Every slam final since 2017 with no-big 3

[clout]

2017-present seems to recognized as the era of the big 3 being past their best date but still winning a lot of big events and being ranked as the top 3 in the world. So have the rest of the field really been that inconsistent or have the big 3 continued raining on other players' dreams of winning a major. Digging into the archives, here are the would-be finals for each slam since 2017 if there was no big 3:

2017 AO - Dimitrov vs Wawrinka (I think Grigor takes this)
2017 RG - Wawrinka vs Thiem (Stan edges Tim)
2017 WI - Berdych vs Cilic (Bird probably wins his elusive slam)
2017 US - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo easily)
2018 AO - Cilic vs Chung (Cilic easily)
2018 RG - Thiem vs Del Potro (Tim wins his elusive RG)
2018 WI - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo again)
2018 US - Del Potro vs Nishikori (Delpo on a roll)
2019 AO - Stefanos vs Pouille (Citybus breaks through at 20)
2019 RG - Thiem vs Wawrinka (Tim gets his revenge)
2019 WI - RBA vs Querry/Nishikori (this is a mess lol)
2019 US - Medvedev vs Berretinni (Med wins with ease)
2020 AO - Thiem vs Raonic (Tim wins easily)
2020 RG - Stefanos vs DieGOAT (Stef wins another major)
2020 US - Thiem vs Zverev (Tim like irl)
2021 AO - Medvedev vs 48-Karatsev (Med wins his second)

So the slam count would probably be:

- Thiem wins 4 slams
- Del Potro wins 3 slams (4 in total)
- Medvedev wins 2 slams
- Stefanos wins 2 slams
- Wawrinka wins 1 more slam (4 in total)
- Cilic wins 1 more slam (2 in total)
- Grigor and Berdych finally break through with 1 slam
- One of Nishikori, RBA and Querry also becomes a Wimbledon champion lol

How would the tour have looked? @Federer and Del Potro looks like your boy could've won 3 more slams.....

Discuss or disgust

 

[clout]

The likely year-end number ones in this case:

2017 - Grigor Dimitrov (stopped by Nadal in AO/Beijing/Shanghai and Federer at Wimbledon)
2018 - Juan Martin Del Potro (stopped by Nadal at RG/WI and Djokovic at USO)
2019 - Daniil Medvedev (stopped by Djokovic at AO, Federer at Miami, and Nadal in Montreal/USO/WTF)
2020 - Dominic Thiem (stopped by Djokovic at AO)

 

[James P]

Brutal

 

[clout]

Brutal

The most brutal part of this scenario is Thiem, Del Potro and Wawrinka all having more total majors than Murray......unimaginable lol

 

[clout]

The careers of so many players would've changed drastically:

- Del Potro would have 4 slams with 3 US Opens (in this scenario it would've been more than Nadal, Djokovic, Agassi, and Edberg lol) and a YEN1 in 2018
- Wawrinka would have one more major than Murray (the Mury-GOAT haters would've been all over this one)
- Thiem would have 4 slams (only needing Wimby for the CGS) by age 27 plus a YEN1 putting him in prime position to be an ATG
- Cilic becomes a multi-time major champion (disgusting news according to many on this forum)
- Dimitrov will no longer be mentioned as a lost gen with a major, WTF, YEN1, and multiple Masters
- Citybus and the Bullsheet Russian would be sitting at two majors with Sheet getting bragging rights with a YEN1 in 2019
- Berdych would've been a slam champion at last at age 31 (what a story this would've been)
- One of Nishikori, RBA and Querrey would've been a Wimbledon champion (how would I have been able to tell my grandkids that Lendl and Rosewall didn't win Wimby but one of those three did)

Zverev's career doesn't change though, he's still a sitting duck at majors ROFL

 

[junior74]

Wawrinka and Dimitrov has met 4 times in slams.

Guess who won all 4?

 

[clout]

Wawrinka and Dimitrov has met 4 times in slams.

Guess who won all 4?

Idk I feel like Grigor's form at the time was better than Stan's. When they kept playing each other during that stretch, the Bulgarian was often in very poor form

 

[Crazy Finn]

This thread is prime evidence of weak era...

That list, oh my...

And we thought the USO 2020 final was poor....

It would be nice for DelPo, though. Good for him, he would deserve a few bones in his path.

 

[Terenigma]

Thiem beats Raonic easily at the Australian open 2020? Yeah, what is your rationale for that beyond not knowing the players very well and making a guess? Raonic is pretty damn good there and has only been prevented from going further by Djokovic the majority of those times (Including that year) and by contrast, Thiem's performances there are almost all worse.

The matches i've watched between the two aren't exactly massively favouring either of them so i think at the very least that match would be close but if it's going to lean either way, i would lean it towards Raonic.

 

[clout]

Thiem beats Raonic easily at the Australian open 2020? Yeah, what is your rationale for that beyond not knowing the players very well and making a guess? Raonic is pretty damn good there and has only been prevented from going further by Djokovic the majority of those times (Including that year) and by contrast, Thiem's performances there are almost all worse.

The matches i've watched between the two aren't exactly massively favouring either of them so i think at the very least that match would be close but if it's going to lean either way, i would lean it towards Raonic.

Thiem was playing incredibly well down under that year. He beat Nadal (the top seed), an in-form Zverev, and took Djokovic to five in the finals (only the second player to ever do so). Raonic with his stiff robotic movement would've lost in 4 to Thiem at most

 

[The Guru]

I'd have a slightly different take on this:

2017 AO - Dimitrov vs Wawrinka (I think Stan takes this) Stan was at the highest level of anyone that tournament and only lost because of matchup/mental imo
2017 RG - Wawrinka vs Thiem (Thiem edges Stan) Wawrinka was gassed after the Murray match.
2017 WI - Berdych vs Cilic (Bird probably wins his elusive slam)
2017 US - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo easily)
2018 AO - Cilic vs Berdych (Cilic easily)
2018 RG - Thiem vs Del Potro (Tim wins his elusive RG)
2018 WI - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo again)
2018 US - Del Potro vs Nishikori (Delpo on a roll)
2019 AO - Stefanos vs Medvedev (Meddy gets his first)
2019 RG - Thiem vs Wawrinka (Tim gets his revenge)
2019 WI - RBA vs Querry/Nishikori (I like Nishikori to win this one but yeah this is a poop show)
2019 US - Medvedev vs Berretinni (Med wins with ease)
2020 AO - Thiem vs Raonic (Tim wins easily)
2020 RG - Stefanos vs DieGOAT (Stef wins another major)
2020 US - Thiem vs Zverev (Tim like irl)
2021 AO - Medvedev vs Zverev (Med wins his second) Zverev would have to lose off mental which he probably would but his form was there.

 

[junior74]

Idk I feel like Grigor's form at the time was better than Stan's. When they kept playing each other during that stretch, the Bulgarian was often in very poor form

I feel their form was about the same. 5 sets vs champion and runner-up, respectively.

Stan's mental strength settles it for me. Not even sure it goes the distance. Dimitrov has only won 1 set of of 13 played against Stan in slams...

That said, Stan has said his knee problems started at AO and lasted through the American swing and the clay season, but he decided to wait and see. He went into surgery just weeks after RG, where he was not tip top physically.

 

[Federer and Del Potro]

Reading this

 

[clout]

I feel their form was about the same. 5 sets vs champion and runner-up, respectively.

Stan's mental strength settles it for me. Not even sure it goes the distance. Dimitrov has only won 1 set of of 13 played against Stan in slams...

That said, Stan has said his knee problems started at AO and lasted through the American swing and the clay season, but he decided to wait and see. He went into surgery just weeks after RG, where he was not tip top physically.

Yeah I watched some of the highlights just now from those semis and it could really go either way. Dimitrov seemed a bit more explosive in his movement but Wawrinka was absolutely ripping the ball against Fed. It's a finals I would've rooted to get 9 times out of 10 and that case was the 1 because they needed to lose for us to see a Fedal finals again

 

[Terenigma]

Thiem was playing incredibly well down under that year. He beat Nadal (the top seed), an in-form Zverev, and took Djokovic to five in the finals (only the second player to ever do so). Raonic with his stiff robotic movement would've lost in 4 to Thiem at most

So was Raonic. He beat Tsitsipas and Cilic back to back in straight sets and i don't think its fair to compare their performances against Djokovic, Raonic has a mental block against him but against Thiem? I think he would do okay, even if the latter was in form. Deff not an "easy" win for Thiem imo.

 

[Deleted member 775898]

I'd have a slightly different take on this:

2017 AO - Dimitrov vs Wawrinka (I think Stan takes this) Stan was at the highest level of anyone that tournament and only lost because of matchup/mental imo
2017 RG - Wawrinka vs Thiem (Thiem edges Stan) Wawrinka was gassed after the Murray match.
2017 WI - Berdych vs Cilic (Bird probably wins his elusive slam)
2017 US - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo easily)
2018 AO - Cilic vs Berdych (Cilic easily)
2018 RG - Thiem vs Del Potro (Tim wins his elusive RG)
2018 WI - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo again)
2018 US - Del Potro vs Nishikori (Delpo on a roll)
2019 AO - Stefanos vs Medvedev (Meddy gets his first)
2019 RG - Thiem vs Wawrinka (Tim gets his revenge)
2019 WI - RBA vs Querry/Nishikori (I like Nishikori to win this one but yeah this is a poop show)
2019 US - Medvedev vs Berretinni (Med wins with ease)
2020 AO - Thiem vs Raonic (Tim wins easily)
2020 RG - Stefanos vs DieGOAT (Stef wins another major)
2020 US - Thiem vs Zverev (Tim like irl)
2021 AO - Medvedev vs Zverev (Med wins his second) Zverev would have to lose off mental which he probably would but his form was there.

Ugh, no, Medvedev dominated the match-up with Zverev lately, won the last 3 matches and the last 4 out of 5 matches since Shanghai19, he would've eaten Sascha alive in the final.

 

[mike danny]

2017-present seems to recognized as the era of the big 3 being past their best date but still winning a lot of big events and being ranked as the top 3 in the world. So have the rest of the field really been that inconsistent or have the big 3 continued raining on other players' dreams of winning a major. Digging into the archives, here are the would-be finals for each slam since 2017 if there was no big 3:

2017 AO - Dimitrov vs Wawrinka (I think Grigor takes this)
2017 RG - Wawrinka vs Thiem (Stan edges Tim)
2017 WI - Berdych vs Cilic (Bird probably wins his elusive slam)
2017 US - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo easily)
2018 AO - Cilic vs Chung (Cilic easily)
2018 RG - Thiem vs Del Potro (Tim wins his elusive RG)
2018 WI - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo again)
2018 US - Del Potro vs Nishikori (Delpo on a roll)
2019 AO - Stefanos vs Pouille (Citybus breaks through at 20)
2019 RG - Thiem vs Wawrinka (Tim gets his revenge)
2019 WI - RBA vs Querry/Nishikori (this is a mess lol)
2019 US - Medvedev vs Berretinni (Med wins with ease)
2020 AO - Thiem vs Raonic (Tim wins easily)
2020 RG - Stefanos vs DieGOAT (Stef wins another major)
2020 US - Thiem vs Zverev (Tim like irl)
2021 AO - Medvedev vs 48-Karatsev (Med wins his second)

So the slam count would probably be:

- Thiem wins 4 slams
- Del Potro wins 3 slams (4 in total)
- Medvedev wins 2 slams
- Stefanos wins 2 slams
- Wawrinka wins 1 more slam (4 in total)
- Cilic wins 1 more slam (2 in total)
- Grigor and Berdych finally break through with 1 slam
- One of Nishikori, RBA and Querry also becomes a Wimbledon champion lol

How would the tour have looked? @Federer and Del Potro looks like your boy could've won 3 more slams.....

Discuss or disgust

I'd change 2018 AO to Berdych-Cilic. Berdych was playing well and if Chung still gets injured, he is through to the final.

I'd also change 2019 AO to Tsitsipas-Medvedev.

 

[mike danny]

2017-present seems to recognized as the era of the big 3 being past their best date but still winning a lot of big events and being ranked as the top 3 in the world. So have the rest of the field really been that inconsistent or have the big 3 continued raining on other players' dreams of winning a major. Digging into the archives, here are the would-be finals for each slam since 2017 if there was no big 3:

2017 AO - Dimitrov vs Wawrinka (I think Grigor takes this)
2017 RG - Wawrinka vs Thiem (Stan edges Tim)
2017 WI - Berdych vs Cilic (Bird probably wins his elusive slam)
2017 US - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo easily)
2018 AO - Cilic vs Chung (Cilic easily)
2018 RG - Thiem vs Del Potro (Tim wins his elusive RG)
2018 WI - Del Potro vs Anderson (Delpo again)
2018 US - Del Potro vs Nishikori (Delpo on a roll)
2019 AO - Stefanos vs Pouille (Citybus breaks through at 20)
2019 RG - Thiem vs Wawrinka (Tim gets his revenge)
2019 WI - RBA vs Querry/Nishikori (this is a mess lol)
2019 US - Medvedev vs Berretinni (Med wins with ease)
2020 AO - Thiem vs Raonic (Tim wins easily)
2020 RG - Stefanos vs DieGOAT (Stef wins another major)
2020 US - Thiem vs Zverev (Tim like irl)
2021 AO - Medvedev vs 48-Karatsev (Med wins his second)

So the slam count would probably be:

- Thiem wins 4 slams
- Del Potro wins 3 slams (4 in total)
- Medvedev wins 2 slams
- Stefanos wins 2 slams
- Wawrinka wins 1 more slam (4 in total)
- Cilic wins 1 more slam (2 in total)
- Grigor and Berdych finally break through with 1 slam
- One of Nishikori, RBA and Querry also becomes a Wimbledon champion lol

How would the tour have looked? @Federer and Del Potro looks like your boy could've won 3 more slams.....

Discuss or disgust

Also, no way is Dimitrov beating Wawrinka at the 2017 AO.

And in now way is Thiem-Delpo a formality for Thiem. This is Timmy in big finals we're talking about.