Milos Raonic still has several years ahead of him on the ATP Tour in my view. However, it's always interesting to look ahead in sports and see who the up-and-coming talents are on the future watch list. At the end of the 2012 season, I think most Canadian Tennis fans would have identified Filip Peliwo as a player to keep an eye on in the up-and-coming crowd. However, Peliwo is now 23-years-old, he has no momentum at this point in his career, and if that doesn't soon change then he's going to start looking like a bust for Tennis Canada.
What did Peliwo do to garner attention?
A valid question for those that don't follow the juniors circuit results is: what did Filip Peliwo do to garner attention in the first place? In 2012 he enjoyed a string of deep runs in the Grand Slam events for juniors. Peliwo, who is from Vancouver, finished as the runner-up at the Australian Open for juniors in 2012. The Canadian also made the French Open final for juniors. Lastly, he won the Wimbledon juniors outright, and that made some minor headlines for him. At the time of all this success in 2012, he was just 18-years-old.
Winning juniors is not a small deal when it comes to implications for future success on tour. It certainly isn't a decisive variable by any stretch.
Eugenie Bouchard, for instance, won the women's juniors title in 2012. Two years later she was in the final for the real event.
Four full seasons have come and gone for Peliwo and he is now 23-years-old. There's still plenty of time for him to make a name for himself on the ATP Tour. However, there's a lot missing for the Canadian still, even for his age.
He is currently ranked just 520th, his career win-loss record in tour-level matches is just 2-6, and he has yet to make the main draw of any Grand Slam.
Canadian tennis is a lot more competitive than it used to be when it comes to rising stars. Denis Shapovalov, the player who smoked the umpire in the eyeball in Davis Cup play by accident, will be forgiven for his error because he's just 17.
He is about four years younger than Peliwo and 266 ranking spots above him. Brayden Schnur has some time to improve at the age of 21 and he's into the top 400.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is Canada's brightest light
However, the brightest light for a post-Raonic era in Canadian tennis is Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Montreal-born player is Canada's No. 9 right now, but he is just 16-years-old, so that's bound to change. With a ranking of World No. 538, he is the only 16-year-old in the top 700. Auger-Aliassime won the US Open title in juniors last fall and he has been noted for some records. In July 2015 he became "the youngest ever player to hold an ATP ranking inside the top 800" (Danielle Rendina/July 28, 2015/smh.com.au). Given all the prodigies that tennis has seen over the decades since the rankings began, that certainly says a lot.
