“Not enough tennis has been talked about in the last couple of weeks, which is a shame,” Stefanos Tsitsipas deadpanned, two days before the Australian Open starts, to a question on the Novak Djokovic saga.
Right then, let’s talk some tennis now.
In the last 15 years, the first Grand Slam of the season has been dominated by the Big Three of men’s tennis with all but one Australian Open won by Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal since 2006. The one exception was Stan Wawrinka, who was victorious at Melbourne Park in 2014 at the age of 29.
The “Happy Slam” was also witness to the re-emergence of Federer and Nadal from gloomy injuries and slide in form in their thirties as they contested that memorable 2017 final ranked 17th and ninth, respectively.
The younger set of challengers—or Gen Next—haven’t really had a look-in with the Big Three keeping the door firmly shut in Melbourne. That door has now been thudded open with only one among the trio holding 20 Grand Slams each to guard it.
Djokovic, the nine-time Australian Open champion who has breezed through to the title the last three years, is out after losing the court battle to remain in Australia, his visa revoked for being unvaccinated. Six-time winner Federer continues to remain sidelined after knee surgery last year, while Nadal is making another comeback from a foot injury and a “very sick” recent Covid-19 infection that has seen him play all of four Tour matches since August.
A better opportunity can hardly present itself for the younger flag-bearers, US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Tsitsipas, to take the leap and lay down the marker right at the start of the season. The only two Grand Slams that have been won by anyone apart from the Big Three since 2017 were at the US Open, the last Major at the fag end of the season. And both times, when Dominic Thiem triumphed in 2020 and Medvedev last year, two of the three legends were missing.
Like in this Australian Open.
“There are a lot of guys that have the potential to make this tournament really interesting,” Zverev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I think you need to talk about Medvedev, Tsitsipas, who has been playing extremely well here over the last few years. I think myself I have been playing well the last six months of last year.”
Among the three, Medvedev probably has his nose ahead and the favourite tag on his shoulders. The Russian clinched his maiden Grand Slam title in authoritative style in New York in September, thwarting Djokovic’s bid for the 21st Slam in the final. The 25-year-old backed it up with two more final appearances at the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals before leading Russia to the Davis Cup title. His start to this season has been as solid as the end of 2021 save the loss to Ugo Humbert in the ATP Cup.
Medvedev was a finalist in Australia last year and feels he has more self-belief coming into this tournament after having ticked the Grand Slam champion box. “It gave me more confidence to any tournament that I played afterwards,” the world No 2 told reporters. “Now I feel like I know even more what I can do, how I can play, what I have to do to play like this. I’m feeling much more confident than last year in terms of knowing my game, what I’m capable of.”
Zverev too has enjoyed a successful latter half of 2021, winning the Olympic gold in Tokyo, the Cincinnati Masters that followed and the ATP Finals in Turin for his sixth title of the year. No wonder, sporting a Germany t-shirt during his press conference to revisit the feel of his “biggest victory” before the tournament began, Zverev put himself in the top contenders’ category.
Tsitsipas may not be as upbeat after an elbow injury derailed the last season. The Greek retired from his ATP Cup match against Nikoloz Basilashvili with the pain still bothering him. But the world No 4 was optimistic about being ready physically in the hunt for his maiden Slam title.
Before the final word was spoken on the Djokovic drama Down Under, Medvedev said that for every tournament in which the Big Three are around, they start favourites. Nadal is admittedly undercooked for his least productive Slam.
“They’re always saying, ‘What’s next? There is nothing coming’,” Medvedev added. “Yet there is always somebody or something to come.”
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