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Brian Swartz · 09-29-2015, 01:42 AM

Generation Flash

With Girish Girsh on the rise, and Iglar having taken over at the top, it's a reasonable time to take a look at the next generation of players. They aren't ready to hit the big time yet, but will be in a year or two. Girsh is 2-3 years behind Iglar; we're looking at players generally in the 21-23 year old range here.

At the head of the class is the already-mentioned Marcel Bahana(9.75), who will still be the standard-bearer if he gets his act together. Probably the next-best possibility was Swede Nils Mednick, whose manager went AWOL several game months ago, ruining chances there. The highest-ranked player is presently Peru's Thiago Herrera(9.17, 24th), who we met a few weeks back. He will probably be a force on clay, but very slow foot speed holds him back some. Here's how some notable others look so far:

31. Radek Smitala(23, USA) -- 9.26. Smitala is a hard worker, but appears to be the Lubos Nedved of this generation; a meteoric career path that has him already well past his physical peak. Still, he's a good athlete and pretty much an even match for Girsh right now. He will bear watching.
37. Tobia Alberti(21, ITA) -- 8.9. Alberti is a fine athlete but hasn't improved his baseline game nearly enough. I expect this will keep him from rising much further the next couple of years.
44. Johnny Loudermilk(22, USA) -- 9.19. Loudermilk is a fitting poster child, and a representative of why I've termed it 'Generation Flash'. He looks pretty good now, a good athlete and decent skills, but he's not dedicated to putting in the work. As time goes by, Girsh will pull away from this kind of player, even though he's not as athletic, simply through the accumulated fine-tuning of his skills that comes only through consistent hard work. Jacinto Iturren(ESP, 43rd), to a degree Marcelo Herrera(PER, 45th), and Efim Lipovsky(RUS, 47th) are just a few of the highest-ranking of the many young players that could be described in this way.
53. Gustavo Caratti(21, ARG) -- 8.72. A clay-court specialist, not the best mentally and a little behind in terms of skills as well, Caratti is one of those guys like Hammerstein with superhuman strength. He's young enough that he may yet become quite an excellent player.
66. Joseph Skirrow(21, USA) -- 8.9. Girsh has already beaten Skirrow a couple of times, but the American is still good enough to be relevant for a while. An excellent athlete with an underdeveloped baseline game.
74. Garreth McCuskey(20, USA) -- 8.76. McCuskey is younger than the others, but from a physical point of view he's a real phenom. Athletically, he's a little more gifted even than Iglar, probably the best overall athlete I've seen. Properly handled he would be a beast. That isn't happening, but he's the standard-bearer for players coming up at the end of this generation and worth watching.

Summary

It looks to me like Bahana is just too good not to eventually succeed to a certain extent eventually, but I think Girsh easily outpaces the rest of this group. There's still a lot of them out there with decent serves and good athleticism, but the mental attitude and commitment to succeed just isn't there. Many will fall by the wayside over the next couple of years. We're probably looking at a two-year gap here before we find out who will contribute and who won't, with Bahana and Girsh really the only sure things. T. Herrera, Smitala, Loudermilk, and McCuskey are all almost certainly Top 20 at some point, but beyond that it's a big question whether they will progress further.

09-29-2015, 01:42 AM	#158
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Generation Flash With Girish Girsh on the rise, and Iglar having taken over at the top, it's a reasonable time to take a look at the next generation of players. They aren't ready to hit the big time yet, but will be in a year or two. Girsh is 2-3 years behind Iglar; we're looking at players generally in the 21-23 year old range here. At the head of the class is the already-mentioned Marcel Bahana(9.75), who will still be the standard-bearer if he gets his act together. Probably the next-best possibility was Swede Nils Mednick, whose manager went AWOL several game months ago, ruining chances there. The highest-ranked player is presently Peru's Thiago Herrera(9.17, 24th), who we met a few weeks back. He will probably be a force on clay, but very slow foot speed holds him back some. Here's how some notable others look so far: 31. Radek Smitala(23, USA) -- 9.26. Smitala is a hard worker, but appears to be the Lubos Nedved of this generation; a meteoric career path that has him already well past his physical peak. Still, he's a good athlete and pretty much an even match for Girsh right now. He will bear watching. 37. Tobia Alberti(21, ITA) -- 8.9. Alberti is a fine athlete but hasn't improved his baseline game nearly enough. I expect this will keep him from rising much further the next couple of years. 44. Johnny Loudermilk(22, USA) -- 9.19. Loudermilk is a fitting poster child, and a representative of why I've termed it 'Generation Flash'. He looks pretty good now, a good athlete and decent skills, but he's not dedicated to putting in the work. As time goes by, Girsh will pull away from this kind of player, even though he's not as athletic, simply through the accumulated fine-tuning of his skills that comes only through consistent hard work. Jacinto Iturren(ESP, 43rd), to a degree Marcelo Herrera(PER, 45th), and Efim Lipovsky(RUS, 47th) are just a few of the highest-ranking of the many young players that could be described in this way. 53. Gustavo Caratti(21, ARG) -- 8.72. A clay-court specialist, not the best mentally and a little behind in terms of skills as well, Caratti is one of those guys like Hammerstein with superhuman strength. He's young enough that he may yet become quite an excellent player. 66. Joseph Skirrow(21, USA) -- 8.9. Girsh has already beaten Skirrow a couple of times, but the American is still good enough to be relevant for a while. An excellent athlete with an underdeveloped baseline game. 74. Garreth McCuskey(20, USA) -- 8.76. McCuskey is younger than the others, but from a physical point of view he's a real phenom. Athletically, he's a little more gifted even than Iglar, probably the best overall athlete I've seen. Properly handled he would be a beast. That isn't happening, but he's the standard-bearer for players coming up at the end of this generation and worth watching. Summary It looks to me like Bahana is just too good not to eventually succeed to a certain extent eventually, but I think Girsh easily outpaces the rest of this group. There's still a lot of them out there with decent serves and good athleticism, but the mental attitude and commitment to succeed just isn't there. Many will fall by the wayside over the next couple of years. We're probably looking at a two-year gap here before we find out who will contribute and who won't, with Bahana and Girsh really the only sure things. T. Herrera, Smitala, Loudermilk, and McCuskey are all almost certainly Top 20 at some point, but beyond that it's a big question whether they will progress further.