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Two young ATP players have been tipped as potential Grand Slam winners ahead of the 2025 season

Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images
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Following the conclusion of the 2024 ATP season, two young stars could be set for big things in the new year.

The 2024 season was another thriller on the ATP Tour, as the tennis world continues to develop, with new talents emerging at the top of the game.

Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, his first ever Major title, as the Italian announced himself on the big stage.

It was then the turn of his Spanish counterpart, as Alcaraz won the French Open for the first time, before defending his Wimbledon title shortly after.

TOPSHOT-TENNIS-FRA-OPEN-2024
Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

The Italian world number one then won his second Grand Slam of the year at the US Open, before Sinner won the ATP Finals to wrap up a sensational season.

Two big stars dominated this year, but one pundit thinks there are two more youngsters poised for a breakout year in 2025.

Jonathan Overend picks Arthur Fils and Jack Draper as potential Grand Slam winners

Speaking following Rafael Nadal’s retirement at the 2024 Davis Cup, Sky Sports pundit Jonathan Overend picked two players that he thinks could go on to achieve great things next year.

“You look at the younger guys coming through,” he said.

“I’ll include Britain’s Jack Draper on that list, the Frenchman Arthur Fils, he’s a top ten talent of the future.

“Whether they can win Grand Slams it’s up to them, and how hard they work, but certainly with someone like Nadal, they’ve got a great example to look at and say well that there was a lot of hard work and a good reward for it.”

Overend also spoke about the shift on the ATP Tour that took place in 2024, and how the tennis landscape will look next year.

“2024 feels like a bit of the changing of the guard, if I’m honest,” he said.

“We’ve had the retirement of [Andy] Murray, the retirement of Rafa, and [only Novak] Djokovic is left.

Davis Cup Final - Netherlands v Spain Quarter-Final
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for ITF

“He’s left on 24 Grand Slams and his big goal now is to try to get the all-time record and move on to 25.

“It’s going to be increasingly hard, because his main rivals now are [Jannik] Sinner, at the age of 23 who won two Grand Slams this year, [Carlos] Alcaraz at the age of 21, two Grand Slams this year.

“So they’ve shared the big prizes in 2024, can Djokovic get a hold of another one?

“It’s going to be one of the big talking points going into 2025.”

The pundit also mentioned one more name who he thinks could be set for big things in the new year.

“Alexander Zverev, the German, who finished the year so strongly,” he said.

Nitto ATP Finals 2024 - Day 6
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

“He’s undoubtedly now the best male player left without a Grand Slam title, so will next year be his year?”

Are Jack Draper and Arthur Fils the best young players on the ATP Tour?

Draper and Fils are no doubt two of the best young talents that tennis has to offer, having won three ATP 500 titles in 2024 between them.

But there are plenty of good young players on tour, so are they the best under-23 players in the sport right now?

U23 RankATP RankAgeNamePoints
1321Carlos Alcaraz7010
21321Holger Rune3025
31522Jack Draper2685
41722Lorenzo Musetti2600
52020Arthur Fils2355
62122Ben Shelton2330
73121Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard1561
83222Flavio Cobolli1472
94220Alex Michelsen1245
104422Luciano Darderi1198
Best under-23 ATP Players

Looking at the rankings, Draper and Fils are in fact the third and fifth-best young players on tour, with the likes of Alcaraz, Holger Rune, and Lorenzo Musetti, all joining the pair inside the top 20.

That is not to suggest that the Brit or the Frenchman won’t go on to win Major titles in the future however, as anyone ranked that highly at such a young age, is a very impressive talent.

Fils and Draper will likely return to action for the build-up to next year’s Australian Open which begins on January 12.