Top Five Newcomers on the ATP Tour in 2010 – Part two
Here is the second and final instalment explaining the top five newcomers on the ATP tour in 2010;
3. Thiemo de Bakker
Labelled by former world number four Richard Krajicek as by far the biggest talent in Dutch tennis, the 2006 Wimbledon junior winner Thiemo de Bakker has taken a huge step towards fulfilling his sporting aptitude in 2010 by jumping to a year-end ranking
of number forty three in the world.
The 22-year-old Dutch player, who at 6’4 boasts a huge serve entered the top fifty earlier this year during the month of April after making his way into the semi final round in Barcelona, where he got the better of Juan Carlos Ferrero as well as Jo Wilfried
Tsonga on his favourite clay court.
“I knew I had the capability, but you still have to do it. Until now I have had a pretty decent year, and I am happy with the way it has gone. Hopefully I can bring it up even higher and see how far it goes,” declared de Bakker.
Later in the season, the right hander advanced into the third round at the grass court Grand Slam tournament before losing at the hands of Mathieu, followed by a semi final appearance in New Heaven where he was toppled by Stakhovsky.
The former Wimbledon champion, Krajicek, while commenting on his talent and current form said that if he continues to play like this, then he can capture major titles and soon become a top five player in the future.
4. Alexandr Dolgopolov
The professional tennis player from Ukraine soon after turning professional on the ATP tour back in 2006, declared his goal of being the top ranked player in the world. The 22-year-old has already announced himself as one of the contenders to watch next
year after breaking into the top forty in the South African Airways ATP list, having started the season at number 131.
The right hander, who is currently ranked number forty eight in the world, achieved his career high ranking of number 39 back in July.
Alexandr was also solid on his beloved surface clay on the ATP Challenger Tour in Morocco during the opening three months of the year, capturing crowns in Meknes and advancing into the finals in Marrakech and Tanger.
In May, the Ukrainian got the better of world number thirteen Fernando Gonzalez to make his way into the third round at French Open and two weeks later reached his first ATP World Tour final four round in Eastbourne before losing at the hands of Michael
Llodra.
Alexandr also finished quarterfinalist in three other events at Umag, Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2010.
5. Mikhail Kukushkin
There were already predictions of what was to come from Mikhail last year when he finished semi finalist as a qualifier at Kremlin Cup, held in Moscow. The Kazakhstani tennis sensation then made his breakthrough on the tour in 2010, compiling a win loss
mark of 17-8 and rising to a career best ranking of number forty eight in the South African Airways list.
Mikhail mainly came to the limelight in the second half of the season, capturing back to back ATP Challenger Tour crowns Penza and Braunschweig and advancing into the title battle in Istanbul.
The 22-year-old crowned his breakthrough year by picking up his debut ATP World Tour trophy in St. Petersburg, where he hammered down world number ten Mikhail Youzhny in the final.
“My next goal will be to get in the fifty, to play good on this level, and I will try to play good on the bigger tournaments because I never played good on the Grand Slams, the Masters 1000s. Of course I will try to improve my game, improve my ranking and
improve my results,” said Kukushkin after his win in St. Petersburg.
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