ATP Tennis/Non-India Davis Cup

[prasen9]

He looks like the best U-21 player. Zverev and Coric are the other just over 21 players who have looked good and made progress in their rankings. Among the U-20s, I like Shapovalov too and he has made steady progress. Over Minaur. The other Canadian Auger-Alliasime is a very promising player too. There is a U-18 German, Molleker in the top 200.

[Varma]

Zverev has been remarkably consistent for the past couple of years. His ranking fully justifies it. However, he needs to shoo away his mental daemons at the Grandslams. He got to do something about it...quicker the better. It took time for Coric to slowly make his way back after the mixed couple of years he has had. He is certainly a lot more consistent this year. Shapovalov is looking good, but yet to win a title. He will most likely be a top-10, possibly top-5. With the feisty Hewitt backing him up, De Minaur too is doing very well. This set of players will have a better career than all the promising players sandwiched between this lot and the trio that dominated the last decade and half. It is shocking to realize that not a single player born in the 90s has won a grandslam.

- Varma

[bujilover]

Stockholm was an ATP 250. Btw, Kyle Edmund won his first ATP title as well in Antwerp, Belgium. Another promising lad!

[Varma]

Thanks for the correction, Dinesh. It is a 250 tournament indeed.

- Varma

[Rajiv]

Challenger's for 2019 have been split into 5 different categories with the biggest offering a total prize money of $162k, and all the categories will offer Hospitality

Challenger Tour 125 $ 162,480 / € 137,560
Challenger Tour 110 $ 135,400 /€ 114,800
Challenger Tour 100 $ 108,320 /€ 92,040
Challenger Tour 90 $ 81,240 /€ 69,280
Challenger Tour 80 $ 54,160 /€ 46,600

[sameerph]

Yes, the expenses for hosting a challenger has gone up. So, there were some concern in the press if we will be able to keep at least the 3 challengers in a year which we currently have.

It will be also a 48 player draw at challengers. But, only 4 player qualifying draw.

[PKBasu]

Raonic conceded to Federer, and Nadal dropped out — and was replaced by Jaziri, who beat Verdasco. The TOP half of the Paris Masters draw (specially the top quarter) is really weak now, but Federer and Djokovic are still on course to play each other in the SF.

[PKBasu]

The Paris Masters SF between Federer and Djokovic was a terrific match. Federer, sadly, collapsed in the final tiebreak, serving a DF immediately after the first mini-break. But until that point, it had been evenly matched, and a high quality match.

[PKBasu]

Khachanov Beats Djokovic in straight sets in the final! Do we have a real challenger from the NextGen at last?!

[prasen9]

Let's see if they can do it in a Grand Slam over 5 sets. Sasha has had teething trouble there.

[jaydeep]

Borg's son Leo has decided to be a tennis player at age of 10 ... Now 15, Leo Borg is one of the best young players in Sweden.

Leo Borg steps into his father’s shadow

When he was 10, Leo Borg sat his mother down and told her something that made her cry: He wanted to be a tennis player.

"You tried once, when he was small," she (Patricia Borg ) said to her husband. "You told him, like, ‘Go more forward.’ And Leo was like: ‘Ugh! You don’t know anything about tennis!’ And Bjorn said, ‘O.K., I will never say anything about tennis.’ "

[prasen9]

Seems like a clear #1 these days. And a step behind a clear #2. We can never count out the evergreen Fed but it seems that Father Time may finally have cornered him to push him a step behind to the clear #3. These things are subjective, but the Aussie Open finally made me think that we are at the tail-end of the big 3 era, where the older among them is finally trailing off. The young brigade is still to come. We will still have nobody under 30 with a Grand Slam trophy in their cupboards. Instead of a U23, maybe now we should have an U30 tournament

[Prashant]

Incredible title #100 for Roger Federer!!

I hope he can win 10 more & overtake Connors for the all time lead.

[PKBasu]

Yes, very impressive matches by Federer against Coric and Tsitsipas in the SF and final. But he needs to overcome his nerves in the big tournaments (Slams). Playing the clay season seems a big mistake.

[PKBasu]

Federer finishes off a perfect tournament at Miami (which used to be called the Fifth Slam, but is now merely another Masters). The clinical wins in the SF and final were quite astonishing.
Now onto the clay season. I'm sure Nadal's injuries will vanish as soon as the red clay beckons...