Tennis has a couple of emerging stars in Thiem and Vesely

There are stars, indeed, to watch this year. Keep your eyes closely on a couple of young guns, Dominic Thiem and Jiri Vesely, who I feel would cause a flutter or two in the next few months and should gain huge recognition in a few years from now.

Thiem, an Austrian, and Vesely of Czech Republic are the youngest in the ATP top 100 at the age of 20 with the former holding the No 80 position and the latter No 79.

In fact, Thiem, who hits with a single hand on both sides, is not a new face for Thai tennis fans. He, at 18, made his first ATP main draw appearance at the Thailand Open here in 2011 and put Jarkko Nieminem to test before losing 6-1 4-6 7-5.

The former Roland Garros junior runner-up has been under the tutelage of Gunter Bresnik (also the coach of Earnest Gulbis) who persuaded the then top junior in Austria to have a single grip on the backhand side. 

The grip and rip produced some impressive results in the juniors, including the 2011 Orange Bowl title. But it took the Austrian prodigy a while to adjust to the competitive ITF Futures and Challenger circuits.

He finally lived up to his potential by winning two challengers in Morocco, which propelled him from No 309 to No 139 at the end of 2013. As a qualifier, he battled through four tough rounds in Melbourne, including a four-set win over Portuguese and 50th-ranked Jaoso Sousa in the first round, before losing to South African Kevin Anderson in three sets. Thiem, also as a qualifier, made it to the second round in Rotterdam, upsetting No 36 Nieminem on the way and took Andy Murray to three sets before losing 6-4 3-6 6-3. A reward for his effort was a breakthrough into the top 100.

Thiem, from the qualifying again, made it to the third and second round of two Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Florida with an upset win over the 23rd ranked Gilles Simon as his biggest to date.

His killing forehand and thunderous serve are the two main weapons that will cause damage to any top players on any given day. Furthermore, Thiem, unlike any other player of his age, is well built and the physical advantage will make him last longer than his rivals in long tussles.

Of course, Thiem’s biggest rival could be no one else but Vesely in the near future. But unlike the Austrian, who quickly climbed up the ranking with results on the big ATP events recently, the Czech improved his rankings based on solid results on the Challenger Tour. In fact, he made it to the top 100 in June last year, thanks to three Challenger wins from five finals.

He finished the 2013 season at No 85 and consequently was selected for the ATP Star of Tomorrow Award, formerly known as New Comer of the Year, which is awarded to the youngest player who finishes in the top 100.

Vesely has reached his best ranking of 67 last month, mainly due to the third-round berth in the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells. He started sending ominous warning to potential rivals by taking the first set from Andy Murray, only to give up the match 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-4.

While Thiem relies on his power game, Vesely, who is a lefty and uses a double-grip backhand, counter-punches with big hitters with his baseline game. The Czech also has many shots in his repertoire, including a defensive backhand slice. More power is what he needs to strengthen his game, which is a must in modern tennis.

However, consistency is what these two talented players must work on, in order to catch up with the big guys on the tour. Their predecessors like the Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov, who is very close to making it to the top 10, has already moved beyond the consistency phase. And if they carry on like this, they will be the next force to be reckoned with.