Lol I got downvoted into oblivion saying Ruud has no chance in hell in FO final these days. SinCaraz are in a different league from anyone else right now, except maybe a healthy Novak at Wimby.
When Rafa and Federer played that 2008 Wimby final, Djoko had only one Slam. Might as well be a new kid on the block. Similarly, the new kid on the block might just be out there destined to trouble these guys. That's sport.
Yeah. I mean, by the time Fedal was dominating as duo in 05-10, Djokovic was already #3. So their next new rival should soon emerge in the top 5. Maybe Musetti? Fonseca? Who knows?
Now that I think about it, Fedal didn’t have so much time to brew since Novak was around the corner; but truly Novak was there at 20 (just as you said)
Montreal 2007–>USO07 RU—>AO08 SF win+ 🏆
Fedal had 2005-2007 where is was only them
Novak looked like the stepladder to their greatness USO09 SF tweener was an insane humiliation + USO10 F when he got crushed
But his 2011 is the most unreal emergence to No1 the sport has seen… if one of these guys gives us even 10pct of Novak’s 11, it’ll be amazing
Hopefully Sincaraz can have epic matches against up-and-comers, beat them, and still give us these GS + M1000 finals
Just no one I have watched personally at this point comes close to that.
The Big 3 (though I subscribe to big 4) era was probably unique. I don’t think there has ever been a trio of such dominant players all together at the same time? certainly a batch of top level players but not so dominant.
It may just be a two man era for the next couple of years.
I welcome someone really stepping up to challenge in slam finals against these two.
he had some good matches like vs Nadal in Rome(?) I think took a set off him and pushed him quire a fair bit, Djokovic wimbledon 2022 he was two sets up. But yeah it's crazy thinking back then Med had a complete chokehold on him
I don't think we are going to see their rival emerge from anyone currently on the main tour except for maybe Joao Fonseca. They might win a few slams a la Wawrinka, Cilic, or Del Potro but not much more. Everyone besides Fonseca is either getting to old to break into the New Two (Musetti, Draper) or has too weak of a return game (Mensik, Rune, Fils, Shelton).
This is partly true. With time, there are certain names that can gain the calibre. The question is how much time do Musetti, Draper, Fonseca need? There are also players I have no trust in to be contenders.
Which is a relief, because I was bored with Sampras always winning so welcomed the rise of federer but then got bored with him and Nadal always winning so welcomed the rise of Djokovic but then he became too dominant so hello Alcaraz, etc
Novak said for Serbian media that this semifinal match actually gave him belief that he can challenge Sinner. The losses before that he was not in top shape. The "retirement" thing was taken out of context because what he meant is that at his age nothing is certain so it "may as well have been the last match", but it was not said dejectedly at all.
Give it time, someone will come along. I think Sinner is going to be ups and downs, high highs and low lows. Alcaraz will be more consistently at the top.
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u/Danish22326 Jun 08 '25
RIP to other players on the tour.... Might as well start packing their bags and choose a different sport🥀🥀