Jannik Sinner has claimed tennis has entered a new era as his US Open win ended one of the most remarkable periods of dominance in the history of all sports.
For the first time since 2002, this tennis year will come to an end without Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic winning a Grand Slam title.
With Federer now retired, Nadal widely expected to call time on his career at the Laver Cup later this month and Djokovic now 37 and openly admitting his desire to continue in the sport is waning, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz look set to be the future of the men’s game.
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Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon titles, with Sinner winning the Australian Open and US Open, confirming a new phase of the sport is now underway.
“It is a bit different, for sure,” said Sinner after he beat Taylor Fritz in the US Open Final.
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“It’s something new, but it’s also nice to see – nice to see new champions, nice to see new rivalries.
“I feel it’s good for the sport to have some new champions.”
Sinner consolidated his place at the top of the world rankings, but says the hard work starts now.
“I always have players and I will always have players who are going to make me a better player because there are going to be times where they beat me,” he continued.
“Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players.
“This makes me realise that the work never stops.
“It’s always a continuous work which, in the end of the day, if you want to be a better player, you always have to work and you have to have these daily routines – accept difficult times on court.”
Djokovic will be eyeing up a 25th Grand Slam title in 2025, as he looks to seal the final great record of his tennis career.
His 24 major title wins puts him level with Margaret Court for the most in tennis history and tennis legend John McEnroe believes Djokovic will want to add another major to his collection before he retires.
Now McEnroe has responded to a question from Tennis365 about what comes next for Djokovic, as he admitted this may be the first time when there are serious doubts over his ability to win another major title.
“It’s difficult to say what we can expect from him next year,” McEnroe told Tennis365 at a Eurosport event.
“First of all, you never want to count him out, but this is certainly the first time that you could ask the question if his days of winning majors are over.
“He’s got his family and you mention the word motivation. How long can this guy stay motivated? I’m amazed he’s kept it this long, actually.
“Whether he does win majors again or he doesn’t. He won three of the four last year and now we are saying he might never win another one.
“I would be kinda surprised he did win more majors because of his age. At some point, that catches up to you.”
Tennis asked for many years how it would cope without Federer, Nadal and Djokovic and 2024 has given us an exciting answer.
While the rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz is at a formative stage, the young guns who have finally ended the era of the ‘Big 3’ look set to ensure tennis fans are captivated by what comes next.