FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Good-Man: Steel Curtain said 07/20, 09:08 AM
5. Donald Young
4. Sam Querrey
3. Marin Cilic
2. Kei Nishikori
1. Ernests Gulbis

There is no doubt Ernests Gulbis is one of the best up and coming players on the Tour this year. He went to the QF in the French and lost to Djokovic in straight sets (5-7, 6-7, 5-7) and he beat John Isner in the 1st round at Wimbledon before being knocked out (in 4 sets) by Nadal.

Kei Nishikori beat James Blake in Del Ray, FL. He is a member at Bollettieri Academy in Florida...and he is only 18 years old!

When Cilic was a junior, he won the 2005 French Open in boy's singles and was once the world's top ranked Junior player. He ended 2007 ranked #2 just behind Donald Young.

Sam Querrey is another up and coming star at age 20, and he won the Tennis Channel Open beating (most notably) Sebastian Grosjean. Querrey is 6'8, and he has a HUGE serve. He played Federer tough at the French, but lost in straight sets.

Donald Young is an American who was once the world's number 1 ranked Junior. He lost the Junior Aussie Open final to Novak Djokovic in 2007, and he plays mostly on lower level circuits. Look for him to make a splash in the next few year. He is 19, and ranked 88 in the ATP

Good-Man: Steel Curtain said 07/20, 09:23 PM
But Nishikori also beat Sam Querrey, Bobby Reynolds ranked #45 and #90 respectively on his way to beating #6 James Blake! He has beat other good players. Del Potro is a good pick, but I think Nishikori is better because of 2 things:

1) He is only 18! He has at least 12 years in him.

2)He qualified for the Indianapolis Tennis Championships in July of 2007, and he beat Alejandro Falla in the 1st rd. 6-4, 6-3 to get his 1st singles win on Tour. He then beat Michael Berrer in a 3 setter, (the eliminator of 7th seed Robby Ginepri) to advance to his first ATP quarterfinal. Then he lost to Dmitry Tursunov. However, Nishikori became the youngest player ever to reach Indy final since Boris Becker did.

He was a partner with Donald Young, and they won the Doubles Title in Arkansas. It was an ATP event. He also partnered with the great 3 time French Open champ Gustavo Kuertin when they lost in the 1st round of Sony Ericsson. Kei was also Federer's hitting partner in preperation for Wimbledon.

That is also an impressive resume, and he gained some very valuable experience in hitting w/ Federer.

Good luck to you too

Good-Man: Steel Curtain said 07/21, 08:42 AM
Actually,some of the best champions in recent memory such as Sampras, and Agassi, continue to win Grand Slams into their late 20's and early 30's

Unless Nishikori gets hurt, I don't see a reason for him to slow down until he is that old too. I know, he isn't a modern champion, but he is getting the best coaching in the world, and he is going up and up.

"So what if he beat Querrey and Reynolds? Reynolds and Querrey are two players that are better than Kei Nishikori. "

That is what I was trying to say. He is beating people he isn't supposed to beat! He is getting better, and beating people that are way higher than he is!
You just proved that point in my argument about Nishikori!

Nishi mixes his shots up well. He doesn't just stand at the baseline and wail away on the forehand side like typical Bollittieri kids do. He mixes up his shots very well, depth, angles, pace. He is a decent volleyer also, and he has a pretty good game for clay.