Men's Game
In terms of quality, role models and box office attraction I would include the following players:
Alcaraz/Nadal/Tsitsipas/ Medvedev/Ruud/Berrettini/Rublev/
Auger-Aliassime/Sinner/Norrie/Schwartzman/Hurkacz/Fritz/Korda
I've left out Djokovic as I don't see him as a role model anymore after the Australia fiasco and obviously Federer would be there if he comes back. There are lots of other players lower ranked on the men's tour who are also very exciting players and too many to mention. The Andy Murray comeback effort will also be extremely interesting and hopefully successful.
For me Alcaraz is a huge stand out in terms of becoming an iconic figure like Nadal or Federer. The game has been so lucky to have had perhaps the 2 greatest role models of all time over the past 20 years or so and at the moment Alcaraz is the most likely player that I can see coming anywhere close to the all round skills of Roger & Rafa. He has just about every shot going, moves like lightning, competes like an animal, stays calm under pressure and most importantly has great humility similar to Rafa. I would imagine that he has a great family but the influence of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero cannot be overstated. Ferrero was another wonderful competitor with great humility.
If Sinner improves physically, then he would be my 2nd choice as a humble warrior with all the skills to develop into a great player. Medvedev has still to persuade me that he is worthy of being considered as a positive role model for kids but all the rest of the players that I've listed would appear to be relatively sane and humble in this hugely competitive environment.
Obviously with crowds coming back the game is getting back to normal with a much improved atmosphere which makes a huge difference when watching on TV.
Women's Game
Here is my list of players who in my opinion provide the best box office attraction:
Swiatek/Krejcikova/Osaka/Badosa/Sabalenka/Halep/Sakkari/Gauff/
Raducanu/Bencic/Fernandez
I must admit to preferring women's doubles to men's as it represents more of what your average club player is trying to achieve in the one up and one back style of play. Men's doubles has some interesting moments but is too often serve, return and one volley unless on a clay court where you see more rallies. And as much as I get the importance of communication it can become rather tedious to watch players covering their mouth and facing away from each other. Just how many players on the tour can lip read from 20 metres away?
Raducanu beating Fernandez in the US Open was one of the greatest ever sporting stories and brought a huge amount of attention to tennis and the women's game. Fortunately, Raducanu is a wonderful role model who I am sure will produce many other great results in her career, but we need to give her time. From the outside it's always easy to criticise and yes I have been a bit surprised at the amount of endorsements she has taken on which one could argue might be having a detrimental effect on her game. Let's wait and see what happens over the next few years as I'm sure she will improve physically and mentally to the rigours of the tour. When that happens she will be extremely competitive on all surfaces.
Ashley Barty leaving the game is a huge loss and a massive blow to women's tennis. All sports need personalities to attract people to the game and I'm looking forward to seeing if Swaitek, Raducanu, Gauff and Badosa can step up and fill the huge gap left by the departure of Barty?
In terms of quality, role models and box office attraction I would include the following players:
Alcaraz/Nadal/Tsitsipas/ Medvedev/Ruud/Berrettini/Rublev/
Auger-Aliassime/Sinner/Norrie/Schwartzman/Hurkacz/Fritz/Korda
I've left out Djokovic as I don't see him as a role model anymore after the Australia fiasco and obviously Federer would be there if he comes back. There are lots of other players lower ranked on the men's tour who are also very exciting players and too many to mention. The Andy Murray comeback effort will also be extremely interesting and hopefully successful.
For me Alcaraz is a huge stand out in terms of becoming an iconic figure like Nadal or Federer. The game has been so lucky to have had perhaps the 2 greatest role models of all time over the past 20 years or so and at the moment Alcaraz is the most likely player that I can see coming anywhere close to the all round skills of Roger & Rafa. He has just about every shot going, moves like lightning, competes like an animal, stays calm under pressure and most importantly has great humility similar to Rafa. I would imagine that he has a great family but the influence of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero cannot be overstated. Ferrero was another wonderful competitor with great humility.
If Sinner improves physically, then he would be my 2nd choice as a humble warrior with all the skills to develop into a great player. Medvedev has still to persuade me that he is worthy of being considered as a positive role model for kids but all the rest of the players that I've listed would appear to be relatively sane and humble in this hugely competitive environment.
Obviously with crowds coming back the game is getting back to normal with a much improved atmosphere which makes a huge difference when watching on TV.
Women's Game
Here is my list of players who in my opinion provide the best box office attraction:
Swiatek/Krejcikova/Osaka/Badosa/Sabalenka/Halep/Sakkari/Gauff/
Raducanu/Bencic/Fernandez
I must admit to preferring women's doubles to men's as it represents more of what your average club player is trying to achieve in the one up and one back style of play. Men's doubles has some interesting moments but is too often serve, return and one volley unless on a clay court where you see more rallies. And as much as I get the importance of communication it can become rather tedious to watch players covering their mouth and facing away from each other. Just how many players on the tour can lip read from 20 metres away?
Raducanu beating Fernandez in the US Open was one of the greatest ever sporting stories and brought a huge amount of attention to tennis and the women's game. Fortunately, Raducanu is a wonderful role model who I am sure will produce many other great results in her career, but we need to give her time. From the outside it's always easy to criticise and yes I have been a bit surprised at the amount of endorsements she has taken on which one could argue might be having a detrimental effect on her game. Let's wait and see what happens over the next few years as I'm sure she will improve physically and mentally to the rigours of the tour. When that happens she will be extremely competitive on all surfaces.
Ashley Barty leaving the game is a huge loss and a massive blow to women's tennis. All sports need personalities to attract people to the game and I'm looking forward to seeing if Swaitek, Raducanu, Gauff and Badosa can step up and fill the huge gap left by the departure of Barty?
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