the next tennis superstars

i've been following the game of tennis since then... and it never failed to make my day especially when i watch a great game of tennis...

and it become a habit of mine to forecast who will be the next shining stars of tennis... i said it before that lleyton hewiit and andy roddick will make it on top, those we're the days before roger federer and rafael nadal dominated the game of tennis... and i was never wrong... i placed mah bet also that justine henin and kim clijster will snatch the top woman player of the world... and i was right...

likewise these past years, i felt like a winner when i gambled that novak djokovic, andy murray and richard gasquet will break the top 10 ranking, though the latter was plague with injuries, but still mah penny is in him, that soon he will make a comeback...

in the woman side, i said that the serbs will dominate the top ranking, and ana ivanovic and jelena jankovic really wowed the world...

now, i have mah fearless forecast again for the next tennis superstars this coming years... without much ado, here are the young players that are breaking the ranks already...


RICARDAS BERANKIS of Lithuania.

Rica, for the first time made the 2011 Australian Open main draw without competing in the qualifying round. In the first round he defeated Marinko Matosevic. In the second round, he defeated former world number 3 David Nalbandian. But in the third round, he was defeated by David Ferrer.


Next he played in the 2011 SAP Open, where he was able to match his best performance on the ATP World Tour by reaching the quarterfinals. There he lost to Canadian and eventual champion Milos Raonic. Currently he is ranked world # 74.

 

2011 Australian Open highlights of Berankis - Nalbaldian Match

KEI NISHIKORI of Japan

this year, 2011, he opened the season in Chennai, where he upset two-time defending champion Marin Cilic. Then, in the 2011 Australian Open, Kei reached the 3rd round. He defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy, he then ousted Florian Mayer of Germany and sadly his run was ended in the third round by the ninth-seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain. After his 3rd round appearance in Melbourne, his ranking rose to #70. 

Kei, winning his first ATP Title against #1 seed James Blake in Delray Beach Open.

 

MILOS RAONIC of Canada

Milos successfully qualified for the 2011 Australian Open. He won his first round match against German Björn Phau, his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam match. In the second round he defeated No. 22 seed Michaël Llodra of France, becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a singles Grand Slam. He then knocked out the Russian World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny in four sets to reach the fourth round. He is the first qualifier to make the 4th round of a Grand Slam since 1999. Playing his next match, he fell to World No. 7 David Ferrer.

Raonic's impressive performance at the young age of 20, already elevated him to a career high ranking of World No. 37, making him the highest-ranked Canadian male singles player in ATP Rankings history

Milos highlights in the Japan Open 2010, Single and Doubles Draw.

and for the woman side,

again another serb, BOJANA JOVANOVSKI

an aggressive baseline player, she qualified for the Medibank International Sydney. She defeated Kaia Kanepi, Aravane Rezaï  and Flavia Pennetta clearing her way to her first WTA semifinal, though she lost to eventual future champion, Na Li.

Currently, her career high ranking is at #55, making her the youngest player in the Top 100 of the WTA Tour.

 Bojana's best shots during the 2nd set of her Semifinal match in Sydney Open against Na Li.

though i have more young players in mah mind, mah top bets are in these four young tennis athletes. and i will be more than happy, if all my predictions will be right again... go! go! go! mah bets!!! :-)