The Australian Open offered a great spectacle even without Djokovic. Which tennis players will rule the world in the future?

Although fans of Novak Djokovic will not agree, the Australian Open offered a great spectacle full of amazing performances and dramatic turns even without the world number one. Which tennis players will conquer the world rankings in the future?

Carlos Alcaraz, 18, Spain

Future world number one. Carlos Alcaraz entered his career with this goal in mind and many experts confirm his prediction. Only 18 years old, the player beat both Top 10 players Tsitsipas and Berrettini last autumn. It was also the Italian tennis player he encountered in the third round of the Australian Open.

He was down 0:2 in sets, but after a huge fight he managed to level the match at 2:2 and finally lost in a super tiebreak. “He is unbelievable. At his age, I don’t think I’ve even had a point on the ATP rankings yet,” Berrettini praised his opponent after the match. Alcaraz is seen by many as the successor to Rafael Nadal. He has many things in common with his idol – an excellent forehand, perfect mobility and defence.

He has currently jumped to 29th in the ATP rankings and if he continues in the same form, he will be in the Top 10 soon.

Félix Auger-Aliassame, 21, Canada

Another future tennis superstar. Auger-Aliassime established himself at the Grand Slams last year, reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the semifinals of the US Open. At the Australian Open, his cannon forehand got him to the quarterfinals and if he was even stronger mentally, he might have gone even further.

In the quarter-finals he had the biggest favourite of the tournament, Daniil Medvedev, on the scoop. He was leading 2:0 in sets and even had a match point in the fourth set. But he didn’t convert and let the Russian tennis player turn it around to 2: 3. Nevertheless, he deserves a lot of praise for his performance, when he successively knocked Ruusuvuori, Davidovich Fokine, Evans and Cilic out of the tournament.

Jannik Sinner, 20 years old, Italy

Sinner’s biggest Grand Slam success to date was the quarterfinals of the 2020 French Open. He repeated that now in Australia, successively knocking out Sousa, Johnson, Daniel and De Minaur. He was only able to beat world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas.

However, the 20-year-old has a bright future ahead of him. He is already in the top ten of the ATP rankings and will rise even higher.

The disappointment of the tournament – Alexander Zverev

There’s no other way to go here. The third ranked tennis player was considered the biggest favourite with Medvedev and in the absence of Djokovic he had the chance to finally get his first Grand Slam. But the German tennis player has to work a lot on his mental side, because he already dropped out in the eighth round after a clear 3-6, 6-7 and 3-6 result against Denis Shapovalov.

Best matches

1. Rafael Nadal – Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
Absolutely awesome spectacle. Great tennis from both sides, Medvedev took a 2-0 lead, only for Nadal to come back from the dead and in an incredible turnaround to claim a record 21st Grand Slam.

2. Félix Auger Aliassime – Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 4-6
More breathtaking tennis. The young Canadian took the favourite by surprise and dominated the first two sets. He even had a match point in the fourth set, but Medvedev showed incredibly strong mentality and turned the match to 3: 2. For only the second time in his career, he turned the match around from 0:2.

3. Carlos Alcaraz – Matteo Berrettini 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-10)
A huge fight that had to be decided by a super tiebreak. Berrettini was comfortably up 2::0, only for Alcaraz to start playing fantastic and level the match at 2::2. The fifth set came down to a supertiebreak, where the Spanish tennis player took his opponent’s serve at the start and with a mini-break in his back, he had a lot of confidence. In the end, however, experience prevailed and Berrettini went on.

The biggest surprise of the tournament – Nadal’s triumph

Even though Nadal is now the best tennis player in history, not many people believed in him before the tournament and it was for a logical reason. After all, he hadn’t played tennis properly for almost half a year, and two weeks before the tournament he had a coronavirus. His leg injury is incurable, everyone was reluctant to predict what condition he would be in.

Moreover, the Australian Open is not his favourite tournament, he has only dominated it once (2009) and lost five times in the final. Despite all this, Rafa wiped everyone’s eyes and in a phenomenal way he went on to win a record 21st title.

Source: Australian Open