The last 15 years of men’s tennis have been arguably the best ever. The level of competition of this kind has never been seen before and most feel it’s unlikely to see something like this again. Three equally good power centers came into being Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. All three won a huge number of titles. However, it seems that the golden era is now coming to an end.
Federer announced his retirement last year at the Laver Cup. Nadal has said 2024 will be his last season. That leaves only Djokovic out there. One of today’s top players, Jannik Sinner, spoke about the Big 3, highlighting the greatness of the three legends.
As per Tennis Infinity, Sinner said, “I’m just missing a bit of Rafa & Roger because it’s always nice to be around them. I never played Roger, so it’s a match I will miss forever. But on the other way, it’s nice when Novak is around. With the Big 3, you can learn many things, how they practice & everything. They made the history of tennis. So a lot of respect for everyone.”
He clearly mentioned how much he already misses Federer and Nadal. He did mention that all three superstars are very nice human beings. Sinner also was honest about one of his biggest regrets of not being able to play Federer ever on the tour. In all, Sinner is a big fan of the legendary trio and likes to learn from all of them.
The one big challenge of the previous generation was to win a Grand Slam. The best of 5 sets, 7-round contest was heavily dominated by Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. However, it now seems that the era is coming to an end and doors to Grand Slam glory have opened up for other contendors. However one needs to be extremely focused to win. As a new generation of competition has come about.
Sinner would very well know that. Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, and many more are now playing a very high level of tennis and are not easy opponents to defeat. However Sinner himself has been in very good form and if he makes minimal errors, he can outshine many of them. Can the upcoming US Open be the big event for Sinner? He played extremely well the last time he was in New York. He went down against the eventual champion Alcaraz in an intense late finish five-set battle.
