Spectator wrote:

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Groth's serve is, quite simply, scary - and must be powerful weapon especially in doubles. And Baker is a very good doubles player. If they continue to play together, they could go far.

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Would be good to see Brian Baker get some big successes.

More than interesting.

Mmoh and Tiafoe are standout juniors transitioning to professional senior tennis and making a mark right at the tail of theor junior eligibility having focused for more than a year on senior tennis. They have 3 years of professional development ahead of them before they should really be compared to where McKenzie McDonald is now.

Rubin not quite such a high flyer at senior level but Wimbledon junior champion is of relatively short stature i.e. opted for College tennis taking a year out playing in the ACC at Wake Forest before going pro, very much one and done and the typical route to the pros for Basketball players.

McKenzie McDonalds progress will be very interesting as the poster boy for college tennis as the route to the ATP main tour for the almost elite junior; he got to a junior slam doubles final. He is the 2016 singles and doubles college champion as a junior (year) and has now opted to go pro rather than pick up his final year of eligibility. Like Rubin he is also 5'10". Dennis Novikov's junior and college career also at UCLA has some similarities but he came out as a Sophmore and now sits just outside the top 100 (121) in August having qualified for Wimbledon for the first time. I do think there is some value in coming out earlier if you are a top 10 college player as a freshman as soon as you start playing and impacting challenger tennis. Procrastination is the thief of time and elite level tennis a short career.

Their relative progress will be fascinating to follow

-- Edited by Oakland2002 on Saturday 8th of October 2016 05:55:31 AM

-- Edited by Oakland2002 on Saturday 8th of October 2016 06:04:24 AM

-- Edited by Oakland2002 on Saturday 8th of October 2016 06:05:12 AM

-- Edited by Oakland2002 on Saturday 8th of October 2016 06:06:02 AM

Well Jon as highlighted in a number of threads on here by others they have a fantastic crop of talented teens.

Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz (already top 100 as a teen and I get excited if they break 200 as a teen), Reily Olpeka (6'11"), Stefan Kozlav, along with Mmoh and Tiafoe already mentioned along with Rubin puts the U.S. In a strong position to be a significant force again on the men's side. The USTA have also be making great efforts to put in place a system that should give this crop every chance of making it.

It will be very interesting to see where McKenzie McDonald fits in (although he may also declare for the Scottish Davis cup team)

The girls side is similarly strong again with a seam of youngsters ready to be mined, CiCi Bellis a pretty smart and focused cookie now having dented the U.S. Open on a couple of occasions and still 17 is probably the most (very) obvious tip.

Exciting times and plenty of resources. To be frank I am amazed the field has been barren so long. A decade without a significant player has been a spectacular achievement but without doubt the green shoots are clearly visible. Will they be the North American superstars? I don't know. The Canadians also have some cracking junior boys that may well steel some of their limelight.