#4. Lucas Pouille
The 22-year old Frenchman has had his most successful season this year and a lot will be expected from him next year. Pouille began 2016 by reaching the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International where he lost to eventual winner Milos Raonic. Raonic would go on to beat him in the first round of the Australian Open. The Australian Open was followed by a string of poor performances that ended at the Miami Masters where he beat three higher ranked opponents including World No.8 David Ferrer en route to the fourth round where he lost to Gilles Simon.He began his clay-court season by beating another Top 10 player, this time Richard Gasquet in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters before being defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the next round. Pouille then reached his first ATP final at the Bucharest Open where he lost to Fernando Verdasco. After exiting the Madrid Masters in the second round, Pouille reached the semi-finals of the Rome Masters where he was solidly beaten by eventual champion Andy Murray. He ended his clay-court season with a second round exit at the French Open.After back-to-back first round exits at the Stuttgart Open and the Gerry Weber Open, Pouille reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the Wimbledon where he lost to Tomas Berdych in straight sets. After disappointing outings at the Rogers Cup and the Cincinnati Masters, Pouille reached his second Grand Slam final at the US Open where he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round before stunning Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.Following the US Open, Pouille entered the Top 20 of the ATP rankings and soon after, won his first ATP title at the Moselle Open. At the Asian swing, Pouille had second and third round exits at the China Open and Shanghai Masters respectively. After a shocking first round defeat to Feliciano Lopez at the Vienna Open, Pouille ended his Tour with a third round exit at the Paris Masters. At the end of the World Tour, Pouille received the “Most Improved Player of the Year” award at the ATP awards and will end the year ranked 15th.Lucas Pouille had a very fruitful World Tour this year and provided he maintains his good form, he could produce even bigger upsets next year.
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