The Australian Open has shown it again: The Next Gen is not yet ready for the changing of the guard. A comment.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edited: 04.02.2020, 18:57
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Before the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, what was not written about a possible changing of the guard? At the Australian Open, the chance of a new major champion was greater than ever, and the Next Gen in particular had the potential to beat Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in Melbourne.
In the end, things should turn out differently, with Novak Djokovic, as so often one of the “Big Three”. The Serb was by no means challenged by a player of the new generation, only Dominic Thiem was able to bring the 17-time Grand Slam winner to the brink of defeat.
No end in sight
However, Thiem is already 26 years old and by no means belongs to the much-cited next gen. According to the ATP, this only includes players who are 21 years or younger. The fact that the Austrian’s entry into the final is still interpreted by many as the start of a next generation guard changing, rather speaks for the dominance of the “Big Three” as the same transfer at the top.
No question: Nadal, Djokovic and Federer are three absolute exceptional athletes and breaking their records will be almost impossible in the future – because there has never been a situation like this in the long history of tennis: 56 of the last 65 Grand Slam -Tournaments went to one of these three players – and there is still no end in sight to this dominance.
Because although Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev were close to a triumph in the past two majors, it is still the greater intelligence of the Big Three that sets them apart from the rest of the world. In New York, Nadal increasingly resorted to the slice in tight situations, Djokovic sprinkled Serve & Volley in important phases in Melbourne – something that the Next Gen, at least not yet seen.
More than happiness is missing
After his lost endgame, Dominic Thiem claimed that the “big hit” would only be “a little bit lucky”, but in truth it is a little more than that. Saving strength, surviving weak phases, striking in the important moments, using emotions wisely , Nadal, Djokovic and Federer do all of this much better than their competitors – and that is exactly what makes the difference in tight phases.
Especially the Next Generation, often hyped by ATP, disappointed across the board at the Australian Open. None of the players who qualified for the Next Gen Finals in Milan last year made it past the third round in Melbourne.
Next Gen not yet ready for a major win
Stefanos Tsitsipas clearly failed in the third round due to Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov and fellow countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime had to pack their bags after the first round. Frances Tiafoe, Casper Ruud, Miomir Kecmanović and Ugo Humbert suffered the same fate, Jannik Sinner, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Mikael Ymer were at least happy about a victory.
From these results, you can already see that the Next Gen is not yet ready for a Grand Slam victory. Alexander Zverev’s good performance in Melbourne cannot change that. And also not that Stefanos Tsitsipas chose himself as the unofficial world champion a few months ago – the next gen still sees no country in major tournaments.
At the moment you have the feeling that the “Big Three” have the world tennis under control as never before – and the Next Gen sleeps its own changing of the guard. And it can be doubted that the young wild ones will wake up from this nightmare in the near future.
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