As we see the most beloved tennis players slowly taking a backseat after cementing their legacy in these past two decades, the questions start coming in. Who is the next Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic?
The Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, is occupying the spotlight, and with good reason.
The youngster has only recently become a pro but has essentially swept the US Open tournament, the ATP Masters in Madrid, and Miami. He has also shone in his hometown of Barcelona and in Rio de Janeiro in 2022.
Alcaraz’s impressive record has promised the tennis world a fantastic sportsman, who undoubtedly will follow the lineage of the aforementioned greats.
A champion like Carlos Alcaraz needs a rival or two, so who are the new contenders for becoming potential masters?
Let’s have a look at some of the youngest tennis players right now.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (24)
Tsitsipas started playing tennis when he was just three years old and is the youngest of 30 players to defeat Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal before turning 21.
The tennis world first took real notice of Tsitsipas back in 2018 when he won the Stockholm title, becoming the first Greek ATP World Tour Champion.
Recently, the last tournament won by the young Greek was the ATP Masters 1000 at Monte Carlo, and although he has lost every match against Carlos Alcaraz, there is always a first time, and maybe 2023 will be the year for Tsitsipas to defeat the Spanish youngster.
Casper Ruud (24)
Norwegian Casper Ruud was the first player from his country to win an ATP Tour title and is also the top-ranked tennis player in the history of Norway.
Ruud’s history in the pro world of tennis has been going on for two years, but he’s managed to win five tournaments in 2021 and three tournaments in 2022, where he was essentially one match away from becoming the highest-ranked player in the world.
After Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the 2023 Australian Tournament, Ruud clearly had a great chance although unfortunately, he lost his second match of the tournament which naturally held him back from getting the title through this tournament.
Félix Auger-Aliassime (22)
Everyone will remember how Félix Auger-Aliassime rose from 108th position to 17th by the end of the same year of 2019. The Canadian coincidentally shares a birthday with his idol Roger Federer, with whom he has only played once, but he actually won.
Before 2022, you could say that Auger-Aliassime’s career was still in the process of slowly taking off but after winning the tournaments in Bael, Antwerp, Florence, and Rotterdam in the last year, that has definitely changed.
The young Canadian also won the three matches he had against the current number one player Carlos Alcaraz.
Holger Rune (20)
The Dane has accelerated his way to legend in the past year of 2022. From being the former Junior World champion, Holger won three titles which led him to break into the Top 100 in January, in the Top 50 by May, and ended the year in the Top 10 by November.
Holger has been quoted saying that his aim is to ‘be the greatest players of all time’, just like Nadal and Federer.
Currently ranked 10th best tennis player, Holger is one of the youngest of the ranking champions, crowned the youngest winner in Paris since 1986 after the last Masters tournament.
The hype on Rune in 2023 seems to be mostly focused on the tournament in Munich where he was able to win his first title in 2022, and he recently said that he intends to defend it.
Jannik Sinner (21)
Italian player Jannik Sinner’s trajectory in the last 5 years is as logical as it is incredible. Sinner who always showed promising skills as an athlete was essentially unranked in 2018.
He then entered the Top 100 in 2019 and was named ATP Newcomer of the Year; then went on to finish 2020 as the number one champion teenager, and eventually found himself in the Top 10 in 2021.
Currently ranked at 16th place, Sinner has also confronted Alcaraz on four occasions where both players won two matches. Although giving a fantastic performance, unfortunately for Sinner, he started 2023 with a dramatic and long match where he lost to Tsitsipas.
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The nature of tennis delivers plenty of twists and turns; so the tension in these tournaments is palpable as every match can change a player's placement.
If you’re looking to make your spectator experience of watching tennis even more exciting than it already is, there are plenty of options that facilitate betting on tennis.
You can rest assured to see the names mentioned above headlining the world of tennis in 2023: let’s see who will be number one this year.
