Spain has been spoilt for choice when it comes to tennis stars in the men’s game. Rafael Nadal has anchored a generation of talent that also includes David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, Pablo Carreno Busta, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Feliciano Lopez.
Nadal’s generation ably stepped in to replace the successful period where the likes of Albert Costa, Alex Corretja and Juan Carlos Ferrero consistently played at the top of the game. Yet whilst Nadal and co. have been incredibly successful there had been some concern that there was a lack of juniors ready to step in for the future.
Fortunately for Spanish tennis fans it appears a new young talent is now quickly making his way up the rankings. Step forward Nicola Kuhn.
The 17 year-old, who represented Germany until 2016, recently won his first career Challenger title. He won the Braunschweig title by virtue of a retirement win over Viktor Galovic, who retired due to a leg injury with Kuhn leading by a break in the deciding set.
That may have been slightly fortuitous, but there was nothing fortuitous about the way that Kuhn reached the final. Forced to come through qualifying, as his entry rank of No.501 was not strong enough for a main draw berth, Kuhn then tore through the field.
He secured a win over fellow qualifier Goncalo Oliveira before winning arguably the landmark ranking win of his career in the second round. He defeated No.80 Carlos Berlocq. The Argentine is a veteran clay specialist with an incredible 17 Challenger titles on the red dirt. Kuhn beat him 6-4, 7-5.
Fresh from the high of the Berlocq win came a tough match with another clay specialist in Jozef Kovalik, a player who has a win over Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic this year. After a brutal three set battle, Kuhn emerged the victor 7-6, 5-7, 7-6. Another tough encounter with Marton Fucscovics saw Kuhn move into the final 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
This one tournament does not prove Kuhn a star for the future, but it does show promise and a snap-shot of a number of attributes Kuhn will hope become permanent fixtures in his game.
It shows that on-form, he is capable of producing straight set wins over current Top 100 players. Evidenced in his match against Kovalik, Kuhn proved that he does not let career milestones faze him. Despite beating Berlocq Kuhn had the desire, discipline, and energy required to continue his run. His win over Fucsovics demonstrates that his physical level, at just 17, is already of a high standard as he is capable of maintaining levels in hard conditions in consecutive lengthy clay court matches.
Of course such a talented junior did not exactly appear from nowhere. Kuhn was a runner-up in the recent Roland Garros Boy’s Singles final. After a run that saw him defeat Junior No.1 Miomir Kecmanovic, Kuhn was beaten by Alexei Popyrin in the final. Unsurprisingly for a Spanish player it seems Kuhn’s greatest chance of success may indeed lie on clay.
These wins propelled him from a ranking outside the Top 500 to one inside the Top 250 this week. The microcosm that is a single week on the Challenger circuit does not guarantee the young Spaniard a future in the game, and enough talented youngsters have proved that success at junior level is far from a guaranteed ticket to a successful pro career.
Kuhn has nonetheless made a noticeable breakthrough in a professional tournament for the first time and the signs look good for him to headline the next generation of male players in Spain.
