If there is a country that has dominated the tennis year 2021, that is Russia. In the male and female circuit; in the individual, in the doubles, even in the mixed. The truth is that the nation headed by Vladimir Putin threatens to become the great dominator of the future of world tennis, with projects of world elite players in the short and medium term both in the ATP like in the WTA and with a depth of names that speaks for itself. Or, at least, that’s how we have raised it in our last video for Youtube, where we ask ourselves the following question: Which country can stop Russia, especially in team competitions?
Starting to review the year of the Russian tennis players means doing it with the first great success: the ATP Cup. The team tournament, played in Melbourne, saw Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev sweep everything in a preview of what was to come. Neither of the two Muscovites gave up a single match on their way to the title, only losing one set (to Struff and Zverev, respectively). In that team, by the way, a certain Aslan Karatsev, who was defeated in the two doubles points he played. Nobody foresaw what that boy was going to do just two weeks later, when at the Australian Open 2021 he made his presentation to the world by standing in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev was planted in his second Grand Slam final, the first for a Russian in 2021.
But there would be more, much more. In fact, in Roland Garros they came twice: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova she broke down the biggest wall of her career and reached the title match on the women’s circuit, losing to Barbora Krejcikova. Nor would they have good luck in the final of the mixed doubles Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev, although that was only a warning of what was to come from the Russian delegation at the Tokyo Olympics.
In Japan, without the brilliance of its first sword, the Russians were not far behind. Until three medals they pocketed: they dominated the mixed doubles (gold for Rublev / Pavlyuchenkova, silver for Karatsev / Vesnina) and got her to join the party Karen Khachanov, the first of all to arrive, but it seemed to have lost the gradual growth of other Russian rackets. The Russian signed a practically immaculate tournament to win silver, only yielding to Zverev in the final duel.
At US Open the great moment arrived: Daniil Medvedev he was proclaimed champion of his first Grand Slam, giving glory to Russian tennis again. But in case there was still more luster to contribute, a plethora Liudmila Samsonova, supported by a large cast of female players (Kasatkina, Pavlyuchenkova herself, Kudermetova) would be able to give Russia the Billie Jean King Cup, a success that the men seemed to want to imitate, conquering the Davis Cup with an iron fist (they only lost one game, Rublev vs Feliciano; Medvedev, in fact, did not leave a single set).
The truth is that, if most team competitions are played in hard courts, there are very few teams that can beat the Russians. In the video we analyze the cast of stars in both circuits, in addition to leaving some anecdotes that illustrate the tremendous progression of their players. And you, do you think someone will be able to stop them in a few years?
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