Rising ATP stars to watch in 2016
Coming into a new tennis season, all the talk is about the top players such as Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray. The players that are tipped to win everything and stand tall at the top of the rankings come the end of the year. There are a few rising stars on the ATP tour at the moment though, with 2016 promising to be an exciting year for them. Here are the top three rising stars to watch for the upcoming season.
Elias Ymer
The 19-year-old Swede became the first teenager to qualify for all four grand slam tournaments in 2015, losing in the first round of all of them but showing enough talent to be tipped as a future star. Currently ranked 132 in the ATP world rankings, he will be determined to qualify for as many tournaments as possible in 2016 and give that ranking a massive boost.
Hyeon Chung
The South Korean, ranked 75 in the ATP rankings, has been dominating futures and challenger tournaments and is now starting to make an impact on the pro circuit. The 19-year-old showed his potential in the US Open in 2015 against world number 4 Stan Wawrinka, with the Swiss player needing three tie break sets to win their second round encounter. Many people are tipping Chung as a future grand slam winner and most believe that 2016 will be the year he starts to show just how good he really is by rising up the rankings.
Borna Coric
Coric is an extremely talented 18-year-old rising star that is tipped as the future of tennis by fellow professionals and pundits alike. The Croatian is already up to number 33 in the ATP rankings, boasting straight sets victories over Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal in 2015. He reached a Semi Final in an ATP 500 event as well as several Quarter Finals as he made a massive impact on the pro circuit last year. He is confident and physically able to cut it amongst the very best and could be the talent of his generation. Even at such a young age, many people believe that 2016 could be the year he picks up his first professional title(s) and a lot of the top players will want to avoid him if possible.