Fan of Lionel Messi and former baseball player, Alex Michelsen will soon want to join the American armada which aims to shake up the best players on the circuit, made up of Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda. At 19, Alex Michelsen already has two challenger tournaments under his belt (Chicago, Knoxville in 2023) and a final on the ATP circuit. At 18 years and 10 months, Alex Michelsen became the youngest finalist in an ATP tournament in Newport since Taylor Fritz in 2016. This amateur coin collector, eliminated in the first round of the Auckland tournament after winning his two qualifying matches, will have every chance in the first round of the Australian Open since he will face a local wild card, James McCabe, in the first round.
While there are seven in the women’s top 50, the Czechs are only represented by Jiri Lehecka, 32nd, in the men’s Top 50. However, a young Czech player has stood out for several months. Jakub Mensik, who discovered tennis thanks to the location of his primary school, a hundred meters from the courts located in Prostejov, was discovered by the general public in August 2023. From qualifying for the US Open, Mensik had beaten two Frenchmen in quick succession, Grégoire Barrère then Titouan Droguet, before falling heavily against Taylor Fritz (6-1, 6-2, 6-0). In 2024, the young right-hander already has a challenger final, in Canberra, and a qualification for the Australian Open. He will face the returning Denis Shapovalov, 116th ATP, in the first round.
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Does Brazil finally have Gustavo Kuerten’s successor? 23 years after the third and final coronation of “Guga” Porte d’Auteuil, a young prodigy straight from Rio de Janeiro, is already making waves at just 17 years old. Still very behind on the professional circuit, and rather fond of Futures tournaments (as required by his ranking, 727th), Joao Fonseca is promised a bright future. What to expect from him in 2024? Everything will depend on his program. The Brazilian will discover the American university in January and should only turn to professional tournaments (Futures, Challengers) from June, after the team matches in the United States. With extra baggage and potentially eight to ten wild cards for challengers in the second half of the season, promised to the ten best players in the United States.
She has been considered for several years as one of the greatest hopes in women’s tennis. The year she turned 17, Brenda Fruhvirtova, already at the gates of the Top 100 (110th), can confirm her status as a talented player. The young Czech, who has been training at the Mouratoglou Academy since 2017, won the Petits As doubles tournament in 2019, with her big sister Linda (85th). In singles, she succeeded her sister in this same tournament the following year. Right-handed, with a two-handed backhand, Brenda Fruhvirtova already impresses with her consistency. Between the beginning of August and the end of November 2023, the Czech won six of the eight tournaments she played, all Futures, from $25,000 to $60,000. Brenda Fruhvirtova started the 2024 season well with three victories in Auckland before falling against Coco Gauff (6-3, 6-0) and qualifying for the Australian Open. Just 16 years old.
She won the Junior Australian Open in 2023 but did not follow the same trajectory as her opponent in the final, Mirra Andreeva, 16, who exploded in 2023 on the WTA circuit (47th). Alina Korneeva is 180th in the WTA rankings, a performance at 16, of course, but the young Russian can hope for more. Also titled in Junior at Roland-Garros last year, Alina Korneeva will this time try to join the big picture. Qualified for the round of 64 in Melbourne, she will have to climb nearly 80 places in five months to hope to reach the final draw at Roland-Garros.