Tennis’ “Big Three” has been such a constant in the sport for so long that any preceding era seems like a lifetime ago.
We’ve known for quite some time that the era of the Big Three has been coming to an end.
2024 has confirmed that the end is not just nigh, it’s here.
For over two decades, men’s tennis has been Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Yes, there’s been some interlopers, primarily in the shape of Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Stan Wawrinka but one thing has been consistent over the past two decades and that’s that the Big Three.
Every single year since 2003, one of the Big Three has won at least one grand slam title.
It’s difficult to appreciate just how long their stretch of dominance, as a trio, was but to give an idea, I was still at university, Tony Blair and George W Bush were prime minister and president of the UK and US respectively, Michael Jackson dangled his baby son off a balcony and, for the first time ever, a mobile phone had a camera built into it.
These landmarks all seem an age ago, but that’s how long tennis’ Big Three endured.
It was Federer who arrived first, winning his maiden grand slam title in the summer of 2003, at Wimbledon.
The previous year, it was the likes of Pete Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt who were winning the major titles; these are names that feel like they belong in a previous generation of the sport.
Nadal arrived on the scene in 2005 with his first French Open title although it wasn’t until the 2008 Australian Open that Djokovic joined them as a grand slam winner.
Since then, however, whatever’s been happening in the world, there’s been one thing you could bank on and that’s at least one of the Big Three winning a grand slam title.
That’s why 2024 has been such a shock to the system.
Today’s men’s singles final at the US Open will be between Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz but regardless of who triumphs in New York, 2024 has confirmed the end of a two decade-long stretch in men’s tennis.
This year, for the first time since 2002, none of Federer, Nadal nor Djokovic has won a grand slam title.
The greatest era men’s tennis has ever seen is, definitively, over.
The retirement of Federer in 2022 was the beginning of the end of the Big Three.
At that point, however, it appeared that both Nadal and Djokovic were still going strong with the Spaniard winning two major titles in 2022 and the Serb winning three in 2023.
Given that dominance, then, few would have predicted that the new era would begin quite as soon as 2024.
Nadal’s crumbing body – he’s barely managed to take to the court in anything even close to full fitness this year – has expedited his demise, so it’s Djokovic’s failure to win a single grand slam this year which has come as much more of a surprise.
The Serb’s Olympic gold medal-winning performance in Paris ensured he’s now “completed” tennis and it seems likely he still has a few flashes of brilliance left in him.
But, finally, we can truly begin pondering what tennis will look like without the Big Three, and whether anything or anyone will be able to replicate the magical era created by Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
A few years ago, it was suggested that the next generation was ready to take over; that the likes of Alex Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Casper Ruud, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime would be winning the bulk of the major titles by now. As individuals, they’ve had varying degrees of success but none have come close to assuming the mantle from the Big Three.
Their chance has almost certainly passed and so now, the baton has been picked up by Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who are ranked one and three in the world, sandwiching Djokovic, who, despite his third round exit at the US Open, is still clinging on in the upper echelons of the rankings.
Neither Sinner, nor Alcaraz, appear to have quite what’s needed to fill the gap created by the demise of the Big Three.
Alcaraz is indisputably likeable both on and off-court and has similar physical attributes to Nadal.
As a player, he’s charismatic but as an interviewee, he’s pleasant without ever setting the press room on fire.
Despite being only 21, though, he’s already got an injury list a 35-year-old would be proud of, which doesn’t bode well for the long-term in a sport that’s so brutal on the body.
And there’s Sinner, who’s also likeable but is so understated he is, quite frankly, dull.
Add to that a recent doping scandal and the Italian seems, despite his exceptional level of play on-court, a far from perfect replacement for those who preceded him.
The charisma of any of the Big Three is nowhere to be seen in any of this next generation and while that’s no crime – they’re there to play tennis, not crack jokes - it’s a worry for the sport which has been able to boast three superstars of the sporting world and beyond for two decades.
So, what does the future of men’s tennis look like?
It should be remembered that the conclusion of the previous era, that of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, was lamented amid suggestions the pair could never be replaced.
Very quickly, they were.
So it’s perhaps premature to suggest that men’s tennis will never be as good as it’s been over the past two decades.
I am confident in predicting, though, it’s going to take a monumental effort to rival it.
