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Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated the tennis scene for almost two decades. But the era of the “Big 3” is coming to an end soon. For the world number 1 there is no reason not to be optimistic about the future of the sport.
Since Wimbledon 2003, the trio has won 57 Grand Slam titles. In addition, the three dominators have set many records that will last for a long time. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are still among the world’s best players and – if they are not injured – are the first contenders in all tournaments.
Djokovic and Nadal shared the position on the ATP throne for the past four years. The Serbian and the Spaniard also won two of three major titles in 2020. The Swiss, however, missed most of the season due to a knee injury.
Meanwhile, the younger generation is trying to stick with the old hands – and possibly even overtake them. Otherwise their careers will be stigmatized by the fact that they never prevailed against them in the big games when the “Big 3” were active. Dominic Thiem achieved his first major triumph at the US Open in 2020, but the Austrian is at least 27 years old.
“It’s great for sport that we have new Grand Slam champions. We have new successful young players who show courage and boldness, come to the greatest stadiums in the sport and are ready to take on the greatest challenge by playing against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and me and fighting for the biggest titles, ”said Djokovic in «tennisworldusa».
Djokovic trusts these players to make the breakthrough
«Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini are a few of them who are very close. They have huge potential and there is still a long way to go. There are a lot of players to look at. “I think that the future of tennis is in good hands, without a doubt,” said “Nole”, who will be the defending champion at the Australian Open that is about to begin.
In the past, the 33-year-old compared hunting him with the animal kingdom: “The wolf that climbs the mountain is hungrier than the wolf that is already up.” Nonetheless, the world number 1 states: “I am one of those wolves who also climbs, who tries to climb.”
He is also aware from his own experience: “As a young player you don’t have much to lose on a big stage, so of course you get a lot of strength, energy and motivation.”
