“The sport goes on.” It is the sentence that left a legend like John McEnroe When analyzing the withdrawal of Roger Federer and the emergence of younger and younger stars in tennis. Nothing can tarnish the legacy left by the Swiss, but there will be others who win. who is already doing it Carlos Alcaraz (El Palmar, 2003).
The last two great quotes confirm that the changing of the guard is happening. In the US Open, five of the eight tennis players who played in the quarterfinals were under 25 years old. And on the winning team of the Making Cupthe Rest of the world, there were only two players over 25. The trend is clear and the new faces are consolidating.
In front is Alcaraz, the youngest of the year. At 19, he is already number 1 in the world and aims to finish there in 2022. In the ‘big’ of New YorkIn addition, he broke a barrier: he was the first male tennis player born in the 2000s to win a Grand Slam.
[Carlos Alcaraz, el prodigio del tenis: a la altura de Sampras y Nadal y mejor que Federer y Djokovic]
McEnroe, winner of seven majors, was the captain of the winning team of the Laver in which Federer retired. His vision of what is to come was the following: “I quite like the future, because I was at the US Open and I saw the energy that these guys transmitted. Roger, Rafa and Novak have been incredible. And Novak and Rafa still play and God knows what they have left to win. But those who come now are also going to be very good”.
The American legend gave his vote of confidence to the future faces of the circuit. The era of the Big Three has brought its greatest impact to tennis and its protagonists are beginning to leave. That can generate some vertigo, but stars have always been and always will be. The ‘Next Gen’ of Medvedev and company, which was supposed to retire the old guard, is overwhelmed by the ‘Generation Alcaraz’.
John McEnroe, in the middle, with Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud
Reuters
The names of the future faces of tennis do not have to be discovered, since they are already up there. Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud (1998, world number 2), the US Open finalists, were accompanied by Andrey Rublev (1997, nº9), Jannik Sinner (2001, no. 10) and Frances Tiafoe (1998, nº19) in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The ‘veterans’ were Nick Kyrgios, Karen Khachanov and Matteo Berrettini, all under 30 years of age.
Tiafoe repeated in the Laver Cup, leading alongside the Canadian Happy Auger-Also (2000, No. 13 in the world) the Rest of the World team. It was the first time that the European team did not win the tournament. The Old Continent was led by Federer and Nadal -who only played doubles-, and Djokovic and Murray -who lost to Aliassime and Alex de Miñaur (1999, no. 22), respectively-.
Felix Auger Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe celebrate after winning the Laver Cup
Reuters
Among the top 20 of the ATP ranking there are three players born in the 21st century: Alcaraz, Sinner and Aliassime. They are the leaders of this new batch of tennis players who already dominate and are called to do so even more from 2023. According to the classification, they are followed by others such as Lorenzo Mussetti (2002, nº30) u Holger Rune (2003, nº31), the only one born the same year as Carlos who is among the 100 best in the world.
Everyone’s projection is to continue going up, while the veterans will continue to go down or directly hang up their racket. The Medvedevs, Tsitsipas or Zverevs – this surely to a lesser extent – run the risk of staying in no man’s land. The reign of the first of them, the Russian, is the best example: only 13 weeks at the top of the ATP ranking (2 and 11, separately) and just one title won in 2022.
Alcaraz’s defense
For the remainder of the year, the big question is whether Carlos Alcaraz will go on to lead world tennis in 2023. It is time to confirm yourself as a worthy bearer of the crown. If he finishes 2022 at the top, he will already be a better number 1 than Medvedev was. In theory, he has it easy.
Alcaraz reaches the final stretch of the course with the advantage of only having to defend the 180 points he won last year in the Paris-Bercy Masters 1,000 and knowing that he will only lose the 180 he earned in the Vienna ATP 500which he will not attend this year.
“I see myself ending the year as number 1”
“I see myself ending the year as number 1,” the 19-year-old Murcian tennis player, who is the youngest player to reach the top of world tennis, said last week.
The comment made by El Palmar It is full of arguments due to the situation of the current classification, the good moment in which it is and because it can only lose 360 points and is in a position to reach 9,880.
This year he has four scoring tournaments left to play before his last appearance in 2022, which will take place, if there are no setbacks, in the final phase of the Davis cup scheduled from November 23 to 27 at Málagabut there will be no points at stake, although there will be the great prestige of raising the Salad bowl.
the pupil of John Charles Ferrero was not last year in the Astana ATP 500 y Basel, in which it will take part now; will repeat in Paris-Bercy and later will debut in the ATP Finals, the Masters Cup, for which he has been classified for almost three weeks and in which he will seek to be crowned after playing in 2021 the Next Gen ATP Finals, which is the Cup of Teachers for young people.
