5 Under-21 players who could have a breakthrough clay season
Michael Chang remains the youngest player to have the Roland Garros, having won the trophy aged 17 years and four months, a feat he achieved in 1990. However, Chang. despite showing promise at a very nascent stage in his career, failed to win another Grand Slam event and by the time he hung up his boots in 2003, he was little more than a shadow of the robust teenager who had defied all odds to win the French Open in 1990. However, there was another teenager who also went on to get his first taste of Grand Slam success on the red clay of Roland Garros. But the trajectory of this precious talent’s career was nothing like that of Chang’s. The win marked the beginning of a new epoch in tennis, one that would see this very same teenager stamp his authority in the French Open like no other in history. No prizes for guessing who this player was: Rafael Nadal. After defeating then-World Number one Roger Federer in the semi-final of French Open 2005 on his 19th birthday, Nadal went on to win the first of his nine French Open titles two days later when he took out Mariano Puerta of Argentina in the final in a four-set match.Steffi Graf had three French Open titles before she turned twenty, as did her arch-rival Monica Seles. With the clay court season all set to commence, let us now take a look at five youngsters in the current circuit who can look forward to emulating the feats of those mentioned above.
#5 Alexander Zverev (Germany)
Alexander Zverev, who will turn 18 on the 20thof this month, isnt likely to be on anyones list of potential French Open champions this year. Currently ranked 119 in the world, Zverev is a German player who started playing tennis at the age of five.
After a successful junior career, where he ascended to the top of the rankings, Zverev started his professional career in 2014 playing a series of challenger events. Playing in his first ATP tournament at the International German Open at Hamburg, En route to the semi-final at the event, he took out Robin Hasse in the first round and Mikhail Youzhny in the second. His win against Youzhny was his first against a top 20 player. His impressive run in the event was brought to a rather abrupt halt when he ran into David Ferrer in the semi-final. Ferrer took him out in straight sets.
Although he suffered a series of first roundlosses following his unbelievable run in Hamburg, his ranking rose up over a hundred spots, jumping from 285 to 161 at the end of the International German Open. However, he got back to winning ways, registering his fifth win against a top 100 player when he beat Paul Henri-Mathieu at the Trophe des Alpilles challenger event.
A clay court specialist, Zverev was a junior French Open champion and will look to the clay season to both improve his rankings as well as to establish himself firmly in the professional circuit.