Monday Mini-Break 2/26: Youth Rising

Musings on the week that was and the week ahead in the world of tennis.

The young kids are coming.

On balance, the Australian Open wasn't really a story of the young guys. Yes, Kyle Edmund and Hyeon Chung made runs, but that wasn't really the full story. Denis Shapovalov went out in the second round, Alex De Minaur bowed out in the first, Francis Tiafoe didn't win a set, and the crown jewel of the "NextGen," Sascha Zverev, went out in the third round.In the biggest events of the year on the ATP Tour, it's been old guys holding it down. Roger Federer won in Melbourne and Rotterdam. The only other 500 level event so far this year, the Rio Open in Brazil, featured Fernando Verdasco in the final. Verdasco is 34.The 250 level, the lowest rung of the actual ATP tour, is telling a different story.Daniil Medvedev took the title in Sydney back in January, and since then, the young guys are only picking up steam.In Marseilles this week, fellow Russian, Karen Khachanov, took the title over Lucas Pouille, what would make for a great week of headlines for a tour desperate to pump up its young talent. But in Delray Beach, we got a legitimate glimpse into the future.For the seeds, the tournament was a disaster. Jack Sock, the top seed, went out in the second round.John Isner, who is a garbage can, did the same thing.So did Milos Raonic.So did Juan Martin Del Potro.Sam Querrey went out in the first round.The only seed in the quarterfinals was youngster Hyeon Chung. He was joined by Tiafoe (20 years old), Shapovalov (18), Taylor Fritz (20), and Reilly Opelka (20). That seems like too much to overlook.The tournament was a true coming out party for Francis Tiafoe. Tiafoe is easily the most hyped of the young Americans, and for good reason. He's a great returner and can plaster the ball off the forehand side. Still, coming into the week, his career highlight was probably playing in a match where the players had to stop for a minute because people were fucking really loudly across the lake. For real.But by beating Del Potro, Chung, and Shapovalov to make the finals then put down Peter Gojowczyk to claim the title, Tiafoe has suddenly jumped to the elite group of young stars.There will be time to dissect whether someone with groundstrokes as aesthetically crooked as Tiafoe can become a top ten player. For now, it's hard to deny that Tiafoe deserves all the hype he's getting.

It's probably time to take Diego Schwarzman seriously.

What do we make of that fourth-round matchup between Diego Schwarzman and Rafael Nadal now? Do we see a Nadal who was on the brink of serious injury? Or do we see a player who is maybe getting overlooked? It is, after all, incredibly easy to look over the diminutive Schwarzman, who is amiably listed at 5-foot-7.Schwarzman didn't have the most difficult draw in the world, but he put down Gael Monfils in straights in the quarterfinals and buried Verdasco in the finals. Schwarzman is never going to be an intimidating force just because of how he plays, but there's no reason he can't put together a special clay court season this year. He got his title. Maybe he can make some more noise in Rome, or Barcelona, or Madrid, or Monte Carlo, or even Roland Garros.

Dubai was everything you could ask for in a big tournament.

Elina Svitolina defended her title at the biggest WTA event of the week, but there were plenty of great stories throughout the week.Naomi Osaka, who is very fun, made the quarterfinals as wild card. Angie Kerber continued her great season by making the semifinals. Gabrine Mugurza backed up her solid week in Doha by making the semifinals before losing to Daria Kasatkina.Kasatkina is just 20 and will be entering the top 20 for the first time in her career this Monday.Add that all together and it makes for an extremely good week. The WTA doesn't have anything big coming this week, but Dubai provided more than enough content to make up for it.

Odds and ends

• The world needs more Fabio Fognini. He's a great player, but probably the most insane person on tour. He chucks rackets, he fights with chair umpires, he fights with opponents, he'd fight with God if he could. He made the semifinals in Rio.
• I'm entirely convinced Tomas Berdych will be making ATP semifinals throughout the next decade all while no one really cares. He wasn't much of an obstacle for Khachanov in Marseilles, but there he was, playing another weekend.
• Marin Cilic lost his second round match to Gael Monfils. Monfils is having a pretty good year (he added another quarterfinal to his 2018 which also includes a semifinal and a title). Red clay, unsurprisingly, was not kind to Cilic. Still, he's number three in the world and at this point is allowed to lay an egg on his worst surface. Who really cares, honestly.
• On the Challenger tour, Jordan Thompson, who sucks, made a final for the second consecutive week. He lost this time. Our spoonerism of the week, Nennis Dovikov, won in Morelos.

Looking forward

• Inject the Acapulco draw into my veins. More specifically, inject the Thiem quarter into my veins. There isn't a single match in the first round of that quarter that isn't exciting. Kei Nishikori is playing his first 500 of his comeback tour and it's against Denis Shapovalov. Andrey Rublev and David Ferrer played one of the best rounds of the Australian Open. No one saw it because it was on an outer court in the first round, but trust me, it was great. Chung has a very gettable quarter. Sascha Zverev canned his coach. He's got the 2 seed in a soft quarter. Oh, and Rafael Nadal is back for the first time since Melbourne and you know losing the number one ranking has to bother him. Yeah, it's going to be a fun one.
• The Dubai draw mega sucks.
• Tennys Sandgren's first-round draw in Sao Paolo is against hometown hero Rogerio Dutra Silva. Sandgren has a pretty respectable week in Rio. This draw is a little softer. Will we have to talk about Tennys Sandgren for another week? Or will he fade back into obscurity? Who knows! I hope Dutra Silva buries him.
• Sloane Stephens has a one seed this week in Acapulco. Sloane Stephens is 0-10 since winning the US Open. Let's see if the streak continues!

Semifinals picks

Dubai: Khachanov, Dzumhur, Dimitrov, CoricAcapulco ATP: Nadal, Zverev, Nishikori, ChungSao Paolo: Cuevas, Ramos Vinolas, Fognini, Dutra SilvaAcapulco WTA: Begu, Tsurenko, Parmentier, Puig