Most Improved Player of the Year nominees with Alcaraz, Karatsev, Norrie and Ruud

It's been a very good 2021 year for several tennis players with four of them nominated for the Most Improved Player of the Year Award and they are Alcaraz, Karatsev, Norrie and Ruud.

The wider tennis audience got to know Carlos Alcraz and Aslan Karatsev at the Australian Open. Alcaraz qualified for his maiden grand slam event there and he played rather solid but left no significant mark. Yet many could see that the Spaniard was oozing with talent and he would show that later in the year. Karatsev on the other hand made his debut at a grand slam as well and he reached the semifinal.

A brilliant player on the very quick surface in Melbourne allowed the Russian to announce himself to the wider tennis world and that was only the beginning for him. He later won his maiden trophy and a gold medal for Russia together with Vesnina at the Tokyo Olympics. He made his way all the way to the top 20 after a brilliant season. Carlos Alcaraz did some of the same things.

He too won his maiden trophy this year and he too climbed a lot on the rankings. Not as much as Karatsev and not as far but he is firmly ranked in the top 50 finishing his year with the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy. What can one say about Cameron Norrie? The Brit played some of the most consistent tennis all year long. He made several finals, won his maiden trophy and his maiden ATP 100 trophy in Indian Wells.

He climbed high on the rankings being ranked high enough to become an alternate at the ATP Finals and play two matches there. Another player who had a breakout year is Casper Ruud with the Norwegian also climbing high on the rankings (inside the top 10), playing at the ATP Finals, and winning multiple trophies this season including 3 in consecutive weeks.