Djokovic says the Next 4—Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev—are already as good as the Big 3.

r2473

r2473

G.O.A.T.

Djokovic: Four As Good As Big 3

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The Big 3—Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer—have combined to capture 13 consecutive Grand Slam titles.

World No. 1 Djokovic, the lone member of the iconic trio playing the Western & Southern Open and US Open this month, says when it comes to quality the Big 3 have company.

Djokovic says the Next 4—Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev—are already as good as the Big 3.

"Whether I have a bigger chance to win it because Roger and Rafa are not here, I really don't know," Djokovic said of his US Open prospects. "I think it's unfair for me to talk about. That in a way is kind of disrespectful towards other players who are here.

"I mean, Dominic Thiem, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, these guys, they are as good as the top three guys, myself, Roger, Rafa. Anybody can take it, to be honest."
 
Lukhas

Lukhas

Legend
Djoko-laugh.gif
 
D

Deleted member 768841

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No. Simply no, they are not as good as the big 3. If you look at the results the big 3 had the same age these 4 are at the moment, it will be a pretty hard to swallow pill. Thiem is the same age Nadal was in 2013, think about that.
 
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Fiero425

Fiero425

Legend
Jonesy said:
Why not, until 2011 Djokovic was seen as a one slam wonder.
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Has anything been proved to be more "wrong" than that prediction? I didn't see Sampras coming, even when he upset Wilander in the 2nd Rd. of the USO in '89! The thing was Wilander had gone done precipitously since acquiring the #1 ranking in '88 so I wasn't going to make "hay" of it! Even when Pete upset Lendl in '90 and squashed McEnroe to make the USO Final, I had no reason to believe Agassi wouldn't take care of this new "whipper-snapper!" Little did I know how much better Pete was and eventually be as he eviscerated Andre in about an hour and a half! You just never know! In the ladies' game, Martina "pork'd" out with her new American ways and we thought her career would be limited! Again, she proved everyone wrong; even with so much going on behind the scenes; her defection and sexuality questioned by her and others! She overcame it all, but probably extended herself too much playing every event possible, inevitably just keeping her just above water winning 18 of 32 major finals she played! Her competition looked a little weak for a while, but she ended up having to overcome a number of great champions along the way from Evert, King, & Goolagong to Graf, Seles, & Sanchez-Vicario! The GOAT will come out of these last 3 ATG's I feel with Nole probably taking the top spot after all's said and done! :sneaky:
 
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Fiero425

Fiero425

Legend
clayqueen said:
When the Next Gen have held the top 4 rankings and made virtually every SF and Final 10 years in a row, call me.
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Hey, it happens; the old guard doesn't leave the stage in a timely fashion and it stifles that next wave! Happens in all sports, but this is unprecedented longevity with Fedalovic literally owning the tour for well over a decade! That won't happen in anyway within my lifetime, but the games going thru a change! Like how they cut Masters' finals to BO3 from BO5, that benefitted them maybe too much! No one came close to Nole's dominance of yearly averaging 5 Masters' wins along with taking consecutive YEC's that also went to BO3! What change in the game will next benefit the players of this time? They've been testing new scoring at the NG'rs YEC, but again we'd need to start talking about "asterisks" all over the place if Fedalovics' historic records are swept away too soon! ;)
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Fiero425 said:
Hey, it happens; the old guard doesn't leave the stage in a timely fashion and it stifles that next wave! Happens in all sports, but this is unprecedented longevity with Fedalovic literally owning the tour for well over a decade! That won't happen in anyway within my lifetime, but the games going thru a change! Like how they cut Masters' finals to BO3 from BO5, that benefitted them maybe too much! No one came close to Nole's dominance of yearly averaging 5 Masters' wins along with taking consecutive YEC's that also went to BO3! What change in the game will next benefit the players of this time? They've been testing new scoring at the NG'rs YEC, but again we'd need to start talking about "asterisks" all over the place if Fedalovics' historic records are swept away too soon! ;)
Click to expand...
I don't see how BO3 in Masters finals has benefitted the Big 4 because they also dominate all 4 slams which are BO5.
 
Jack the Hack

Jack the Hack

Hall of Fame
I don't think what Djoker said is that controversial in terms of the Next Gen having the ability to beat any of the Big 3/4 on any given day. Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev all have wins over the top guys, so it's conceivable that any one of them could break through and win the US Open. Djoker was just saying that it's disrespectful to not account for that possibility and you can't automatically just hand him the trophy because Rafa and Roger are out. But until one of those younger guys starts winning Slams on a regular basis... they can't be considered in the same league as the Big 3 in terms of career accomplishment yet.
 
Fiero425

Fiero425

Legend
clayqueen said:
I don't see how BO3 in Masters finals has benefitted the Big 4 because they also dominate all 4 slams which are BO5.
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You're kidding right? You try playing back to back Masters' finals that may go 5 sets! The cons. week wins we see routinely with Roger, Rafa, and Nole almost never happened in past generations! It was just too draining and it made a huge difference that all the finals went to BO3 outside of the majors! I can't believe I'm even having to explain this! Players like Nadal go into hibernation after a FO 5 set final! Giving him time to recoup has helped him own the clay Masters' tour for years! That never would have happened even just 10-15 years ago when he dropped a couple huge clay finals to Federer; losing a set at love! :p
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Fiero425 said:
You're kidding right? You try playing back to back Masters' finals that may go 5 sets! The cons. week wins we see routinely with Roger, Rafa, and Nole almost never happened in past generations! It was just too draining and it made a huge difference that all the finals went to BO3 outside of the majors! I can't believe I'm even having to explain this! Players like Nadal go into hibernation after a FO 5 set final! Giving him time to recoup has helped him own the clay Masters' tour for years! That never would have happened even just 10-15 years ago when he dropped a couple huge clay finals to Federer; losing a set at love! :p
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Everyone has a chance of winning the Masters so the fact that it's BO3 is neither here nor there. Why is it that only the B4 are winning most of the Masters titles?
 
Druss

Druss

Hall of Fame
Big big difference from those said four to Djokovic 2011 (who was more or less Zverev’s age now). Even old past his prime present day Djoker is still a level above. There is always some hidden agenda when comments like these are made.
 
wangs78

wangs78

Legend
The Big 3 / Big 4 are just soooo accomplished and experienced that nothing (except maybe playing each other) rattles them. This is why they have been able to dominate younger generations, first the Lost Gen and now the Nex Gen. These youngers guys have made it a habit of rolling over, coming close or getting a close win but failing to repeat that the next time they face the same Big 4 player. The Big 4 simply have an iron grip psychologically on their younger rivals. The Big 4 also brought their A game every day. The Nex Gen have failed utterly to do that. The only player who showed this kind of consistency so far has been Medvedev during the North American hardcourt swing last year. However, his Asian swing was disappointing. And the pandemic has likely stopped his momentum but I’m hopeful that he has the hunger and work ethic to try to replicate the success he had last year soon.
 
Nadalgaenger

Nadalgaenger

G.O.A.T.
He’s basically right. All four of those guys have competed at a high level over the past 52 weeks. They all have had very impressive wins (except Zverev)
 
Clay lover

Clay lover

Legend
Djokovic being diplomatic and amor y paz as usual...

Also he struggles the most against these three out of the big three so it makes sense to overrate them
 
HBK4life

HBK4life

Hall of Fame
Every time I read about something Novak has said lately I picture that lady from Twin Peaks who carried around and log and talked to it.
 
James P

James P

G.O.A.T.
If you take out Thiem, it's no contest, Sascha is easily #1 out of this group. Not over the last couple years, but career-wise.
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
Jack the Hack said:
I don't think what Djoker said is that controversial in terms of the Next Gen having the ability to beat any of the Big 3/4 on any given day. Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev all have wins over the top guys, so it's conceivable that any one of them could break through and win the US Open. Djoker was just saying that it's disrespectful to not account for that possibility and you can't automatically just hand him the trophy because Rafa and Roger are out. But until one of those younger guys starts winning Slams on a regular basis... they can't be considered in the same league as the Big 3 in terms of career accomplishment yet.
Click to expand...
Don't try to kowtow to the Big3 sycophants that rule TTW.:sneaky:

Let's review the facts of the last three slams:
1. Djokovic barely won Wimbledon and probably doesn't if Federer in his half of the draw and doesn't have to go through Nadal (yeah the dinosaurs still rule the museum slam.;))
2. Nadal barely wins US Open over Medvedev
3. Djokovic barely wins Australian Open

We have nearly six months off and the Big 3 aren't getting any younger.

So its hardly a stretch to say that he's not feeling confident given the current trend and appears to be even relishing the new competition.

Djoko has gotten toaster burns to the derrier from all three recently. LOL the Cincy final last year with Medvedev where he was absolutely cruising and then had victory taken away from him. Tsitsipas Shanghai'd him big time with so many glorious backhands down the line. And then Thiem really turned the Australian Open around after Djoko was destroying him in the first set and Thiem staged a truly remarkable comeback late in the first that had Djokovic realing to a ten minute bathroom break at the end of three sets (and is 7-4 versus the Big 3 since beginning of 2019). So seems kind of logical on his part to say that these guys are more of a threat to him than Nadal or Federer who I don't believe have beaten him on hard courts for something like 7 years.:sneaky:

Zverev is a convenient whipping boy, but he's smoked Fed and Nole in masters finals plus blew Nadal off the court at World Tour Finals this year. Yeah his game is comically off right now, but when Zverev is clicking at a tournament he's probably the best closer the game has ever seen. So even Zedrot on paper at a slam deserves some respect as he's got the tools and game to do it, but seems to relish a life of pushery.:sick:
 
Gary Duane

Gary Duane

Talk Tennis Guru
r2473 said:

Djokovic: Four As Good As Big 3

Tennis Now's blog, covering everything from player rankings, to tennis player birthdays, to news, analysis, predictions, and coverage of off-court happenings. We will also include any tennis-related bits that we stumble upon from the internet. Tweets? Facebook status updates? Player blog...
www.tennisnow.com www.tennisnow.com

The Big 3—Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer—have combined to capture 13 consecutive Grand Slam titles.

World No. 1 Djokovic, the lone member of the iconic trio playing the Western & Southern Open and US Open this month, says when it comes to quality the Big 3 have company.

Djokovic says the Next 4—Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev—are already as good as the Big 3.

"Whether I have a bigger chance to win it because Roger and Rafa are not here, I really don't know," Djokovic said of his US Open prospects. "I think it's unfair for me to talk about. That in a way is kind of disrespectful towards other players who are here.

"I mean, Dominic Thiem, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, these guys, they are as good as the top three guys, myself, Roger, Rafa. Anybody can take it, to be honest."
Click to expand...
BS!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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