As one of the most #NEXTGEN recognizable personalities on and off the court, Dominic Thiem became not only the first male professional tennis player born in the 1990s to win a Grand Slam singles title but also the first Austrian in history to win the US Open singles title. The powerful Austrian entered the prestigious club of Top 10 in 2016, and since then, he has been dominating the professional circuit with 17 ATP Tour singles titles and a career-high of No. 3 in singles. Alongside Thomas Muster, he is considered the best Austrian tennis player in history and one of the big names to take the lead of the sport when names like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic retire.
After being named the WTA Most Improved Player award by winning the 2012 Wimbledon girls title, Genie Bouchard became a sensation in the WTA Tour. With not only one of the most entertaining female tennis game styles to watch but also a unique sense of style, Genie had an exponential growth both in tennis and brand image, becoming the first female Canadian-born player to reach the final of a Grand Slam and being named WTA Most Improved Player award in 2014. While her on-court performances haven’t been able to stay at the top, Bouchard’s early achievements, together with her looks, made her earn worldwide popularity, getting numerous endorsement deals and modeling offers. Nowadays, even though she is not at the top of the WTA rankings, she is, without any doubt, at the top in popularity, brand image, and influence among other women tennis players.
Elina is a competitive professional tennis player representing Ukraine. Since she entered and broke the Top 20 WTA milestone in 2015 with only 20 years, Svitolina has never abandoned the ship of being at the top and, in 2017, two years later, became the first Ukrainian woman to break into the top-10 rankings. Svitolina has won 15 WTA Single titles, with one of them being the 2018 WTA Finals, which is a tournament only played by the best 8 of the year. Other than her numerous achievements in the sport, Svitolina’s personality and look makes her one of the most influential players off the court with very active personal social media accounts.
After graduating from the University of Georgia, John Isner leads the short American list of players, successfully becoming professional after graduating. Ever since he entered the professional circuit, Isner has been feared by all his opponents when it is time to return his service. The 6’ 10’ tower from North Carolina has won 12 ATP titles, including the 2018 Miami Open defeating German #NEXTGEN star Alexander Zverev in the final. The big man is known for having the most lethal serve on tour, having the record of most aces in history with 8,000 and counting. He is also the winner of the longest tennis match in history, defeating French Nicolas Mahut in an epic 3-day battle with a score of 6-4/3-6/6-7/7-6/70-68.
When she was just a 19-year-old teenager, Sloane Stephens’ unbelievable breakthrough in the 2013 Australian Open by beating compatriot and tennis legend Serena Williams caused the world to put its eyes on her. With a notoriously powerful baseline game only compared to Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens immediately became one of the biggest attractions on the WTA tour, as she not only offered an amazing tennis repertoire to watch but also a one-kind show of strength and power. She has won 6 WTA Tournaments, with the 2017 US Open final victory over compatriot Madison Keys as her most important achievement. She achieved a career-high of No.5 and is one of the few American players in reaching the Roland Garros singles final in 2018, losing to former number one Simona Halep in an epic 3-set battle. Even though she suffered a few injuries that have been complicating her career, she is still one of the biggest names in the sport.
Although he is retired, Tomas Berdych’s influence among his followers and the tennis world remains untouchable. Turned pro in 2002 with only 16 years-old, Tomas Berdych had an amazing start of career by winning his first and only Master Series title at the early age of 19 years-old beating Ivan Ljubicic in the Paris final of 2005. Up to date, Berdych remains to be the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion with a former ranking of No. 50 in that Paris edition. He broke into the prestigious Top 10 group in October 2006 and stayed there for 7 straight years, making him one of the most consistent players on tour at that time achieving a career high of No. 4 in 2015. He owes 13 ATP Tour titles and led the Czech Republic on the two consecutive Davis Cup titles in 2012 and 2013. Other than his numerous accomplishments, he played the longest doubles match in history of tennis alongside Lukas Rosol when they beat Marco Chiudinelli and Stanislas Wawrinka in the 2013 Davis Cup. Match lasted 7:02 hours only behind of Isner vs Mahut marathon match.
Reaching a singles career-high No. 3 on November 21, 2016, Raonic is the most successful Canadian singles player up to date. By starting with an unbelievable ranking rose from No. 152 to No. 37 in less than three weeks as a teenager, he was named the 2011 Newcomer of the Year. He also was the first Canadian to break the Top 10 in history when he achieved the milestone in 2013. He was also the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP title, to reach the Top 10, and to qualify for the Barclays Finals, which is the last tournament of the year where only the best eight players of the year would have the chance to play. Milos “missile” Raonic is known for having one of the best serves on tour, only comparable to John Isner. Therefore, powerful, strong, and fastball hitting are just some of the many features that Milos displays on the court.
What else can be said about Andre? He did it all! He is not only considered one of the best players ever to play the game but also considered one of the most influential, popular, and likable players of all-time. When tennis was needing a quote of adrenaline, entertainment, and energy in the late 1980s, Andre Agassi appeared in Rockstar fashion. Agassi is the only American ever, and one of the six players in history, in capturing all the four Grand Slams: Australian Open (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003), Roland Garros (1999), Wimbledon (1992), and U.S. Open (1994, 1999). However, he is still the only player in the history of tennis in winning all four Grand Slams, along with an Olympic gold medal earned in Atlanta 1996. He also belonged to the three-winning Davis cup teams representing the United States in 1990, 1992, and 1995. Alongside his numerous accomplishments, he launched his acclaimed autobiography book called Open, providing unthinkable and unique events that happened during his career. Agassi won a total of 60 ATP titles and entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011.
After a Chilean Golden-Era coming to an end after Fernando Gonzalez (former No. 5), Nicolas Massu (former No. 9), and Marcelo Rios (former No.1) retired from the sport, Cristian “el tanque” Garin became the new heir to the throne for Chilean tennis. He was the French Open Junior champion in 2013, beating unknown yet German star Alexander Zverev in the final. Cristian is the youngest Chilean player ever in winning a match at an ATP level with only 16 years-old in the 2013 VTR Open. After a few years of struggling with the pressure of being the next Chilean superstar, Cristian finally jumped to the next level in 2019, claiming his two first ATP 250 titles in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships of Houston and the BMW of Munich, respectively. He continued with his exponential growth, and in early 2020, he captured not only another ATP 250 title at the Cordoba Open but his first ATP 500 title at the Rio Open. Because of these results, he broke into the Top 20 for the very first time, becoming the sixth-ever Chilean player to enter that group. Nowadays, Cristian is a national star in Chile, slowly becoming an international one.
After an extraordinary junior career in where he finished as world No. 1 by winning the U.S. Open juniors, Taylor Fritz rapidly became the new American tennis player to watch. As an 18-year-old wild card, he went to the final at the 2016 Memphis Open, becoming the youngest player in reaching a final at an ATP event since Japanese Kei Nishikori. He is also the youngest American to enter the Top 25 rankings since Andy Roddick in 2001. In 2019, Taylor went to the next level and captured his first and, for now, only ATP title at the Eastbourne Open by beating countryman Sam Querrey with a 6-3/6-4 score. Taylor is currently one of the prominent figures leading the #NEXTGEN and one of the young tennis players with the brightest futures ahead.
