[Federer in 2]

Who do you think will be the first one of all the young guys to achieve that?

http://servolley.blogspot.com/2012/0...-be-first.html

First of all, I would like to say that in my opinion, the current generation of young players is ridiculously weak. Not only that the two youngest players of the current top 10 are 24 years old, but I really can't see anyone of the youngsters becoming a massive force in men's Tennis anytime soon.
That said, I think Tennis fans and experts are still trying to find signs of brilliance from the newcomers on tour, and they really should. Despite my general opinion, two of those youngsters did catch my attention in the last couple of months - Japanese Kei Nishikori and Australian giant Bernard Tomic.

Let's start with Tomic. The Australian teenager has already made it pretty far in Grand Slam tournaments, making last year's Wimbledon quarter finals and losing to Federer in the fourth round of the Australian open this year. I was impressed with him for the first time when watching his loss to Novak Djokovic at the Wimbledon quarter final match. The fact that Novak won the match didn't surprise anyone, but young Bernard managed to demonstrate his calm and mature character, while making some incredible shots to put Djokovic under a lot of pressure. I think the best quality of Tomic is that he isn't afraid to step on the court with players that have a special aura around them, like Federer and Nadal. How many times do we see the top guys break early against lower ranked players, who need to calm themselves before they find their game? The maturity and confidence of Tomic might make the difference on the big stages.

Japanese Kei Nishikori might not be a teenager, but he has pretty nice potential as well. The 23 year old is currently ranked number 17 in the world and like Tomic he has shown some impressive form in the recent tournaments. He has beaten Novak Djokovic in the semi final of the Basel tournament, finishing the world number one with a bagel in the decider. He has also managed to knock out sixth seed Jo Wilfried Tsonga from this years first Grand Slam in a five set thriller, and is heading into a deciding set against Tomas Berdych in Monte Carlo as I'm writing this post.
From what I saw, his mental strength is not as solid as Bernard's, but his technique is more complete - From both wings. His tactics are worth mentioning as well. Kei reads the game better than many top 20 players, which is quite an accomplishment for a guy his age.

Don't get me wrong, I do give a lot of credit to Tomic and Nishikori (especially Nishikori), but Despite everything I still think that if nothing special happens, none of those guys are gonna be able to dominate an era, like many legends before them did (and still do).

[ossie]

current youngsters are not too weak. this era is just too strong. todays top players would have dominated any other era in tennis stop blaming the youngsters.

[myamya]

KN won't be 23 until the end of Dec.

[lowy]

I think Tomic is sooo blessed with off the charts talent that its scary, if only he would fix his attitude! He seems to be a few years of breaking into the top 10, especially since his recent ratings decline

[jcctennis]

Tomic has a lot of talent, no doubt, but his commitment to being a true professional is questionable. Success in the juniors does NOT guarantee anything at the pro level. And neither does early tour success. Once the main draw (top 50) players find your weaknesses, word spreads quickly throughout the locker room. Tomic is not known to dig into a tough match all the time, especially in the early rounds of tournaments. He also plays very flat on his forehand which can create spectacular winners but also LOTS of errors.
Nishikori, to my eye, seems destined to hover between 20 and 60 in the world for most of his career. He is incredibly fast and very professional in his consistent effort, but his serve is not very big by tour standards and he lacks the "everything back" determination of a young Lleyton Hewitt or Michael Chang.
Maybe time will prove me wrong about both these players. They are very young after all. But right now I just don't see either of them ever challenging for Grand Slam titles.