Talented Raonic, Dimitrov and Tomic need to work hard
With Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at the top of their game and players in their late 20's playing solidly into the late rounds of tournaments on the ATP circuit, who among the young guns has a better chance of making the breakthrough this year.
World No 11 Milos Raonic of Canada, world No 23 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Aussie troubled kid Bernard Tomic, No 51, are the players who have been mentioned over the past few years as the future hope of men’s tennis. However, they haven’t lived up to the expectations so far.
Unlike Roger Federer, Nadal or even Djokovic who started proving themselves as a force to be reckoned with and lifted their maiden Grand Slam titles by the time they turned 21-22, the new kids on the block are nowhere near what the big three had achieved.
Rocket-serving Raonic, who just turned 23 last month, is the best of the bunch with the best ranking among them by spending a week at No 10 last year. But does he pose a real threat to the top guys? The answer is no. The Canadian, despite having a big serve as his weapon, is less dangerous at the back of the court and has an inconsistent backhand. His movement needs improvement because speed is what really counts in tennis.
Should he produce the kind of form that propelled him to the Montreal Masters Series final and the Thailand Open victory, he should have a shot at a major title. So far, the fourth round at the 2013 Australian Open and US Open were his best in Grand Slam events. Surprisingly, his thunderous serves didn’t seem to help him much at Wimbledon where he has not survived beyond the second round.
However, Raonic has worked really hard during the off season with the hope of some big results this year. If he improves on his footwork and makes his backcourt game tight, he would fare better than his peers this year.
Dimitrov, at 22, has perhaps the best all round game among the three. His big serves and solid groundstrokes plus speed can cause damage to any top players on any given day. However consistency is what he lacks. He almost upset Nadal in Monte Carlo and stunned Djokovic in Madrid last year but he just couldn’t keep with that level week in week out. His focus on tennis is really a big question mark as his relationship with Maria Sharapova could get him off track. Rumours had it that he had a rift with his camp in Stockholm as he preferred to train in the US and stay close to her. Very few athletes can be lucky in game and love.
Talking about off court lifestyle, Tomic, who is 20, is really something of a wild thing. Raised by a bad-tempered father and spoiled by fame that came so early as a teenager, Tomic could have gone further if it wasn’t for his personal behaviour. With an all round game like Dimitrov, this young fellow has the best Grand Slam result among the three by reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2011, when he was just 17. Maturity is what he needs the most.
If they are really the future of men’s tennis, this should be the year they live up to that label. They must put the top players to the test by fully committing to tennis and play with consistency to have a breakthrough year. They all have the potential but the big question is whether they are ready to work hard enough.
