'Roger Federer, Nadal, Djokovic are beginning to realize that...', says former star

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Numerous insiders expected that the 2021 Australian Open would be won by a member of the Next Gen. At the US Open 2020, Dominic Thiem had become the first player born in the 90s to put a Grand Slam on the board, before Daniil Medvedev vanquished.

competition at the Nitto ATP Finals in London. In short, everything seemed set for their consecration in Melbourne Park. The first major of the season went to the usual Novak Djokovic, who annihilated Medvedev in the last act by lifting his ninth Down Under trophy.

Thanks to that success, the Serbian veteran has hoisted himself to 18 Majors, reducing the gap from eternal rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to just two lengths. It would be useless to deny that the Spanish champion will be the number one favorite at Roland Garros, which will start a week late due to the delicate health situation in France.

King Roger, for his part, will try to fire one last shot on the beloved grass of Wimbledon. During an interview on the 'Industria del Tenis' portal, former ATP number 2 Alex Corretja expressed his opinion on the current hierarchies of men's tennis.

Corretja on the Big 3

"For me, we are closer to the relay because those below have already seen that they can," Alex Corretja said. "Although Novak has won in Australia, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are already beginning to realize that there are tournaments in which everything has been complicated and that was very difficult before." Corretja believes that even though they may lack experience, they more than make up for that with their physical prowess.

"The average level has risen a lot and those of the Next Gen have more experience and are 10 years younger," Corretja said. "Although they lose due to lack of experience, but not due to lack of physique or power, they are getting closer and closer." While the 2021 tennis season hasn’t yet seen any event cancelation unlike the previous year, China has been sending out confusing signals on the fall tennis calendar.

The country, which is to host the high-profile Rolex Shanghai Masters 2021, a calendar Masters 1000 event, in October, has not communicated officially as yet on whether the tournament would go ahead as scheduled. The thinking is that the successful hosting of events, including the Rolex Shanghai Masters, would go a long way in helping allay fears around the Olympics.

However, there’s no clarity yet on which one of these information strains bears a closer reflection of the truth. As per the calendar, the Masters is scheduled to open on October 10 and conclude on October 17. The tournament hosts a galaxy of stars from the contemporary men’s game and is ranked among the big-ticket events on the tennis calendar.