The Big 3 are getting old

[Bamoos]

Fed wins in his 30s --> incredible stuff, effortless game, no one will match his longevity

Djokodal win in their 30s --> the new gen sucks

Lol have you seen the standard of play for Novak’s last 2 slams? Basically kept the ball in play and watched Fed/Thiem choke.

At least Fed did it playing imperious tennis aged 35.

 

[duaneeo]

Darn Sampras retiring at 31. Because he retired so young, Roger didn't have an aging, past-prime ATG to build a strong H2H against.

 

[zvelf]

No. The young guns deserve to be derided, and this is a weak era.

The Big-3 are "getting" old? The Big-3 are old (Federer is beyond old), and it's pathetic that the young guns are simply "approaching parity" with Nadal and Djokovic. They should've taken over by now. Even with Federer, they haven't gained much on him at the slams. It seems that the young guns won't take down the Big-3, but that the Big-3 will have to lay down for them to take over.

I think today's results belie the Big 3 having to lay down for them. These results just reinforce my point. Thiem and Medvedev have already achieved parity with the Big 3. For Tsitsipas and Zverev, it's just a matter of time.

 

[duaneeo]

I think today's results belie the Big 3 having to lay down for them. These results just reinforce my point.

Zverev beat 11-time WTF champions Federer and Djokovic to win the title in 2018. Nadalovic won 6 of the next 7 slams.

 

[James P]

I agree that they're coming up, but the biggest problem is the lack of depth on tour that can actually trouble the Big 3. Yeah, on a good day, Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev, and maybe Tsitsipas can trouble the Big 3, but the rest of the tour aren't pulling their weight, so it's 3 vs 4 or 5 players, instead of 3 vs the field, effectively. How many can even take 1 out of 10 off of the Big 3? I'd say less than 10 players. Until they're getting good competition in their 3rd and 4th round matches at slams, I'm still skeptical, and believe me, I'm one of the biggest fans of the youth movement pushing them.

 

[James P]

I agree that they're coming up, but the biggest problem is the lack of depth on tour that can actually trouble the Big 3. Yeah, on a good day, Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev, and maybe Tsitsipas can trouble the Big 3, but the rest of the tour aren't pulling their weight, so it's 3 vs 4 or 5 players, instead of 3 vs the field, effectively. How many can even take 1 out of 10 off of the Big 3? I'd say less than 10 players. Until they're getting good competition in their 3rd and 4th round matches at slams, I'm still skeptical, and believe me, I'm one of the biggest fans of the youth movement pushing them.

Potential 4R matchups next season (under 30 years old next season):

#9 Diego Schwartzman (1-20 against Big 3)
#10 Matteo Berrettini (0-4)
#12 Denis Shapovalov (1-8)
#16 Pablo Carreno Busta (1-12)

Potential 3R:

#19 Grigor Dimitrov (3-29)
#20 Karen Khachanov (1-12)
#21 Felix Auger-Aliassime (0-1)
#22 Cristian Garin (0-1)
#23 Alex de Minaur (0-4)
#24 Borna Coric (4-10) actually reasonable
#27 Casper Ruud (0-2)
#29 Taylor Fritz (0-5)
#30 Ugo Humbert (0-1)
#31 Filip Krajinovic (1-7)

That's 12-116 (combined 9.4%) yikes.

 

[zvelf]

Just curious whether people's perceptions have changed since I posted this thread 10 months ago.

 

[James P]

Just curious whether people's perceptions have changed since I posted this thread 10 months ago.

Main thing is that Nadal looks really vulnerable and old all of a sudden. I already had low expectations for Roger and yet he still managed to disappoint in his return this year, doubt he'll ever be a serious threat.

Novak still as imperious as ever, the USO F notwithstanding.