Question about the future of the clay field

[InsideOut900]

It just came into my mind,all good clay courters from today(Djokovic,Murray,Nadal,Stan,Fed,Ferrer,Nishikori) are already old or very old. In 2 years from now I can bet none of them(well maybe with the exception of Kei and Novak,but still no sure) will be relevant on clay anymore,possible on no other surface for this matter.

The second thing would be that all other young guns have an unsuited game for the red surface,guys such as Kyrgios,Zverev,Fritz are hardcourters with a very poor movement,Kyrgios can get into the zone with his serve(such as this week),but no more than that. Coric is a half-mug as shown by now,Raonic needs his peak serve and I don't see anyone coming from behind.

The hardcourt field and the grass field are going to be at least decent and now considering Thiem the next big thing on clay, who the heck is he going to compete against? How much weak can the RG potentially get?

 

[helterskelter]

Too early to write off Coric.

Most of Djokovic, Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka, and Nishikori will still be competitive in two years' time. Probably one or two of them will start falling off by then, but three or more will likely still be in the top 10. You may well be right that Federer and Ferrer won't be factors by this time in 2018.

 

[metsman]

the future of tennis is screwed....breaking news.

 

[tennisaddict]

Thiem may become a Borg with 6 FO

 

[InsideOut900]

Too early to write off Coric.

Most of Djokovic, Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka, and Nishikori will still be competitive in two years' time. Probably one or two of them will start falling off by then, but three or more will likely still be in the top 10. You may well be right that Federer and Ferrer won't be factors by this time in 2018.

Wawrinka is already losing to anyone,at 33 years I don't see him even in top 20,let alone being a contender,Nadal may even retire by then,Murray did more than he is capable of on clay,Djoko may as well fall of the cliff due to harsh on the body style of play.
How much awful could be that the best clay courter(Thiem) isn't even close to prime Ferrer,lol.

the future of tennis is screwed....breaking news.

metsman,I disagree that the grass and HC field is screwed,it will be decent.
But clay is likely to reach the lowest low ever

 

[helterskelter]

Thiem may become a Borg with 6 FO

This is not just unlikely but extremely unlikely. As a general rule: don't bet on someone who hasn't yet reached the quarter-finals of a tournament winning that tournament six times. It's always going to be a bad bet. (Yes, it would have been a bad bet had you placed it on Nadal prior to RG 2005. Sometimes bad bets end up working out, but they are still bad bets).

 

[helterskelter]

Wawrinka is already losing to anyone,at 33 years I don't see him even in top 20,let alone being a contender,Nadal may even retire by then,Murray did more than he is capable of on clay,Djoko may as well fall of the cliff due to harsh on the body style of play.
How much awful could be that the best clay courter(Thiem) isn't even close to prime Ferrer,lol.

All four of those men you mentioned are more likely to be in the top 20 than outside it at this point in 2018. Yes, even Wawrinka. Ferrer is #9 at 34. No reason Wawrinka can't be #20 at 33.

 

[metsman]

Wawrinka is already losing to anyone,at 33 years I don't see him even in top 20,let alone being a contender,Nadal may even retire by then,Murray did more than he is capable of on clay,Djoko may as well fall of the cliff due to harsh on the body style of play.
How much awful could be that the best clay courter(Thiem) isn't even close to prime Ferrer,lol.

metsman,I disagree that the grass and HC field is screwed,it will be decent.
But clay is likely to reach the lowest low ever

Yeah I agree clay will be next level bad. But even grass and HC unless Kyrgios/Coric/Zverev get a lot better really fast will be really weak as well. Grass field no doubt will be really weak as Kyrgios/Raonic is basically all there is. HC field will probably be a little better.

We have moved into an era of monotonous cookie cutter baseline play and just no creativity and talent based play. As a result it is very likely that quality of play on natural surfaces will decline heavily.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

It has been like that for a long time.

 

[QuentinFederer]

Thiem should be able to win, don't rule Dimitrov out completely, Schwartzman looks like a decent clay player, Dzumhur plays nicely on clay, Coric might develop inroads good player, Nishikori should still be very competitive in two years, Spandiards like Bautista Agut and Carreno Busta do quite well on clay. The big serving guys like Kyrgios and Raonic can't be ruled out. There's potential to have a strong field on clay, but it could just as easily be either dominated by Thiem and Nishikori, or a weak era resulting in a free for all at RG each year.

 

[dr325i]

Thiem may become a Borg with 6 FO

Unless world # 270-something with one hand working has a good day and take him out in the first round...