The Miami Open is famous for giving wildcards to young up-and-coming talent, and this year’s event is no different. The likes of the heralded Next Gen quartet of Michael Mmoh (USA), Mikael Ymer (SWE), Casper Ruud (NOR), and Andrey Rublev (RUS) are all names that are quickly becoming familiar as they begin appearing more consistently in high profile draws.
This article features a player from a country that has boasted one of the finest players that men’s tennis has ever seen, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. Yet Djokovic is approaching 30, and the twelve time Grand Slam champion has struggled since winning his first Roland Garros title last year. There is a young player looking to step into the limelight and take some of the pressure off of the great.
Miomir Kecmanovic. The Serbian 17 year-old, like Djokovic, hails from the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Right-handed with a two-handed backhand, the teenager is ranked as No.1 in the ITF junior rankings, with more than 400 points separating him from the second-ranked Yibing Wu. He’s currently ranked at No.651 in the ATP Tour. Having trained at the IMG Academy (formerly Nick Bollettieri Academy), Kecmanovic has had exposure to a number of top players including Kei Nishikori: “Whenever Kei is there, we train a lot, we talk a lot. He’s very normal and down to earth. We are good friends and I’ve hit with him before. Sometimes when he’s free we go and hang out.”
Kecmanovic has largely stayed on the ITF Juniors Tour, only occasionally playing Futures events in Serbia or the United States through 2016. He started his season with his first Futures title (the third rung of men’s tennis after the main tour and challengers.) His win over Christian Lindell in the final looks very impressive. Since then Lindell, a former Roland Garros qualifier, has gone on to a strong run in the South American challengers.
Since then Kecmanovic failed to win back-to-back matches as he stayed on the Futures circuit. Yet a qualifying wildcard into Miami gave him the chance to shine at a much higher level than ever before. His draw on paper looked a hard one, in the form of the Swiss twenty-second seed Henri Laaksonen. Yet Laaksonen is in at best indifferent form to start the year, losing in the first round of two of his last three events. Laaksonen did however qualify and reach the second round of Indian Wells, taking a bagel set off of eventual first-time semi-finalist Jack Sock in the process. Kecmanovic proceeded to defeat the Swiss in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Kecmanovic may have lost his next match comprehensively to the veteran Lukas Lacko, but his move into the higher rungs of the pro circuit has begun.
Devoted fans of the junior tour will note that Kecmanovic is a player who has defeated many now recognisable teenagers. He owns a 1-1 record with Stefanos Tsitsipas, the young Greek. He has a 1-2 record with Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, whom he lost to in the pair’s first professional meeting in the final of a challenger late last year. He has even defeated Norway’s teenage sensation Casper Ruud in the junior tour, on the Scandinavian’s favoured clay surface. He met Felix Auger-Aliassime in the US Open Boys final last year, but was soundly thrashed. Kecmanovic has a perfect 2-0 record against Australia’s Alex De Minaur, without dropping set in either of the two meetings.
None of these records indicate that Kecmanovic will be guaranteed a place at the elite table that so many of the above names look destined for. However, he is of a class of young tennis players that are now graduating to the professional game. More experienced and higher-ranked players are beginning to lose to the likes of these players, and Kecmanovic’s win over a player in Henri Laaksonen, who is sitting in a career-high ranking of No. 117 this week bodes very well for the Serbian’s future.
Kecmanovic is also a two-time winner of the Orange Bowl, one of just three male players to achieve the feat. The young Serbian has unsurprisingly highlighted Djokovic as his idol “I love how he plays. I like his style. I admire his mental toughness — that when everything is against him, he can always find that extra bit of energy to win and prove he’s the best.”
Kecmanovic also saluted the experience that being a hitter for Serbian Davis Cup team gave him: “I was the fifth player, the hitting partner of the team. The experience was amazing, it really helped me a lot. The team accepted me from the start, the coach and everybody were nice to me. To be back home with the family in Serbia and everything really helped me to recharge my batteries.”
Given the steps that Kecmanovic has made in 2017 already, it may not be too long before we see him join the group of teens making headlines in 2017. A Next Gen spot this season is unlikely, but not out of the realms of possibility. Expect Kecmanovic to be a contender for a place at the Next Gen finals in 2018.
