Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic era backed to end ‘soon’ by Frances Tiafoe
US Open: Federer heaps praise on Tiafoe after five set thriller
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The era of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the top of the game will end “soon”, according to world No 52 Frances Tiafoe. The American made it into the draw of the Toronto Masters as a lucky loser and stunned home favourite Denis Shapovalov last night, with the young rivals taking the prime time evening session slot in the absence of the big three.
Djokovic, Nadal and Federer all withdrew from this week’s National Bank Open in Canada, as well as the upcoming Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, leaving some of the game’s younger stars to battle it out for the Masters 1000 titles.
It’s not the first time the big three have skipped one of the prestigious ATP Tour events this year, with the 20-time Grand Slam champions all pulling out of the Miami Open earlier this year, leaving 24-year-old Hubert Hurkacz to pick up the biggest title of his career.
Even with the younger stars gaining momentum and pushing for wins in the biggest tournaments, there has always been a noticeable gap between the big three and the rest of the field, but Tiafoe believes their reign will come to an end and leave space for “new faces” to come to the forefront of the sport.
Speaking after his first round win over Yoshihito Nishioka, the 23-year-old was asked how the mentality of the younger players changes when the big three are all out of a draw.
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“It’s a good look, right? Obviously you never want to see that, but, I mean, the guard is going to change soon. Obviously these guys, time is of essence now obviously,” he said.
“You already see Tsitsipas playing great, Medvedev obviously been doing his thing, Zverev winning the Olympics. The guard is definitely changing. It’s a matter of who’s going to take it. It’s going to be an open field a little bit.”
While Tiafoe believes the changeover will happen soon, the former world No 29 is looking forward to an era with less dominance.
He continued: “There is a lot of good players but nobody who is so great that can’t be beaten, right, out of this crop. Me beating Stefanos at Wimbledon, depth of tennis, a lot of guys can play well on any given day.
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“I think it’s good for the sport. See some new faces, kind of have the game, you know, new personalities, new changing of the guard. We’ll see who takes it. I think it’s an open field. Anybody can put it together, honestly.”
While it’s not the first time this year that the big three have all pulled out of a Masters event, it’s the first year since 2001 that none of them are appearing in the field in Canada, signalling that a changeover of generations may be on the horizon, especially outside of the Grand Slams.
Djokovic pulled out of both events as he looked to take an extended break following the Olympics and his gruelling start to the season, which saw him win the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
In a statement, the world No 1 said: “I wanted to share with you that I’m taking a bit longer to recover after quite a physically taxing journey from the Australian Open to Tokyo,” he said in a statement.
“Sadly, this means I won’t be ready to compete in Cincinnati this year so I’ll be turning my focus to the US Open and spending more time with my family. Can’t wait to see you in New York soon!”
Meanwhile, Federer and Nadal look more in doubt as the pair continue to battle ongoing injuries. The Swiss tennis sensation has played just five tournaments since last year’s Australian Open, after undergoing two knee surgeries in 2020.
He had an impressive run to the Wimbledon quarter-final before falling in three sets to Hurkacz after the knee started bothering him once again, and hasn’t played since.
Nadal was left sidelined from Wimbledon and the Olympics after a left foot injury forced him to stop playing tennis for 20 days and, after a comeback in Washington last week, he has since pulled out of the two Masters events and flown home to seek advice from his doctor before deciding whether or not to play the US Open.
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