ATP champions for the first time in 2020

The season 2020 It has been totally unpublished, like no other seen before. A large portion of this year’s tournaments were suspended due to the pandemic of the COVID-19, which put the sports world in check and forced the ATP to reinvent itself. They managed to save the season, but their efforts could not repair so many months of hiatus. Many indicated that this could harm young people … but if we look back, they have been the ones who have mainly taken advantage of this season.

And it is that reviewing the list of tennis players who premiered their honors this 2020 makes us face reality: the circuit begins to rejuvenate. Second-row tennis players are lowering the average age of the circuit, and the new winners on the circuit are beardless young men with a hunger to keep progressing. Only one tennis player of the six members on this list exceeds the thirty… but the other five are not even over 22 years old. So, the new sap cup this section.

– Ugo Humbert (21 years old, premiered in Auckland): The French tennis player started the year warning of what he was capable of. Not everyone can take the pressure in a heart attack finish when what you play is your first wound, and Ugo did it wonderfully against Benoit Paire in one of the best games of the season (7-6 (2), 3 -6, 7-6 (5)). Before, he had already left illustrious names like Denis Shapovalov and John Isner on the way.

The pandemic somewhat paralyzed his progression, but since his surprise victory in Hamburg against Daniil Medvedev the French tennis player has continued on the growth path of the start of the season. His 2020, in addition, left him double joy: he was also champion in Antwerp, gaining even more weight if possible some showcases that at the beginning of the season were still empty.

– Casper Ruud (21 years old, premiered in Buenos Aires): Casper was another of the players who can say goodbye to 2020 with a good taste despite the adverse circumstances of this season. The Norwegian triumphed in Buenos Aires, a tournament that promised to be the final takeoff that would allow him to fight against the best players on the circuit.

The pandemic, of course, got in their way. But Casper is not one to give up easily, and the dirt tour express that he would follow the Us Open would see him exploit all his strengths. He had Djokovic on the ropes in the semifinals in Rome, and he shows more and more that he is a versatile player. He has already left that ‘pure earthling’ phase behind, and the expectations placed on him for 2021 are quite high.

– Thiago Seyboth Wild (19 years old, premiered in Santiago): Probably the most surprising winner of all those that populate the list. Very few people expected that it was not Felix Auger-Aliassime who would open the can of titles in his generation; after several lost finals, the Brazilian took the lead after a simply spectacular week in the Chilean capital.

Deploying a deadly forehand with which he was able to close the exchanges in a short time, Thiago did not hesitate and swept Ruud himself off the track in the final, proclaiming himself the youngest Brazilian champion in history. Of course, the pandemic affected him negatively: during the stoppage of the circuit he contracted COVID, and his return to the tracks has been marked by irregularity, with numerous defeats in the first rounds of Challenger. 2021 should be the year that gets you back on the right track.

– Miomir Kecmanovic (21 years old, premiered in Kitzbühel): Three pre-pandemic champions, three post-pandemic champions. The bug seems to have respected the symmetry, and the first “new” winner after the restart of the circuit was a Serbian national. Consistent, focused and superior in the big moments, Miomir made his little place in the biggest news on the circuit as the world watched what was happening at Flushing Meadows.

After coming back from a set against Kei Nishikori on his debut, the Serbian finally retaliated for a major disappointment: the Antalya 2019 final, in which he had match point against Lorenzo Sonego. He wasted it, but life gave him everything back just a year later. His objective should now be to develop that forehand even further and turn it into a shot with a little more punch, since finding that weapon that wins matches will probably be what separates him or not from the best players of his generation.

– John Millman (31, premiered in Nur-Sultan): If we were to look for an imposter in this list, probably the name that does not follow the tonic is that of John Millman. Does this mean that your first title is not as remarkable as the others? Not at all. In fact, his victory in Kazakhstan came about in a … almost miraculous way.

The Australian saved a dramatic match in the quarterfinals against Tommy Paul: he rallied two match points and a 0-5! in the tie-break of the third set. Later, Tiafoe and Mannarino succumbed to the tenacity of the Brisbane tennis player. His week encapsulated the values ​​for which he falls so well on the circuit: a fighting attitude and an impeccable work ethic that, finally, gave him the great joy of his career. And it is that not everything is to beat Roger Federer in a Grand Slam … from time to time succeeding, even in lesser places, is also good.

– Jannik Sinner (19 years old, premiered in Sofia): The latest player to join the list is probably the one with the brightest future ahead of him. We have already talked about his future, and it is that the Italian’s name stands out in the crowd, as it did in the Bulgarian capital. There he showed a magnificent temper and calm in the important moments, imposing his law in the tie-break of the game for the title.

That first winding could only arrive in this way, as if sending a message to the rest of his companions. Surely 2021 holds big goals for Sinner, widely considered one of the circuit’s greatest promises. He will start it with one less burden on his shoulders: that of having already tasted the honeys of a championship.

Well, which of these players do you prefer? Who do you think will premiere its record in 2021? We read you in the comments!