Men‘s tennis has been largely dominated by a trio of players over the past decade but their stronghold is starting to weaken, according to one former tennis star.
Juan Carlos Ferrero believes the likes of US Open champion Dominic Thiem and others will prove to be more of a threat to the trio heading into the new season. The Big Three compromises of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Between them, they have won 57 Grand Slam titles and have spent 878 weeks as world No.1. A position Ferrero also held back in 2003.
“Djokovic and Nadal have shown us this year that they still have the ambition and the body to compete for the biggest titles in our sport. If they win some more Grand Slam titles it would not be a surprise, but I feel that in 2021 there will be other favourites, other players with increasingly good chances to win Slams, not just Djokovic and Nadal as it has been before. Thiem would be one of those guys for sure,” Ferrero told Tennis Majors.
This year the Big Three won two out of the three major titles with Djokovic triumphing at the Australian Open and Nadal at the French Open. Although there have been glimmers of others starting to establish themselves as a formidable force in the sport. Besides Thiem’s triumph in New York, Daniil Medvedev closed out his season by winning back-to-back titles in Paris and at the ATP Finals in London. Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev won five Tour titles this season which is more than any other player.
“I still consider them (the Big Three) favourites, but not as much as before. I think people see that players like Thiem, Tsitsipas or Zverev already have good chances of winning against them as well,” the 2003 French Open champion commented.
Whilst both Djokovic and Nadal are expected to continue their reigns in 2021, there are questions looming over injury-hit Federer. This Swiss maestro hasn’t played a competitive match since January due to a right knee injury. He is currently training in Dubai with hopes that he will be ready to play at the Australian Open which has been delayed until February 8th.
Another player Ferrero will be keeping an eye on in the new season will be 17-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who he has been working with since 2019. The Spanish rising star has made a significant breakthrough within the past 12 months by rising over 300 places in the world rankings. This year he has become only the fifth player in history to have won three Challenger titles before their 18th birthday. Others to achieve the milestone include Djokovic and Richard Gasquet.
Alcaraz’s rise was formally recognized on Monday when he was named the ATP Newcomer of the Year. Despite being the youngest player in the world’s top 200, the Spaniard has been backed to break the top 50 by his mentor.
“That is our desire and our objective,” Ferrero stated. “We are indeed working hard in preseason in order to be able to compete with the best and reach that goal. If he stays hungry like he is now and if we are able to compete normally throughout the year, I think Carlos can rise to top 50.”
The 2021 ATP season is set to start on January 5th with two ATP 250 tournaments in Delray Beach, America and Antalya, Turkey.
