The noble zone of the ATP has been filled in recent years with newly minted tennis players, with an enormous talent for the king sport of the racket and physical conditions that not only launch them to the top in terms of potential, but also condition the circuit to a new type of game. However, the lack of mental control is being, in almost all cases, too heavy a slab to assault the throne of Nadal , Djokovic or Federer and taken to the extreme, as happened with Alexander Zverev in Acapulco, also a disastrous example. for tennis fans.
Zverev became the protagonist after an unfortunate performance at the ATP 500 tournament in the Mexican town, when at the end of his doubles match with the Brazilian Melo , he paid for his frustration with the referee, whose chair he hit twice with the racket , hovering in one of them the foot of the referee. The result, his immediate disqualification from the individual picture, is an exemplary punishment, although scarce if one takes into account the seriousness of what happened and, above all, the image given.
However, the ATP has had to get used to new reference tennis players breaking rackets, confronting referees and making dubious comments that do the sport no good. To Zverev , the usual suspect, we must add other well-known names such as Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Shapovalov, Rublev and, of course, Kyrgios , the classic villain of the circuit.
Alexander Zverev
As good a tennis player as he is mentally weak and his journey through the Grand Slams , in which he has not yet been able to win his first crown, proves it. Zverev does not get regularity in big events and this frustrates him, but despite the fact that he had had episodes of breaking rackets and adding significant anger, nothing like the one experienced in Acapulco, in which he crossed the line after hitting twice with his racket in the referee judge’s chair, threatening a major assault.
Daniel Medvedev
The favorite villain of the circuit. His strong character has led him to star in negative scenes both with the public, whom he has challenged on more than one occasion, and with the judges. In the recent Australian Open he began to shout to insult the referee in the duel against Tsitsipas, coming out unscathed from gestures that could well have meant disqualification. On the positive side, at least for him, he seems the most capable of managing his anger and that it does not affect him on the track and for this reason he will soon become number one in the world.
Denis Shapovalov
The Canadian is one of the great talents in world tennis… with an explosive character. A specialist in protests, he still does not accept defeats and this prevents him from advancing more regularly through the tables of important tournaments. Capable of the best and the worst, Shapovalov gave the note in his duel against Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, in which he faced the referee forcing the Spanish tennis player to mediate.
Nick Kyrgios
Talking about controversy on the ATP circuit is talking about Nick Kyrgios. His thousand and one fuss during matches pale in comparison to the constant outbursts he accumulates off the court. Capable of appearing drunk, of assuring that Kokkinakis has had relations with Wawrinka’s girlfriend and of belittling a tournament like Roland Garros, the Australian’s story seems to always be one of ‘what could have been and wasn’t’ despite his new and triumphant facet as a doubles player.
Andrey Rublev
Another of the tennis players who has the habit of paying it with his racket, although over the years he has calmed down a lot. It was in his beginnings, in which he already stood out as evidenced by his Junior title at Roland Garros, when he unhinged rival tennis players for his tasks on the court. Fernando Verdasco, after a confrontation between the two, was clear in his words. “I was surprised, at 17 years old, how rude he is and how disrespectful he is to the other player.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas
A more restrained a priori profile but that has had several mishaps on the track. The protests of his rivals are known for the coaching that Tsitsipas theoretically does with his father and coach, Apostolos, as well as the anger that his mother threw at him at the ATP Cup 2020 after Stefanos paid for his frustration with a racket, which broke in half. More controlled but also needs to improve his attitudes.
Corentin Moutet
The outsider of the group, Corentin Moutet, is one of France’s new-fangled talents at a time when future champions seem to be in short supply on their home turf again. Short, left-handed and very talented despite his ranking -out of the Top 100-, the Frenchman called Tsitsipas’s father stupid for a coaching episode and usually brings out his facet of showman with kicks and punches on the canvas, in addition to once throwing the racket out of bounds after a missed point.
