5 tennis rivalries to look forward to in 2016

Federer-Djokovic, Federer-Nadal, Djokovic-Nadal; the Fab Four interchange rivalries amongst them and have done so for years. But 2015 has shown us some new tennis talent waiting to burst on the scene, with some young players already having posed serious challenges to several top-10 players.They could take over from the old guard to create some exciting new tennis rivalries in the future. We explore 5 pairs who could start their own tense competitions

#1 Borna Coric vs Nick Kyrgios

Young and taking charge: Borna Coric (L) and Nick Kyrgios have both shown staggering talent on court

Both players are very young, have both made fairly recent debuts, and have impressed on debut. 19-year-old Borna Coric and 20-year-old Nick Kyrgios have both had breakthrough performances over the past two years.

Croatian teen Coric is the youngest player inside the ATP top 50, currently ranked 44th, and after beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets at the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel in 2014, he went one better to defeat Andy Murray even more convincingly in 2015, taking an embarrassing (for the Scot) 6-1, 6-3 victory.

Kyrgios, meanwhile, has himself been victorious over multiple top 10 players – most notably the Greatest of All Time, Roger Federer. Although his victories have not been as convincingly taken as Coric’s, Kyrgios has shown immense skill and only last year beat Federer, compatriot and World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka and Canada’s Milos Raonic, who hit a highest of 4th in the ATP rankings.

Both players are right-handed, and have similar playing styles. With strong double-handed backhands and a fondness for moving swiftly across court, the two would make for some exciting tennis.

The pair are yet to meet each other on the ATP circuit, but have faced off as juniors on two occasions with Kyrgios taking both victories in straight sets, although one had been fairly close.

Coric is described by many as ‘Baby Djokovic’ due to their similar styles of play and attacking baseline game, and indeed, Coric is higher ranked than Djokovic was at his age, so he could definitely give tennis enthusiasts something to look out for.

#2 Borna Coric vs Grigor Dimitrov

Baby Djokovic vs Baby Federer: Coric likes the Novak comparisons; Dimitrov does not enjoy his

Coric is considered ‘Baby Djokovic’ by tennis enthusiasts and analysts alike. The 19-year-old, who is the youngest player in the ATP Top 50, has been somewhat of a giant killer, beating both Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in straight sets in the past two years.

He has a similar style of play to the top-ranked Serb, with both players prone to attack and play aggressive tennis from the baseline.

Dimitrov, meanwhile, is called ‘Baby Federer’, a comparison that neither he nor the Swiss GOAT is particularly fond of. The two have often been compared because of their similar styles of play, their backhand, similar serves, their grips, and several nuances of their respective games, although of course it is Federer who, as arguably the greatest player to have ever played the game has a fluidity and motion Dimitrov does not possess.

Considering the long, tenuous Federer-Djokovic rivalry – that currently stands perfectly even, with each of the two having won 22 of the pair’s 44 matches, perhaps a match between two players who emulate their game and see constant comparisons to their legendary counterparts would be an interesting match.

#3 Belinda Bencic vs Donna Vekic

Belinda Bencic (L) has already drawn comparisons to Martina Hingis and will face competition in Croat teen Donna Vekic

The newest Swiss Miss is on the block, and she’s had a brilliant year at that. 18-year-old Belinda has been a complete revelation on the WTA Tour in 2015, following a number of strong performances in 2014.

After beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in 2014, Bencic stormed into 2015 with a vengeance, winning two titles as she beat four top-ten players – with three of them former – or current- World No. 1s – Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki in addition to beating World No. 2 Simona Halep.

Her game shows flashes of one of tennis’ greatest – and indeed, she is also coached part-time by Melanie Molitor, who happens to be the mother of that great – Martina Hingis.

Croat teen Donna Vekic, meanwhile, has shown immense promise on court. She’s put in strong performances to take victory over the significantly more experienced Kimiko Date-Krumm, top-10 Garbine Muguruza and Petra Kvitova, whom she beat in straight sets.

Bencic has certain firepower, and Vekic has shown an agility and strategic play that many older than her have not, and would make for some intense tennis.

They’ve met on the WTA Tour twice before, both of those times in 2014, most recently at New Haven. Although Bencic won on both occasions, the pair’s match at New Haven was far more closely contested, with the younger Vekic showing some gumption up against an on-song Bencic.

#4 Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Nick Kyrgios

19-year-old Kokkinakis (L) and Davis Cup teammate Kyrgios could be a fly in each other's ointment

Friends, Australians, countrymen..

Kyrgios, despite having been in the news for more of the wrong reasons than the right ones this year, has showed his talent on court with some brilliant aggressive service, and has beaten some of the best in the game – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and perhaps most notoriously, Stan Wawrinka.

Kokkinakis, meanwhile, had an extremely successful juniors career before joining the ATP circuit. Part of Australia’s silver medal-winning juniors Davis Cup side, Kokkinakis broke the top 100 last year and beat the higher-ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Juan Monaco, managing to finish in the third round at Indian Wells.

The youngster even managed to progress to the third round at this year’s French Open, putting up a valiant fight against eventual runner-up Novak Djokovic.

The two compatriots have met twice before, with Kyrgios winning both times, but Kokkinakis managing to seriously challenge his older rival on hard court.

This could be an interesting rivalry, especially considering Kyrgios unwittingly involved Kokkinakis in a slur against Swiss world no. 4 Stan Wawrinka and his partner, Donna Vekic.

#5 Sloane Stephens vs Madison Keys

The USA has tennis firepower well into the next generation

The United States of America has no shortage of brilliant tennis players, and one in particular has absolutely dominated the tennis waves for a significant time. Both the indomitable Serena Williams and her sister Venus have been nothing short of absolutely brilliant on court, attacking, defending and serving with aplomb. With an agility and aggression few players have shown on court, Serena has powered past nearly every opponent she has played this year, and despite sitting out of a series of tournaments retained her No. 1 ranking.

The US has seen the Williams sisters, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and many, many more. And amongst the current crop, two talents stand out.

22-year-old Sloane Stephens, currently World No. 30, was, like Williams, the daughter of two sportspersons, although in Stephens’ case neither parent was a tennis player. The young woman cites both Williams sisters as two of her main inspirations, and in what was likely the highlight of her career, Stephens triumphed over Serena in 2013, toppling the then-No. 3 and ousting her from the Australian Open.

That same year, she beat Maria Sharapova at the Cincinnati Masters.

In 2015, Stephens took three victories over top 10 players – and each in convincing straight sets, and put her powerful serve on display much like her idol has done all year.

Keys, all of 20, is already a top-20 player on the WTA circuit. Currently at 18th, she is also the third-highest ranked American player in the WTA rankings behind the Williams sisters. At 14-years-old, Keys beat Serena Williams, who that year was the reigning Wimbledon champion.

After beating an illustrious series of names in 2014 – Angelique Kerber, Jelena Jankovic, Simona Halep, and even testing Maria Sharapova, Keys made her first Grand Slam semi-final at the 2015 Australian Open, and although she lost to Serena Williams, the World No. 1 described her as a “future World No. 1” and saying it had been an honour to play her.

The two are both immensely talented and promise to show spectators some explosive tennis in the future.