The 2021 men\u2019s tennis season is coming to a close. We look at four men\u2019s players who outperformed expectations to varying degrees this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniil Medvedev<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Medvedev was already an elite hardcourt player, and although he had already reached a major final at the 2019 U.S. Open, there was still an obvious question facing the World No. 2: Could he win a major championship? More precisely, could he actually beat Novak Djokovic when all the bright lights were finely focused on him? Medvedev got blown out by Djokovic in the 2021 Australian Open final. He clearly wasn\u2019t ready for that moment. He wasn\u2019t ready to go five full sets. He sagged and suffered after losing a tight first set. The match wasn\u2019t especially close. It was natural to doubt that Medvedev would be able to find all the resources, all the mental strength, all the composure needed to fully answer the challenges regularly posed by Djokovic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In New York, at the U.S. Open, Djokovic was closing in on the Grand Slam. Djokovic made the final and became 27-0 in major-tournament matches for 2021. If he had reached 28-0, he would have become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the Grand Slam of tennis, all four majors in the same calendar year. Medvedev was the man standing in Djokovic\u2019s way. He won the first set, but a lot of players had won the first set against Djokovic at the U.S. Open and then failed to build on that. Medvedev proved he was different. He got broken when serving for the match in the third set, as a loud pro-Djokovic crowd bothered his concentration. He got a second chance to serve for the match with even more pressure on his back, but he gathered himself and was able to drive the stake through Djokovic\u2019s heart. Daniil Medvedev was a No. 2 player and an elite hardcourt stud, but he still surprised many with his major championship against the best player on the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hubert Hurkacz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Polish sensation won the Miami championship, an out-of-nowhere title of appreciable significance for a very talented but erratic player. Hurkacz slumped on clay in spring but then burst out of obscurity to beat Medvedev and Roger Federer at Wimbledon, reaching the semifinals. Hurkacz wasn\u2019t always consistent in 2021, but if he struggled for several weeks, he was regularly able to lift himself out of those slumps and revive his game. His outlook for 2022 is very promising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matteo Berrettini<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Italian played the best tennis of his life in 2021, making the Wimbledon final before losing to Djokovic in four sets. The huge serve and big forehand carried Berrettini to great heights this year. His game evolved, and so did his toughness. He learned a lot more about how to maintain poise in difficult situations. He increased the odds that one day, he will win a major championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sebastian Korda<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Though at the lower end of surprises in 2021, Korda \u2013 son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda \u2013 won several matches at major tournaments and showed that he might be the brightest young American men\u2019s tennis player in some time. Korda has a strong, consistent two-handed backhand, which separates him from a lot of other young American players. Only 20 years old, his body has still not filled out. As he grows into his body, his serve should become a bigger and more powerful weapon. He will be a load to handle when that happens. This year witnessed the emergence of a promising future star.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2021 men\u2019s tennis season is coming to a close. 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