Stefan Edberg has praised the development of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as tennis continues to develop.
The Swede won the event in 1989 when it was held at Madison Square Garden in New York where he defeated Boris Becker in four sets.
Earlier this week Edberg joined Becker to be part of the ATP No.1 Club which was unveiled in Turin to celebrate the past champions of the sport.
Edberg spoke on how the ATP Finals has developed since his win in New York 35 years ago, “It’s always been of great importance,” Edberg told the ATP website.
“I think it’s even grown since the past. Everybody wants to play well here. Everybody wants to perform. You’re playing against the [seven] best players, so it’s super exciting I think for a lot of the players just to be here and challenge each other.
“I feel very good about the [Nitto] ATP Finals, the way it’s progressed since my time.”
It’s not just the event that has progressed it’s the tennis as well with the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal evolving the sport into being more physical before Novak Djokovic took it to a whole new level.
Now stars like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are continuing to evolve the sport as they aim to carve their own history.
Edberg compared the players of the past to the stars of today as he praised the two players that split the Grand Slams this season, “I played during the generation of McEnroe, Connors and Pete Sampras, who was the best player at the time that I’ve ever played,” Edberg stated to the ATP website.
“But I think what I call a golden generation with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic took it to another level from when we were playing and that’s where it took off. Obviously now you’ve got a new generation coming up here with Sinner and Alcaraz taking over from Djokovic, Nadal, Federer era.
“They’re young. They play at a fascinating level already. They’ve already played a lot of great matches. They’re well-liked, they’ve got great games to watch and it’s very, very powerful and exciting. They’ve done really well so far.”
The Nitto ATP Finals take place on Saturday with Sinner facing Casper Ruud in the night session but the first semi-final will see world number two Alexander Zverev take on Taylor Fritz.
