The three-team panel is back to discuss a trio that comes is just behind (well, not exactly according to the current rankings!) a potential Future Four involving Grigor Dimitrov, Ryan Harrison, Milos Raonic, and Bernard Tomic.
David Goffin, Jerzy Janowicz, and Martin Klizan all broke out in a big way last season. How high can each on fly? We debate.
David Goffin
Career-high range: Josh – Top 15, Adrin – Top 20, Ricky – Top 20
Josh (The Sixth Set): As for the other crop of young stars that broke onto the scene last year, I think Klizan deserved to be Newcomer of the Year but Goffin has the brightest future. Goffin carries himself with a Roger Federer-esque demeanor and classiness that is quite refreshing to see. At 5’11” he doesn’t get much leverage on his groundstrokes, but the Belgian possesses a superb backhand and dictates the pace of play very well from the baseline. In his first Grand Slam main draw he reached the fourth round last year at Roland Garros.
Adrin (@Chalk_Flew_Up): I like Goffin the most out of this group, and not just because he is the most pleasing to watch (although that is part of it). As Josh mentioned, he had a dream run to the fourth round of Roland Garros (as a lucky loser), even taking a set off Federer. Fun fact: as a wild card in the Wimbledon first round last year, Goffin defeated fellow up-and-comer Tomic. In two matches at Brisbane last week, Goffin displayed more initiative to take control of rallies with first strike-tennis and generally held his serve with surprising ease. This bodes well for his future, and I believe he’ll crack the Top 20 at some point.
Ricky: When I paid a visit to the Chennai tournament in January of 2011, I had never heard of David Goffin. Literally. Not once. After rolling over local hope Somdev Devvarman, the little-known Belgian displayed incredible shot-making in a 7-6(3), 7-6(3) loss to eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka. Goffin has been on the rise ever since, his climb highlighted by his French Open performance and an impressive four-set loss to Federer. Without a doubt, Goffin is the most technically-sound of this trio but his limited physical tools place his ceiling lower than that of Janowicz.
Jerzy Janowicz
Get to know Jerzy Janowicz:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyGlALXMOkc]
Career-high range: Josh – Top 15, Adrin – Top 10, Ricky – Top 15
Josh: With Janowicz, I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon because the sample size is too small. He reached the final in Paris but that’s just one tournament. While his serve is up there with Milos Raonic and John Isner, I’d like to see more of him before I can declare the Pole a future star. As for a bit of 2013 prognostication, I’ll tip Janowicz’s best slam result to be a third-round finish at the Australian Open (Goffin: third round at the French Open, Klizan: third round at the U.S. Open).
Adrin: Janowicz was quite the unknown quantity before his run to the Bercy final. He is to the drop-shot as Tomic is to the backhand slice, and he uses it effectively to keep his opponents off-balance. But one should be wary of extrapolating the Pole’s potential from just one tournament, even though he is the highest-ranked among this trio and also ahead of Harrison, Tomic, and Dimitrov. Take a look at his results and you can balance it out with losses to guys like David Rice, Dennis Novikov, and Inigo Cervantes. I think his weapons will push him into the Top 10, but his inconsistency will prevent him from reaching the very top of the game.
Ricky: I hate to say it, but Janowicz is the most overrated player on tour right now. He’s had only two notable ATP-level tournaments so far and nobody even remembers the first one (a third-round appearance at Wimbledon last summer). The hype is based entirely on his Paris run, which came at a tournament about which none of the world’s top players—other than David Ferrer—cared. Janowicz does have a ton of potential, what with an awesome serve and some deceptively smooth touch, but let’s not get carried away just yet.
Martin Klizan
Career-high range: Josh – Top 20, Adrin – Top 25, Ricky – Top 25
Josh: For someone who had yet to crack the Top 100 in five years as a pro, 2012 was a monumental season for Klizan. The Slovak’s year, which began with an impressive four clay-court Challenger titles, concluded with a stunning run to the U.S. Open fourth round and an ATP-level hard-court title in St. Petersburg. Klizan is a solid ball-striker with good court instincts, but he doesn’t seem like much more than a career-high Top 20 player in my opinion. His tools are decent, but nothing worthy of elite status at this point.
Adrin: Klizan, a left-hander, had some good results in his breakthrough last year, including an upset of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Flushing Meadows and winning his first career title in St. Petersburg. Klizan is a solid-all round player who does everything well, and it’s become obvious that hard courts are his preferred surface, even though his game would theoretically translate well to grass. But based in part on what I saw from him in the fourth round of the U.S. Open against Marin Cilic, I don’t expect him to be much better than a Top 25 player.
Ricky: I was at Klizan’s most famous match (against Tsonga), and it impressive. While Tsonga was in dismal form by his standards, Klizan showcased a tough lefty serve, a powerful forehand, and a surprising all-court game. As Adrin mentioned, however, Cilic reduced him to second-rate material two days later in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Like Janowicz, Klizan is going to have to do a lot more—specifically against top-tier players (none of whom he faced in St. Petersburg)—to make a serious impression. What we have seen from him has been solid, but nothing suggests he is a future Top 10 player. None of these guys will win a slam, and I’ll tip Janowicz to just edge out Goffin in the career-high ranking department.
Who will have the best career-high ranking among Goffin, Janowicz, Klizan, and also Ryan Harrison?
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