upper hand, there are also some post-00s players who have achieved good results and are gradually falling behind in the competition. So, who are these post-00s players? Today, let the humble article take you to see it.
In 2020, at the ATP 250 San Diego Open, Brazil's Wilder, who was not yet 20 years old, sang all the way to the first tour final of his career. In the final, he defeated Norway's Ruud in three sets to win his first career tour title. It is worth mentioning that this is the first tour championship of a post-00 player. Originally, I thought that Wilder would achieve a good result little by little, but unfortunately, for various reasons, Wilder failed to break through from the Grand Slam qualifiers for two whole years after that. For a while, many fans have forgotten this post-00s teenager who was once a blockbuster.
In 2023, despite a surprise victory over former US Open champion Dmitry Medvedev in the first round of the French Open, and then reaching the round of 32 of his first Grand Slam, Wilder has struggled to find a win in both the Grand Slam and the Tour in 2024. Is it still a mystery whether Wilder can win another Grand Slam victory? Maybe he is just a pioneer of the post-00s, but he can't create his own era. I hope that in the days to come, Wild, who is still on the tennis court, can have a happy time.
Compared to Wild, Brandon Nakashima's record is undoubtedly better. The year Wilder won the title, he won his first career Grand Slam victory. In the two years since, Brandon Nakashima has progressed step by step. In 2021, he reached two tour finals, moving up nearly 100 places in the world rankings and officially becoming a member of the TOP100. In 2022, Nakashima reached the round of 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career and won the first tour title of his career. Not only that, this year's Brandon Nakashima also won the New Force Finals. Suddenly, he showed signs of becoming the leader of the post-00s generation in the United States.
However, time flies, and now that Shelton and Korda have both reached at least the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, Nakashima Brandon's world ranking has fallen out of the top 100. Not only that, but he even lost to his opponent in the first round of the Australian Open qualifying tournament some time ago. What's even more shocking is that a few days ago, Brandon Nakashima was even swept out by his opponent in the second round of the Challenger. Now, whether he can still return with full blood, I'm afraid even Brandon Nakajima himself has no answer in his heart.
The last post-00s teenager to talk about is Italian player Musetti. In 2021, he reached the round of 16 at the French Open in his first Grand Slam main draw, and not only that, but in 2022, Musetti ushered in the peak of his career. That year, he won two Tour Championships and reached the quarterfinals at the Masters. However, Musetti's form has since taken a nosedive, and he has not been able to reach the final of the tour since 2023. Not only that, but after the 2023 French Open, many times, Musetti is out early on the tour. Now he no longer has the edge of the past.
Perhaps, the competition in ATP tennis is like this, if you don't advance, you will retreat. In the future, will these three players be able to achieve outstanding results in tour tournaments and Grand Slams? Let time give us the answer. That's all for today's tennis story and will continue tomorrow. (*Tennis Home Author: Yixin Jushi).