The Next Generation of Tennis

Tennis Now

"Who will be the next Roger Federer? Who will be the next 'great' player?" cry the tennis fans.

Everyone starts somewhere, including 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who had his first breakthrough in 2001 to earn his first tournament title, make it to the French Open quarterfinals, and then defeat Pete Sampras in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Come 2003, Federer won his first major; the rest is history.

Federer has played with Wilson racquets his entire career. Excellent players (including Juan Martin del Potro, Andrea Petkovic and Petra Kvitova) have followed in his footsteps at this year’s French Open.

Wilson currently spotlights international players on their path to greatness and they are on the look-out for the next.

The Wilson Next Generation program looks for potential and includes fresh tennis stars on the rise. 

We have seen young Canadian Milos Raonic break through earlier this year, making the fourth round at the Australian Open and the Finals in Memphis, where he beat Fernando Verdasco for the win. 

Another next-gen player, Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, defeated Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych before losing to Novak Djokovic in three sets at the ATP Master’s tournament in Madrid; he also advanced to the third round at Roland Garros.

Arantxa Rus, a 20-year-old from the Netherlands, defeated Kim Clijsters (the World No. 2 and one of the tournament favorites) in the second round at Roland Garros.

Wilson is opening their doors to the public in hopes that people will join their team, with their "Be Next" campaign.

The brand of champions is offering a $500 Wilson package along with the opportunity for the winner of the campaign to receive a player profile amongst the young pros who use Wilson racquets to fight their battles.

To win, the rules are simple: The player must simply post a photo or video that represents a true passion for tennis (like the pros do in their personal and unique videos).