2010s in Tennis: 3 most unorthodox ATP players of the decade
With the decade drawing to a close, the tennis circles have gone into retrospect mode. And there is a lot to look back at for both players and fans.
The decade will be best remembered for the dominant display by the Big 4 for a large part, but that is not to say that new talent ceased to emerge. Late into the 2010s, the ATP Tour saw a sleuth of next-gen stars take the spotlight.
While a Grand Slam Champion outside of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, and Roger Federer was a rare occurrence, these younger players found their own way of announcing their arrival.
Come the late 2010s, the younger generation led by players like Alexander Zverev, Stefano Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev took over from the old guard that included the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro, David Ferrer and Marin Cilic in challenging the top stalwarts.
Which group of players presented a better-orchestrated challenge to the Big 4 is a different debate, one that might bleed into the new decade itself. However, there were a handful of players who made an everlasting impression on the fans, not always by winning at the big stage, but by their sheer showmanship
They were not always playing the most orthodox brand of tennis but adding their own flair to the game. And that helped them connect with the audience so much better than some other more tennis players, who were winning bigger and more often.
This here is a list of the top three most unorthodox players of the decade, who not only brought something new to the table every time they stepped out on the court but also gave the viewers rallies, shots and matches that will not be easy to match up to in the near future.
#3 Nick Kyrgios
Following his breakout performance at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, where he defeated the likes to Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal to reach the quarterfinals, Nick Kyrgios has gone on to showcase his quirky brand of tennis in almost all of his outings.
Be it his causal attitude towards the most serious of match-ups, his occasional underarm serves, or his various trick shots, or the tweener that he uses more often than anybody else, Kyrgios is always looking to surprise his opponents and entertain the crowd.
These shenanigans, as they are often dubbed by media outlets and fellow players, might not always win him matches, but they do keep his unique brand of tennis alive with the audience.
He might have been higher ranked on this list, had it not been for an absence from the early 2010s (he turned pro in 2013). But on the flip side, there's plenty of tennis left in him for the coming decade.