Class of 2020: Part 5 – Ones to watch
The Class of 2020 series recognises and celebrates players who have had a successful year progressing along the ITF player pathway, and beyond. The tennis calendar may have been disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic but that hasn’t stopped players making their mark and advancing their careers. The last category in the ITF’s Class of 2020 series identifies two players who have given us cause to sit up and take note this year – and who have a very bright future ahead of them.
CoCo Gauff at Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek and Hugo Gaston at Roland Garros: three recent examples of gifted young tennis players announcing their arrival on the world stage from relative obscurity.
‘This kid’s got talent,’ marvels the casual observer. But there’s so much more to it than that.
It’s easy to fail to acknowledge the endless toil, single-mindedness and sheer hard work that leads up to those defining moments. So why not follow the journey of those players with potential for that big stage breakthrough before the rest of the world catches up?
Brenda Fruhvirtova and Carlos Alcaraz, albeit at very different stages in their tennis development, are two players for which the future appears very bright. Without heaping undue pressure on their shoulders, big stage success may yet await them - certainly if the building blocks they’ve laid in 2020 are anything to go by.
At just 13, Czech youngster Fruhvirtova has had a record-breaking year, while 17-year-old Alcaraz has shot up the rankings in 2020 with the force of several rather well-known Spaniards before him.
Fruhvirtova began her ITF junior career with a title in her first tournament at J2 Cairo in Egypt in September, becoming the youngest player to win at Grade 2 level or above in 25 years. Not since 1995, when a 13-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won a junior event in Belgium, has someone so young won a title of such prestige on the ITF junior tour.
Fruhvirtova made her junior Grand Slam debut in Paris in October – in a girls’ field predominantly full of 16-18 year-olds – and despite a first round defeat to 17-year-old Daria Lopatetska, she promptly followed that appearance by winning her second junior title at J3 Istanbul.
“I will never forget my first victory in Egypt on the junior tour,” Fruhvirtova told itftennis.com this week, when asked to reflect on her season. “I am also very happy I could play at the Roland Garros junior event in Paris. I simply loved the Grand Slam atmosphere and I played a really good match there. To feel the atmosphere gave me a lot of experiences for the future.
“My second victory in Istanbul was also special,” she added. “I felt so good and self-confident on court and I saw that all my hard work pays off.”
Fruhvirtova’s ITF junior tour appearances tell only half the story. She won Les Petis As – an under 14 junior tournament in France famed for being an early stop for the best in the business. The tournament’s honour roll includes the likes of Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters, and, to add to the intrigue, Brenda’s elder sister Linda.
If there’s another sibling dynasty in store to follow in the footsteps of the Williams sisters, it might again be the younger sibling that draws the greatest attention. And while older sister Linda made her first pro singles final this month at the age of just 15, it’s Brenda that has caused the biggest stir in 2020.
Just a few months after her 13th birthday, she beat world No. 54 Katerina Siniakova in straight sets at a Czech exhibition tournament over the summer and was described as an ‘amazing’ talent by Alize Cornet after their battle at the UTS exhibition in France.
With talent and aptitude in spades, she appears to have the steely focus to match.
“For next year my main goal is to be healthy and to continue to progress my game and fitness,” she said. “I want to get into the top 100 on the ITF juniors asap and get to junior Grand Slams. And when I’m ready, start on the women’s circuit.”
Four years older than the Czech, Alcaraz is whipping up a similar frenzy on the men's tour.
With two singles titles and a career-high ranking of 22 to his name on the junior circuit, Alcaraz was a good, if not prolific, junior. The highlight of his junior days was arguably helping Spain win the 2018 Junior Davis Cup in Budapest – an event that fostered his spirit and desire to compete for his country, as well as himself.
"It was very special to win the Junior Davis Cup," Alcaraz remembers. "I would be very proud to win Davis Cup in future."
But it’s on the men’s tour that Alcaraz has really grown into his skin.
The Murcia native started the year at 490 in the world and will finish it not only inside the Top 150, but also as the youngest player in the men’s top 600. He amassed five professional singles titles, including two on the ITF World Tennis Tour early in the year at M15 level on home soil in Manacor, and three at ATP Challengers in Trieste, Barcelona and Alicante.
"I didn't believe that I could win a Challenger and finish the year in the Top 150," admitted Alcaraz. "My goals of 2021 are to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam and finish the year in the Top 50."
Also in 2020, Alcaraz notched his first ATP win while still aged 16, beating former world No. 17 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a stunning display in Rio de Janeiro. He described the win as "the most special moment" of his 2020, having become the youngest Spanish player to win an ATP match since Nadal in 2002.
Throw in the fact that Alcaraz is coached by former world No. 1 and Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, and it’s easy to see why there’s a lot of excitement around the teenager.
“I knew the potential that Carlos has, but the first year of playing challengers always is very difficult to achieve success and win a tournament,” said Ferrero of his charge. “But he’s won three… and made a final!
“I see Carlos practising every day, showing the level he can play and how he likes to compete and how he likes to face matches. I’m not surprised to see him succeed. I knew that if he could play at that level, he will reach his goals. I believe in him, and I think he can go very high.”