Tennis

Five stars picked to take up mantle after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic


Jannik Sinner has been named among five players who are capable of dominating the sport after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic depart.

Sinner won the NextGen Finals in 2019 and earned his first win over a top 10 player when he beat David Goffin at the Rotterdam Open.

The young Italian is working with respected coach Riccardo Piatti and there are high hopes he can become one of the best players in the world.

The 18-year-old has already received plaudits from Federer and Nadal about the quality of his game and practised with both.

Ranked 73rd in the world, Sinner has a long way to go to match the likes of Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.

Thiem has managed to keep pace with the ‘Big Three’ in recent years, moving up to No 3 in the world and coming runner-up in three Grand Slam finals.

Medvedev pushed Nadal all the way in the US Open final last year while Zverev won the 2018 ATP Finals.

Rublev enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2019 and broken into the top 20 for the first time earlier this year.

Speaking in an interview with Eurosport, former WTA player Barbara Schett was asked which of the younger generation will emerge from Federer, Nadal and Djokovic’s shadow and backed the quintet of Zverev, Thiem, Medvedev, Rublev and Sinner to take the mantle.

“It’s almost impossible to replace those three players,” she said.

“We’ve been so spoilt over the last 20 years watching these players compete and pushing each other to the level they are at now.

“I don’t think a rivalry between these three will exist again and I don’t know if a player will ever win 20 Grand Slams again.

“First of all, it’s very difficult to fill the shoes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, I don’t think that will happen.

“But I do love watching the youngsters, [Alexander] Zverev and [Dominic] Thiem – I’m not sure you can call them youngsters anymore.

“There are a few Russians like [Daniil] Medvedev and [Andrey] Rublev who are exciting. [Jannick] Sinner too.

“There are a lot of exciting players who have styles of tennis which are great to watch. There are players who are exciting and players come and players go.

“I remember 30 years ago when [Boris] Becker or [Stefan] Edberg retired, even Mats Wilander, people were thinking how could the sport survive without those guys – but there was always someone else.

“I’m sure as their personalities develop there will be new players on the scene.”



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