[Brian Swartz]

Year 109 Rankings, 11+

13. Olivier Pitteaux (24, FRA, 95%, 8.84, +0.08)

In fairness, you have to add Pitteaux to that group of six challengers already listed in the Top 10, and make it seven. He's actually #2 by a hair over most of the rest in my calculation, but again not even close to the margin of rounding error there. Olivier improved his serve this year, and is up +5 in the rankings. He's only 105 points behind Knesebeck; I don't remember a time when a player this far down in the rankings had 3500 points before. It's so competitive right now with all of these equally matched players, with the situation constantly shifting.

15. Leo Mac Si (21, ESP, 99%, 8.65, --)

Mac Si was noted last year as the lone face of the next generation worth mentioning at that point; he was 53rd, so he's definitely said hello in a big way. Overall, I think he's a half-step better than either Raychaudhari or Knesebeck, and he's not very far off the pace. A runner-up finish at the Madrid Masters definitely was eye-opening. Leo is unquestionably the next standard-bearer after the current group ... and at the rate he's going,possibly during their prime as well. Very good power, excellent endurance, speed and mentality are only relatively weaknesses; they're solid enough and after another year of improving his technique, he's going to be a definite problem esp. on clay.

18. Stanislav Mukarovsky (24, SVK, 95%, 8.53, -0.01)

Up from 26th, Mukarovsky had some notable upsets this year but didn't actually get any better. Perhaps he is still investing effort in doubles, where he is ranked 40th. That would be unfortunate. Stanislav is a quality player, but it makes his future unclear - I'm not sure he wouldn't be better off going all-in on doubles at this point, but he definitely should choose one or the other.

19. Simeun Despotovic (25, SRB, 92%, 8.53, +0.10)

Leaning even further into his serve wasn't the best choice for Despotovic, but it did help him some. He continues to alternate between improving his ranking or his ability, never both in the same year; up just one spot from 20th. It's looking like the teens will be his peak, as there's maybe one year of improvement left and that's all.

22. Vladislav Bartnev (25, RUS, 94%, 8.47, --)

Bartnev emerged from Challengers early in the year, and had mostly underwhelming results on the pro tour; home-country wins at the Kremlin and St. Petersburg 250s were notable exceptions. A serve-heavy player with good to very good athleticism, esp. in movement, and an excellent mental game, Vladislav looks like a borderline Top-10 talent. Fant is a good comparison perhaps.

23. Scott Fielder (24, USA, 94%, 8.54, +0.19)

A much bigger-jump in ability than results for Fielder this past year; just +3 from 26th. Baseline play is still a liability but he's strong just about everywhere else. I figure Scott to make a significant move, and Top 10 is not yet out of the question for him.

24. Luke Ayriss (25, USA, 92%, 8.46, -0.03)

We are decidedly unimpressed with Ayriss' lack of development, and he's basically running out of time now. Might eventually make the Top 20, but even that is uncertain.

26. Alfred Landau (24, DEU, 95%, 8.37, --)

Landau is another new player from Germany. He's a prototypical all-around solid player, but there's nothing about him that stands out which makes him decidedly second-tier. Alfred has at least two more years to improve, probably closer to three; I'd put him in the borderline Top 10 category, low teens at worst, at his peak. He'll make a little bit of noise but won't threaten the top contenders.

28. Sergiu Eliade (24, ROU, 94%, 8.37, --)

Eliade is a similar talent to Landau, speed is merely average, but pretty good mental ability. Sergiu has expended quite a bit of effort into doubles though which is a drawback. He'll burn out a little more quickly than Landau, and I don't expect him above around 15th.

31. Jack Gigg (22, MAL, 97%, 8.06, --)

It's not every day you see a notable tennis player from Malta. Gigg is an extreme clay-focused player which has helped him push up further than he deserves; he's also emphasized serving heavily. There's quite a bit to like about him, and I guess by default he takes the #2 spot in the next generation behind Leo Mac Si. Good athleticism, excellent speed, mentality and endurance are both pretty good; he's aging fast but I'm going to say he probably makes the Top 10. Lot of work to do to get there, and we'll see if he can make it happen.

Analysis

We definitely are short on young up-and-coming players, rather a bunch of peaked, declining, or second-tier talents on this list. There's a couple of 20-year-olds in the 70s that we'll probably end up seeing eventually, but it really looks thin. I'm leaning more and more towards Leo Mac Si having an extended stay at #1 in the future.


34. Aparna Chandrasekharan (28, SRI, 88%, 8.08, +0.14)

Chandrasekharan was hanging out at 31st until recently getting hit with the ranking bug. But near the border has been his fate either way; he's at his peak right now, vacillating between 4.8-4.9 skill and 3.5-3.6 serve on a regular basis. I think the decline begins this year if it hasn't already; 27th is the best he's done and it probably stays that way. He's still done well for how he started. Three of the four Slams this year found him in the 3rd round, and there's really not anything else to be expected. Eventually he'll go trainer, but his singles days are not done yet.

607. Sushant Srivastava (32, SRI, 77%, 6.77, +0.10)

Srivastava is about to turn 33, and we'll keep him out there as a help in the WTC doubles for another year or two; then he'll go away and we'll bring in another junior. He's slipped some in doubles, but still credible at 88th.

1575. Ram Mayuri (18, SRI, 91%, 6.06, +1.13)

Mr. Mayuri didn't do as well in juniors as he could have, hanging out in the high 20s or low 30s most of this year. He just was that little bit too much behind the curve to really break out and challenge the top players, even though he did have some close matches against them when given the opportunity. Now Ram is a pro; he's spent the last few months building up in Amateurs. 2nd round, semifinalist, and champion in his past three. He'll have at least a couple more I think, as he's not quite ready to make the jump to futures, but in a few months he will be. I still see him as a future Top 10 player but beyond that I'm not sure; he's no Raychaudhari, but we'll see what we can make of him.

25(M). Manager Ranking - 12.7k.

A more modest gain of just about a thousand points and +3 in the rankings this year. I'm gradually moving up through the second-tier managers.