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2021 was monopolized by Novak Djokovic in Grand Slam tournaments. The number 1 in the world won the first three Majors of the season, beating as many members of the Next Gen in the final (Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas at Roland Garros and Matteo Berrettini at Wimbledon).
The Serbian phenomenon has cherished the dream of the 'Calendar Grand Slam', which would have put an end to any debate on the GOAT. Having reached the final at the US Open, the Serbian phenomenon was blocked by tension and showed signs of humanity for the first time.
A flawless Medvedev overwhelmed him at Arthur Ashe Stadium and scored his first career Grand Prix. The premature departure of the Russian from Indian Wells, however, guaranteed Nole the almost mathematical certainty of ending the year at the top of the ATP ranking.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion will return to the field at Paris-Bercy next week, in order to be 100% present at the ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup finals. Interviewed by Eurosport Germany in recent days, Boris Becker focused on the new era of men's tennis.
Becker reflects on Djokovic
"I think the changing of the guard has already happened. We don't have a new number one, that is still Novak Djokovic. But Medvedev is 2, Tsitsipas is 3 and Zverev is 4 - this is already a changing of the guard for me.
Something has really changed. A lot has happened in the last couple of years and for me it is really only a matter of time before one of these three becomes number 1 next year. Of course it still depends on Djokovic, who remains the big favorite, but certainly Novak is not getting any younger" - Boris Becker stated.
During the podcast, Boris Becker also highlighted the fact that tennis players are essentially private contractors who are not governed by any particular team or club. "Tennis players are their own entrepreneurs,” Becker said.“They don't play for a team and tennis players in general - I know what I'm talking about - are free spirits.
We don't like to be pigeonholed. I also heard the numbers and of course I was surprised how many tennis players are not vaccinated," Becker said. "If you look around the world, the number of people who have been vaccinated keeps increasing - I think that's positive." Nole will be seen in action next week.
It will be interesting to see how he performs. We wish him all the best and hope he can end the season on a high note.