ANDhe world of tennis had been wondering for years when a generation of tennis players would arrive capable of taking over from Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. That moment has arrived and he has done it in Paris.
The final between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros is the first in 20 years without the presence of one of the members of the ‘Big Three’ of the racket in the fight last Sunday to lift the Musketeers Cup.
To find the last time Nadal, Djokovic or Federer were not in the final We must go back to the edition of the French Open in 2004, with the Argentines Gastón Gaudio and Guillermo Coria as protagonists. Gaudio won.
Three different champions
In 2005, Rafael Nadal’s domination began, which lasted for 14 years.. When he won it, Federer did, in 2009, Stan Wawrinka, in 2015, but defeating Djokovic, and ‘Nole’ three times, in 2016, 2021 and 2023. This Sunday there will be a new champion at Roland Garros.
Rafa, Roger and Novak had shared 62 of the last 74 majors until the Sinner phenomenon appeared at the last Australian Open. In their era of dominance, only seven tennis players were able to steal a great from them: Juan Martín Del Potro, (2009 US Open); Andy Murray (US Open 2012, Wimbledon 2013 and 2016); Stan Wawrinka (Australia 2014, Roland Garros 2015 and US Open 2016), Marin Cilic (US Open 2014), Dominic Thiem (US Open 2020), Daniil Medvedev (US Open 2021) and Carlos Alcaraz (US Open 2022 and Wimbledon 2023).
