João (my two cents on the pronunciation project: it's a nasal a, it's pronounced like the un in "under") really played some of his best tennis this week. It was so exciting to watch! His serve and defense have really made some progress, and he had some clutch moments, especially on the tiebreaks. I enjoyed this year's next gen finals much more than last year's (except for the deciding point, which I loathe). Thanks for the great coverage, as always :)
@Norf.F.C.Zoomer Why are you so pressed? It's just a tip. Gill likes to know how to say the name of the players properly. There's no English pronunciation, names don't have translation, we should learn how to say them the way the player says it, that's why there is the audio at the ATP site.
@@lucine.resende the English pronunciation is how English speakers can and will pronounce it, language operates on a utility basis. Correct and lots of players on the ATP website simplify pronunciation to make it suitable for non speakers of their language, usually English. Stop with the woke bs.
New pronunciation project: Joao (with the tilde) does not rhyme with Wow. It's similar to the Sao in Sao Paulo. But I completely agree with your analysis: he suddenly found consistency on his shots, and he started beating everybody someone with his talent should be beating. Learner started the year playing starter futures, and this past week he beat #21, #41 and #48 in the world, and had that set point for a 2-0 lead against a future top 10. Somehow, he just wins, and it's up to us to get a better handle on how he does it. My sense is that he prefers to counterpunch, waiting for a winnable ball to unleash the power, and otherwise playing high percentage tennis. With his accuracy off the ground, that's good enough to beat the vast majority of players, but against the best he will almost certainly need to start taking more risk on his own shots. But I have no doubt that he will figure it out. The serve does need to be improved, and I think Jannik and Novak provide excellent examples of the benefits of reworking a suboptimal serve, especially when you're so young. Btw: I saw him up very close at the Knoxville Challenger. He's not that tall, but he is broad shouldered and very thickly muscled, and I'm guessing that's where the power comes from. I passed by him outside the facility, and he comes across as a very chill SoCal surfer dude with an easy smile who just happens to be a tennis champion in his formative years. Totally stoked by your comments about Nishesh. He does play very much in Novak's style, in exactly the ways you noted. (Given Novak's success, it is somewhat surprising that so few players have tried to do so, in comparison to the many who have copied aspects of Roger's and Rafa's games.) With all due respect, I think his serve is suboptimal. He does win a lot of points off it due to disguise and placement, but the power is not there. He has said that he tried to copy early Novak's serve, and he pretty much acknowledged that that might not have been the best idea. He also needs to improve mentally. I watched the semifinal match in Knoxville against Learner, and he just seemed to forget who he was and how he wins points. You could even hear him talking to himself, saying at times, "Dude, what are you doing?" I would love to see him (and Learner) transition to a top tier coach. I'd be curious to know your thoughts as to how young players at their level come to the attention of the best coaches. For those interested, Nishesh did a lengthy interview in the last month on the Changeover Podcast. Very smart, very interesting guy. Last year at this time he was taking computer science classes at Stanford. Compared to the videos of him playing college tennis early this year, he has improved an unbelievable amount in the last eight months, and I think there is more to come. So inspiring to see a fellow nerd have such athletic success.
8:30 Gil correct me, but the craziest part of João being placed here is players in that area are all tall, huge serves, so that +1 is there making this stat high, like Eubanks. João is 1,85m going for those winners in a rally.
Gill, great analysis. Glad to see your take on Nishesh, was impressed but didn’t know what to make of him. Given we will see João a lot , you need to find a way to learn to pronounce his name. As an American living in Brazil, it’s jarring to hear his name pronounced wrongly by literally every American / British commentator.
Who cares it's a foreign name, if you're listening to English speakers expect English pronunciation. I work with a lot of Chinese and they can't pronounce my name properly and that's fine, in fact it's actually different in Chinese too.
@ ALL the more reason why it’s weird. If you are a non-english speaking family, and you want to name your kid an English name to give him an easier time integrating, why would you not go with sum safe? Why choose a freaking Verb that has never been used for a name?
@@ClairHuxtable-e9u She really did a good job pressing a random youtube commenter by naming her kid the most stupid name possible, what a boss mom 👏 you know what would’ve made her even more of a boss, if she named her kid Dildo or sum 💩, then every time someone got pressed over it she keeps leaving marks. 👏 she really missed the opportunity to leave the most amount of Marks.
@@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegeten He looks like he is Feds son. But his shots look different. He is upgraded Federer version. He will destroy the tour in 2-3 years
42 minutes is way too long. Say what you need to say in 21 minutes. fucking hell, mate. Learner is learning. He'll be top 20 in 2026. Really smart player. Fonseca is a threat to the top 10. Still saying Fils is entering top 10 in 2025 and a Masters 1000 win.
For every Sinner and Alcaraz emerging here there is always a Nakashima and Hamad whom didn’t shoot to the stars. Mensik was supposed to be the guy and Fils and both fell. Mensik was injured and it’s a chronic problem. He also chokes way too much. The forehand nets under pressure and he get very tight. Fils has too many off days. A pattern of doing great then badly. The two finalist are solid. I suspect Tien as a bit too tight under pressure. He needs to fix that where he plays to win and get rid of not losing. Fonseca has more killer instinct. Nice package of a ground strokes net and serve. But this wasn’t a true score ( first one to four games) huh? Why? Doesn’t tell us enough. Fonseca had a slightly lessthan stellar year but prob due to too much hype and unnecessary pressure. But He also really rained in the energy zapping crowd neediness which is hurting some top players and is developing beautifully. Much more mature In a short period. Tien had a great year but not sure his ceiling is much higher. We need actual sets and constant matches to see how they hold under pressure week in and out.
Mensik is unfortunately a Czech Draper. A big guy with a lot of power and decent speed but he gets injured all of the time and loses matches he should win because of those injuries.
@@Norf.F.C.Zoomer Mensik will eventually be very good(he beat a seemingly unstoppable Rublev and a resurgent Monfils back to back and both of them defeated Alcaraz later this year so he has the potential)but like Draper it will take him too long to be consistent to be the very best. The one thing Mensik has going for him though is that he is already decent on clay and he literally just had his first ATP match on clay this year.
Great video (as always) Gil! Love you man. Super pumped for the top 10 predictions!!
Love that you covered the Next Gen so much Gill!!! Legend!!! Love JF- super excited for him! Great comments!!!!!
João (my two cents on the pronunciation project: it's a nasal a, it's pronounced like the un in "under") really played some of his best tennis this week. It was so exciting to watch! His serve and defense have really made some progress, and he had some clutch moments, especially on the tiebreaks. I enjoyed this year's next gen finals much more than last year's (except for the deciding point, which I loathe). Thanks for the great coverage, as always :)
@@lucine.resende who cares about pronunciation, Joao clearly doesn't, and it's being said in English so expect English pronunciation.
@@Norf.F.C.Zoomer anyone who cares about language or cares about their name being properly pronounced.
@Norf.F.C.Zoomer Why are you so pressed? It's just a tip. Gill likes to know how to say the name of the players properly. There's no English pronunciation, names don't have translation, we should learn how to say them the way the player says it, that's why there is the audio at the ATP site.
@@lucine.resende the English pronunciation is how English speakers can and will pronounce it, language operates on a utility basis. Correct and lots of players on the ATP website simplify pronunciation to make it suitable for non speakers of their language, usually English. Stop with the woke bs.
Fonseca, instead of Rune, is going to make the big 3 with Sinner & Alcaraz
Defo has the tools and is really well composed mentally, unlike Rune ofc lmao
No idea why people are so fixated on thinking there will be another Big 3.
Yeah- I agree re: big 3…..excited about JF- huge prospect!! Someone for me to get behind after Novak retires….seems super humble and grounded.
sinner wont be in the big 10, nevermind the big 3
@@liamcannon9617 what? Lol at the moment he is the big 1 to be honest 😂
0:18 I would even say the most exciting young player that is not Sinner or Carlos.
The future young player so fantastic congrats Fonseca🇧🇷🎉🏆
New pronunciation project: Joao (with the tilde) does not rhyme with Wow. It's similar to the Sao in Sao Paulo. But I completely agree with your analysis: he suddenly found consistency on his shots, and he started beating everybody someone with his talent should be beating.
Learner started the year playing starter futures, and this past week he beat #21, #41 and #48 in the world, and had that set point for a 2-0 lead against a future top 10. Somehow, he just wins, and it's up to us to get a better handle on how he does it. My sense is that he prefers to counterpunch, waiting for a winnable ball to unleash the power, and otherwise playing high percentage tennis. With his accuracy off the ground, that's good enough to beat the vast majority of players, but against the best he will almost certainly need to start taking more risk on his own shots. But I have no doubt that he will figure it out. The serve does need to be improved, and I think Jannik and Novak provide excellent examples of the benefits of reworking a suboptimal serve, especially when you're so young. Btw: I saw him up very close at the Knoxville Challenger. He's not that tall, but he is broad shouldered and very thickly muscled, and I'm guessing that's where the power comes from. I passed by him outside the facility, and he comes across as a very chill SoCal surfer dude with an easy smile who just happens to be a tennis champion in his formative years.
Totally stoked by your comments about Nishesh. He does play very much in Novak's style, in exactly the ways you noted. (Given Novak's success, it is somewhat surprising that so few players have tried to do so, in comparison to the many who have copied aspects of Roger's and Rafa's games.) With all due respect, I think his serve is suboptimal. He does win a lot of points off it due to disguise and placement, but the power is not there. He has said that he tried to copy early Novak's serve, and he pretty much acknowledged that that might not have been the best idea. He also needs to improve mentally. I watched the semifinal match in Knoxville against Learner, and he just seemed to forget who he was and how he wins points. You could even hear him talking to himself, saying at times, "Dude, what are you doing?" I would love to see him (and Learner) transition to a top tier coach. I'd be curious to know your thoughts as to how young players at their level come to the attention of the best coaches.
For those interested, Nishesh did a lengthy interview in the last month on the Changeover Podcast. Very smart, very interesting guy. Last year at this time he was taking computer science classes at Stanford. Compared to the videos of him playing college tennis early this year, he has improved an unbelievable amount in the last eight months, and I think there is more to come. So inspiring to see a fellow nerd have such athletic success.
From what I noticed Tien also seems to be good at the net and crafty.
@@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegetenhe seems like a more powerful and better groundstrokes then demond plus he's a leftie too
Heard a lot of hype about Fonseca, really looking forward to seeing more of him in 2025..hopefully add another phenom to the mix🎾🎾…
8:30 Gil correct me, but the craziest part of João being placed here is players in that area are all tall, huge serves, so that +1 is there making this stat high, like Eubanks. João is 1,85m going for those winners in a rally.
João Fonseca and Macklin Celebrini are two 18 year old powerhouses in their sports.
Gill, great analysis. Glad to see your take on Nishesh, was impressed but didn’t know what to make of him. Given we will see João a lot , you need to find a way to learn to pronounce his name. As an American living in Brazil, it’s jarring to hear his name pronounced wrongly by literally every American / British commentator.
Who cares it's a foreign name, if you're listening to English speakers expect English pronunciation. I work with a lot of Chinese and they can't pronounce my name properly and that's fine, in fact it's actually different in Chinese too.
Love this kid
Nishesh is an unreal talent as well . Djokovic clone minus the gymnatic athleticism .gill ,bring on mike cation to talk about nishesh and learner
Yeah but Gill, who names their kid Learner? 🤨
Non-English family background could explain that.
@ ALL the more reason why it’s weird. If you are a non-english speaking family, and you want to name your kid an English name to give him an easier time integrating, why would you not go with sum safe? Why choose a freaking Verb that has never been used for a name?
@@AlanSchorschi heard it comes from his mom who's a teacher
@@AlanSchorsch Counterpoint: It's really enjoyable seeing how pressed you are about his name, so that's certainly a mark in his mom's favor
@@ClairHuxtable-e9u She really did a good job pressing a random youtube commenter by naming her kid the most stupid name possible, what a boss mom 👏 you know what would’ve made her even more of a boss, if she named her kid Dildo or sum 💩, then every time someone got pressed over it she keeps leaving marks. 👏 she really missed the opportunity to leave the most amount of Marks.
Arthur Fils, Learner Tien and Michelson will do well too in 2025 and beyond apart from Fonseca.
Great for Fonseca but he´s weaker than Alcaraz and Sinner at his age
E teve #FonsecaDay
Fonseca looks like Federer, plus he has a double handed backhand!!
And mostly his strokes have that fluid whip, which is similar to Federer. And his forehand also has some similarities with a young version of Federer.
@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegeten
What... No it doesn't
@@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegeten He looks like he is Feds son. But his shots look different. He is upgraded Federer version. He will destroy the tour in 2-3 years
🇧🇷
It's tough to pronounce, but here's the secret:
Try to get it (João) in one quick syllable! With a touch of nasal!
Fonseca himself doesn't do it that quickly (on the ATP website), but maybe that's to help westerners pronounce it.
Who cares, we all know who he means and it it's being said in English, expect English pronunciation.
Non Portuguese speakers will never be able to pronounce it like a native, forget it. I don’t think João cares
42 minutes is way too long. Say what you need to say in 21 minutes. fucking hell, mate. Learner is learning. He'll be top 20 in 2026. Really smart player. Fonseca is a threat to the top 10. Still saying Fils is entering top 10 in 2025 and a Masters 1000 win.
Simple solution to you:
- Do not Watch!
i’m absolutely here for all 42 minutes. Gill, we love your long form content, never change.
Sounds like a you problem.
"Mate"
You have 134 subscribers over 8 yrs.
Dont tell Gill what to do.
And, dont be a d*ck.
We're not here for you, 'Mate'. Go talk to your 134 subscribers from over 8 years.
For every Sinner and Alcaraz emerging here there is always a Nakashima and Hamad whom didn’t shoot to the stars. Mensik was supposed to be the guy and Fils and both fell. Mensik was injured and it’s a chronic problem. He also chokes way too much. The forehand nets under pressure and he get very tight. Fils has too many off days. A pattern of doing great then badly. The two finalist are solid. I suspect Tien as a bit too tight under pressure. He needs to fix that where he plays to win and get rid of not losing. Fonseca has more killer instinct. Nice package of a ground strokes net and serve.
But this wasn’t a true score ( first one to four games) huh? Why? Doesn’t tell us enough. Fonseca had a slightly lessthan stellar year but prob due to too much hype and unnecessary pressure. But He also really rained in the energy zapping crowd neediness which is hurting some top players and is developing beautifully. Much more mature In a short period. Tien had a great year but not sure his ceiling is much higher. We need actual sets and constant matches to see how they hold under pressure week in and out.
Mensik is unfortunately a Czech Draper. A big guy with a lot of power and decent speed but he gets injured all of the time and loses matches he should win because of those injuries.
Yup agree. I hope he can fix that where he currently has shoulder and forearm problems.
@@WestonMeyer-n6xtbf Draper just had his best year 2 titles including a 500 and a GS semi final, he looks on track to be a solid top 10 player
@@Norf.F.C.Zoomer
Mensik will eventually be very good(he beat a seemingly unstoppable Rublev and a resurgent Monfils back to back and both of them defeated Alcaraz later this year so he has the potential)but like Draper it will take him too long to be consistent to be the very best.
The one thing Mensik has going for him though is that he is already decent on clay and he literally just had his first ATP match on clay this year.