Friday 30 March 2018 10:03, UK
After Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic’s early exits at the Miami Open and the continued absences of fellow multiple major winners Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray through injury, we talk to the Sky Sports pundits about who is next to make the breakthrough from the next generation.
Federer suffered his second defeat in consecutive matches for the first time since May 2014, as the 20-time Grand Slam champion was defeated by Thanasi Kokkinakis, while Djokovic is yet to win since his run to the fourth round at the Australian Open.
Hyeon Chung was the man to knock out the Serbian that day with a fine display at Melbourne Park and he has continued his strong form, while Borna Coric is in the midst of a rich vein of form and joins Denis Shapovalov among others to offer reason for optimism for the young contenders of the game.
We spoke to Barry Cowan, Greg Rusedski and Annabel Croft to analyse the prospects of the young generation and have your say via our vote at the bottom of the page...
Cowan: I think it's much needed and I think what it's shown is that the generation above those younger guys didn't ever really get close enough to the really top guys on a consistent basis. So I think it's going to be this younger generation - they are going to be the next superstars.
What they have is that they're fearless as well. I think that's important because there's less baggage for those guys against the really top guys than maybe some of those who have played the likes of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic 10 times and lost all 10 times.
It is quite an interesting time in tennis. You have got the older generation still doing well, some coming back from injury and then there are the youngsters knocking on the door.
Rusedski: It is quite an interesting time in tennis. You have got the older generation still doing well, some coming back from injury and then there are the youngsters knocking on the door. They are not quite ready to take over but are setting themselves up really well for 2019. We had a dominant four of five guys consistently winning, which the public expected but I don't always think that is the best because you need some young faces to come through.
Cowan: It's really difficult to know which ones are going to make the next really big step. I'm really pleased for Karen Khachanov, because he's someone I saw a year ago and thought had massive potential. I thought he hit the buffers a little bit at the end of last year, but as he's shown with his Marseille title where he destroyed the field, confidence is huge and I don't see any reason why he can't go on a really good run.
Croft: Chung has surprised everybody. They are all coming through and then they kick on at different stages. Coric stalled for about two or three years and now he is jumping again. He is such an exciting player with explosive power from the backhand side and his movement around the court is very good. He maybe needs to improve his serve but he is a really good match player and becoming more confident as the tournaments go by. He is such a nice interesting character - people are going to really enjoy watching him.
I have always rated Kokkinakis. I am a huge fan of his and I am so pleased to see him get a massive win which will hopefully be a springboard for him because he broke through at the same time as Nick Kyrgios and the two of them have always been compared and at the time people were always saying he might end up being better because he has a more solid head on his shoulders. He has had such a huge setback with injuries himself and at one point last year I think he did question he wanted to continue playing. Despite his undoubted talent, I didn't think he would have enough match wins under his belt but he proved he has and he said he could sense Federer was doubting himself.
I have been impressed by Chung the most. The serve is an area that needs to be improved but his movement is exceptional. It reminds you of Djokovic at his peak. He never looks off balance.
Rusedski: I have been impressed by Chung the most. The serve is an area that needs to be improved but his movement is exceptional. It reminds you of Djokovic at his peak. He never looks off balance. He has got a winners mentality and if he cleans up that serve he has got the capacity to be a real threat in the majors and even get to a final. At the moment he is the one looking like the real deal of the NextGen group.
Shapovalov is exciting but I still think he is still a year or two away while Kokkinakis is still progressing with his game. Coric has made great progress this year, to reach the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 for the first time, but I am not sure he has got that sort of game to get into that top-10 echelon. I am just questioning where are the major weapons to hurt you but the determination he has is tremendous.
Shapovalov is a smart kid and he's going to be part of that [crop]. This year's going to be an interesting year for him. If his ranking is higher than it was at the end of last year I think that's a phenomenal year.
Cowan: Shapovalov is a smart kid and he's going to be part of that [crop]. This year's going to be an interesting year for him. If his ranking is higher than it was at the end of last year I think that's a phenomenal year. This year's about trying to consolidate; improve his game and for Shapovalov it's about winning a title.
For Tiafoe it's about winning a title. He is supremely talented and for me, he is the best of the Americans. I saw him in a couple of matches that he played last year. I remember a match - I'm pretty sure it was Miami against Federer. Close first set; he's got more or less everything going for him to be a great player. I think it's really exciting.
You can watch more ATP Masters 1000 action from the Miami Open when we continue our coverage on Friday from 6pm on Sky Sports Arena.
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