Young Guns Make History in Montreal, Even Without Sincaraz

Big cats Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been notoriously absent on the hard courts this summer, and it has allowed a set of rising young guns a chance to strut their stuff. Their performance, thus far, has been anything but mousy. 

With eight players aged 25 or younger reaching the quarterfinals at the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal, a youthful milestone has been cracked. 

Note: Both Sinner (born in 2001) and Alcaraz (born in 2003) are still under 25, so the youth trend includes the two-headed force that has dominated men’s tennis for three years now. 

But it’s more impressive that the young guns are defending their turf without the two legends in making. 

The quarterfinal lineup in Montreal marks the first time in history all eight quarter-finalists at an ATP Tour event are players born in the 2000s. 

It is also the first time all 8 quarterfinalists at an ATP Tour event are aged 25-and-under since 2007 ATP Masters 1000 Paris. 19 years ago, it was Andy Murray (20), Richard Gasquet (21), Rafael Nadal (21), Marcos Baghdatis (22), Mikhail Youzhny (25), David Ferrer (25), Tommy Robredo (25) and David Nalbandian (25). 

The trend has been in place on the clay this summer, right after Wimbledon. 

The previous record was set in Estoril three weeks ago, where seven of the eight quarter-finalists were born in the 2000s, with Andrey Rublev (1997) the only exception.  

Per Reem Abulleil of Rolandgarros.com, it’s also the first time since the 2003 Cincinnati Open that four or more Masters 1000 quarter-finalists are aged 21-and-under (Jodar, Mensik, Merida, Tien). 

Quarterfinal action starts today in Montreal. If you want to see what the future of the ATP Tour looks like, flip on your television (or live stream).