10. Juan Martin del Potro
Juan Martin del Potro (September 23, 1988, Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a player who has competed as a professional since 2005.
Career
He began playing tennis at the age of 7. On 1st August 2008 he became the first player in ATP history to win four consecutive tournaments with a newcomer status. He also got the second best winning streak in 2008 and second best winning streak among adolescents in the Open Era, both behind Rafael Nadal.
In 2009 he won the US Open in singles, so he became the third Argentine player to do that after Guillermo Vilas and Gabriela Sabatini, and the fourth Argentine to win a Grand Slam in singles after Gaston Gaudio. In 2012 Del Potro became the first Argentine to achieve an Olympic medal in men’s singles, while getting in the 2012 Summer Olympics bronze medal after beating Novak Djokovic.
The player reached three finals of ATP Masters 1000 and ATP World Tour Finals 2009. Moreover, he joined the Argentina team that was finalist in the 2008 and 2011 Davis Cup.
Awards
Del Potro had a rapid rise in the ATP rankings, reaching the Top 10 in 2008 to 20 years and then ranked No. 4 in 2010 at 21 years old. However, he suffered a wrist injury that caused him to miss much of the 2010 season, so it fell sharply in the ATP rankings.
In 2009 he won the Golden Olimpia Award for best Argentine sportsman. In 2010 he received the Konex Diploma Merit Award as one of the five best players of the decade in Argentina. In 2011 he was named Comeback Player of the Year by the ATP after starting the season at No. 484 and finishing at No. 11. It was also protagonist of the game “the best of three sets longer the Open Era” which lasted four hours and twenty minutes-in the 2012 Summer Olympics, in the loss to Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7 (5), 17-19.
His game is known for having great serves and a powerful right, and a great mobility to 1.98 m in height. It is the second youngest to win a point ATP -15 years and 2 months behind Franciscoo Bahamonde- 14 years old. Part of the new generation of players and is considered one of the candidates to fight the first position in the rankings of the Association of Tennis Professionals the current number one being Novak Djokovic.
9. Sam Querrey
Sam Austin Querrey (b. October 7, 1987 in San Francisco, USA) is an American professional tennis player. Noted for its powerful service and height height (1.98 meters), Querrey was indicated by some experts as the next great American talent. In the tournament in Indianapolis in 2007, he hit 10 consecutive aces in his win over James Blake in the quarter-finals, which is believed to be a record for the Open Era. In his career he has managed wins against players in the top-10 world ranking (on James Blake in Indianapolis 2007 on Mikhail Youzhny in the Cincinnati tournament that year and Andy Roddick in the Cincinnati Masters 2009 tournament 2010 Memphis).
Wins of his career
In 2008 he reached his first ATP final and his first title by defeating South African Kevin Anderson in the definition of the Tournament of Las Vegas.
In 2009 he had his best season coming to 5 final ATP tournaments where only managed to win a final. He became the second best behind American Andy Roddick and managed to win the US Open Series running slowly to integrate in the top-20 in the world rankings for the first time. His season ended abruptly when after a previous training for his first game in a tournament in Bangkok he sat on a glass table that broke into pieces and cut off his hand, forcing emergency surgery that prevented him from playing tournaments for rest of the season.
In 2010 he got one of the biggest wins of his career in Memphis tournament, beating compatriot John Isner. Also he achieved his first final in an ATP tennis tournament on clay in Houston tournament, where he was defeated by Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 4-6, 3-6.
8. Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic (September 28, 1988 in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina) is a professional tennis player, currently ranked ninth in the ATP rankings and playing for Croatia.
Tennis Career
Featured as junior category in which he was number 2 in the world in 2005 and won Roland Garros, became top 10 of the ATP rankings in early 2010. In 2014 he won the Open in the United States after beating Tomas Berdych in the quarter-final to Roger Federer in the semifinals and Kei Nishikori in the final. At age 15 he left his home to travel to Medjugorje San Remo, recommended by compatriot Goran Ivanisevic, where he trains under the direction of Bob Brett, former coach of the same Ivanisevic and Boris Becker among others.
His game stands out for his excellent service and a fearsome right, along with excellent mobility for his 1.98 m. high. Their similar playing style, height and age have led to comparisons with the Argentine tennis player Juan Martin del Potro.
Wons and losses
On September 8 he gets wins (6-3, 6-3, 6-3) over tenth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan and winning his first Grand Slam title but he ultimately failed to achieve a new title, after losing to Czech Tomas Berdych 4-6, 2-6 partial.
He achieved his first title challenger in 2007 in Casablanca and Rijeka, in 2008 he won his first title in New Haven on hard court and he won his sixth career title in St. Petersburg.
He continued his successful run during the month winning his second title of the year and second in two weeks after beating Kevin Anderson 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 6-4 in a tight game.2011 Čilić began the season with a loss against Kei Nishikori in Chennai, where he failed to defend his title.
At Zagreb Indoors, he won twice, 2009 and 2010, Čilić won for the third time, and was his ninth career title, defeating Jurgen Melzer in the final. In that same year he made his debut in the Croatian Davis Cup team, losing against the visiting Austrian Stefan Koubek. In the second round beat Marcel Granollers 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3.
This year was also his Grand Slam debut, from the sorting Australia Open. In the second round he eliminated Juan Martin del Potro 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
In 2006 he won his first tournament victory on the ATP Zagreb Indoors, where he won the first round against Russian Igor Andreev (25th in the world) while only 17 years. He also helped his country reach the Davis Cup semifinals. In the third round he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. With his victory, he returned to the top 10 in the world ranking, ranking ninth.
He also got his first victory in a Grand Slam, the Australia Open, where he reached the second round, instance that also arrived at Wimbledon.
7. Chris Guccione
Chris Guccione (born July 30, 1985 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian tennis player. He stands out for his height (2 meters) and his powerful serves. He became public knowledge for the first time at the Sydney International in 2004, where he beat the then world No. 1 recent Juan Carlos Ferrero.
His full name is Christopher Lucas Guccione, nicknamed “Gucc”.
Career
In 2003 he reaches the top 400 of the ATP world rankings, he debuts at the ATP Tour in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, reaching the second round. Later he got another second round at Indianapolis.
In 2004 he broke the top 300 barrier for the first time and also for the first time he got a win over a top 10 (being at that time no 447), defeating world No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero in Sydney. First Grand Slam played (Open Australia), defeated his compatriot Greg Jones in the first round before losing in the next round against Robby Ginepri.
But most importantly in 2014 Chris Guccione won two ATP World Tour titles in two consecutive weeks, winning with Samuel Groth in the final of doubles tournament in Bogota 2014. One week after winning the 2014 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Lleyton Hewitt, now with Guccione beat Groth local Nicolas Barrientos and Juan Sebastian Cabal 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 11-9. Guccione was 3-0 in doubles finals, all with different compatriots, while Groth held its first crown. “It feels good,” Guccione said. “I’ll take bets on another year on this date. I won many challengers this year so it feels good to win a couple of tournaments in the circuit as well.”
Australian favorite
Australians, third favorite, got eight aces, won 77 percent of points on his first serve and saved all 6 break points in a match that lasted one hour and 48 minutes. Both have had great success in 2014, winning the titles ATP Challenger Dallas, Leon, Shenzhen, Taipei City and Gimcheon. “We won our last four Challengers together before ‘Gooch’ Lleyton decided to leave me for a couple of weeks,” joked Groth. “It is our first tournament together again. We got together very well and we get pretty good. We had so much fun playing together and I think that is the key.”