The futility of the Next Gen compared to the Big Three

Maybe within the Marvel Multiverse there might be a planet Earth the place the tremendous heroes might be Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the villains with the function of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The brutal actuality is that in our actuality the now former Subsequent Gen are unable to compete towards the Huge Three within the Slams finals: the newest onerous tennis lesson given by Nole to Medvedev within the Australian Open 2021 ultimate is the newest instance.

Daniil performed on par with Djokovic solely within the first set and surrendered too simply to the Serbian overwhelming energy, a 3-0 that leaves a path for the longer term. Dominic Thiem, after the victory of the US Open, arrived with out going through the Huge Three, appears to have dropped significantly.

Out within the quarters at Roland Garros 2020, eradicated by Grigor Dimitrov in melbourne, after having risked being eradicated by Nick Kyrgios as properly. Stefanos Tsitsipas appears to have stopped his development two years in the past, profitable over Federer on the Australian Open and profitable the ATP Finals.

Right here in Melbourne he performed an important match towards Rafael Nadal, however within the semifinals he quietly surrendered to Medvedev. Zverev appeared to have the ability to do one thing higher, however the German can be going through a really troublesome interval out of the courtroom, which might be additionally affecting his efficiency on the courtroom.

The futility of the (former) Subsequent Gen in comparison with the Huge Three

The issue for these 4 younger stars is that the years cross, the Slam victories don’t arrive (do not forget that in New York 2020 Thiem received with out going through the Huge Three, with out the disqualification of Djokovic and the absence of Nadal and Federer, we’ll discuss one other finale) and the Huge Three appear unattainable, protected by an unplayable aura.

Just a few years in the past there was speak of future stars akin to Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic, who ended up in limbo, overshadowed by the immense energy of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal, who left solely the crumbs to their opponents.

The primary drawback just isn’t athletic and maybe not even technical: it’s a psychological lability that’s plaguing many generations of tennis gamers, now compelled into cumbersome confrontations with the lengthy shadows of the Huge Three, which stretch throughout the previous, current and future.

Three unbeatable superheroes. Three superstars like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. Their most profitable heralds have been Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray, who, thus far, have a profession that the (former) Subsequent Gen can solely nonetheless dream of.

After which, along with the years that cross, a brand new class of younger Subsequent Gens is rising behind them, like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcarez, able to wipe out Tsitsipas, Thiem, Zverev and Medvedev on the first signal of weak spot.

These 4 and nonetheless younger gamers will inevitably win Grand Slams when the Huge Three are too previous to compete and retire. However it is a truth that may rely on the desire of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, not a lot on the talents of Thiem, Tsitsipas, Medvedev and Thiem.

And the Gods of tennis know the way pressing the ATP Tour’s must discover a younger planetary star is just like the WTA Tour did with Naomi Osaka.