Honestly, as much as I think about it, I don’t get it. This week we continue to enjoy the sixth edition of the ATP #NextGen Finals, six years in which the women’s circuit has had the opportunity to jump on this bandwagon and propose a similar format with its players. Why haven’t they? There is no answer, since a contest like this is done with the main objective of promoting the future talents of the dressing room, a challenge that in the WTA It should be labeled urgent.
While we wait for it to happen, at Punto de Break we wanted to fantasize about what that tournament would have been like in the current calendar: who have been the eight best U22 tennis players who would have played in the event? Taking into account that both Every Swiatek (21) as Coco Gauff (18) were present at the official WTA Finals, we review below the eight rackets that we would have seen in these hypothetical WTA #NextGen End 2022.
AMANDA ANISIMOVA (#23)
Here we have the first seed, an American who at 21 could well write a book with everything she experienced in her seasons as a professional. An outlier in her junior stage, the Freehold native skipped the transition process to the elite when she stepped into the Roland Garros semi-finals in 2019, until the death of her father put everything on ice. This year we have finally made her smile again, winning games and lifting titles. Talent to be top10 sooner or later.
QINWEN ZHENG (#25)
Revolution is a word that fits perfectly in the case of this 20-year-old Chinese woman, guided by the Spaniard Pere Riba. He started 2022 outside the top 100 and has almost closed it among the top 20, taking a giant leap in terms of maturity, experience and style definition. In his country they are already rubbing their hands over the future of Qinwen, which many see as having unlimited potential. Future queen of the circuit? I won’t be the one to say no.
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ (#40)
Protagonist in that magical final of the US Open 2021, although the Canadian had the worst part, that of the runner-up plate. It was clear that her calendar would come with curves, but nobody teaches you at 20 to assimilate this pressure. Sure, finishing in the top 40 was not her goal, but we all know what kind of player Leylah is. Organized and focused on competition, this girl is called to shine on the big stages of the circuit.
ANASTASIA POTAPOVA (#43)
Great step forward for the 21-year-old Russian, lifting her first individual title this year and breaking into the top fifty in the world. It is clear that the help of Igor Andreev from the bench has allowed him to explore her limits and show that if she was No. 1 junior in the past, it is for a reason. Now it remains to be seen if she is mentally ready to advance one more square and become a candidate to fight in the Grand Slams.
XIYU WANG (#50)
Only one country would have the privilege of playing with two cards in this tournament: China. Li Na’s shadow is still very long but between Qinwen Zheng and Xiyu Wang it seems that they have wickers again to generate enough noise in the locker room. It is true that the former is one step ahead of the latter, but reality places them both within the world top 50. From here on, anyone has the ability to hit any given week, so keep an eye on this southpaw.
ELIZABETH COCCIARETTO (# 65)
We arrive at the one that, surely, would start as the great unknown in the table, although we already have it at #65 of the WTA. The Italian began the season playing $25K tournaments and outside the top 150, but her good work on the ITF circuit has been pushing her up every week, until she achieved the necessary ranking to be in the game in the next Grand Slams. She is not a contemporary puncher, but she has weapons to drive more than one bomber crazy.
MARTA KOSTYUK (#70)
Another one who arrived very young, so young that it seems unbelievable that she is still 20 years old. The Ukrainian has twice the merit of all her rivals, since no one knows better than her what she has had to suffer in recent months with her country at war. But no one has managed to get her out of her top one hundred, although we will agree that she has tennis for much more. Her case would be that of that player without so much posterity but capable of everything, from falling in the group stage to sneaking into the final.
EMMA RADUCANU (#75)
A Grand Slam champion? Yes, a Grand Slam champion. This is the WTA circuit, without any order of arrival until glory. The British has suffered a considerable fall since she touched the sky in New York, but nobody doubts that in 2023 she will have the option of being on top again. Her figure represents the possibilities that exist today in the women’s locker room, where a week (or two) of good tennis can lead you to make history. Of course, any 19-year-old athlete would change for her.
What do you think of the call? Eight young promises, all within the top75 and some already with a Grand Slam title. As reserves they would have stayed Linda Fruhvirtova (#77) y Diane Parry (#79). Given what was seen this week in Milan, wouldn’t this tournament have had the same or even more focus than the men’s?
