It had been 21 years since at least one of the Big 3 had won at least one Major in the season
It was the day that all tennis fans feared: sooner or later it would have to happen and the fact that Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer managed to extend it until 2024 is already legendary. But time – inexorably – passes, we know well that. I know it well, as I am writing this article, as I have lived and grown up with the Big 3 and their milestones.
I was just a child (professionally speaking) when I approached this profession, many years ago. I have asked myself many times: what will my feelings be like when this moment arrives? Because they are feelings that are inexorably intertwined with my life, making me necessarily think about the years that pass, too dense and fast, to gather them and keep them on the strings of one hand.
But enough with the sentimentality! Tennis has officially entered a new era, all to be discovered. None of the Big 3 will win a Slam tournament in the 2024 season: it’s the first time this has happened since 2003.
These three extraordinary champions have dominated for 21 years, rewriting and overturning the history of tennis, but now they must inevitably leave room for the new generation. With a moving and magnificent post, the US Open celebrated a piece of news that is historic in the world of sport.
The Swiss has already retired for two years, the Spaniard is going through a very delicate moment in his career, which has come very close to the end, and has only played Roland Garros this year, among the Major tournaments. Andy Murray, broadening the discussion to the Fab 4, has also officially announced his retirement from tennis. Nole is the last bastion left but he suffered a lot in 2024, after the three Slams won last year. At the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner beat him in the semifinals, while in Paris he was stopped by a knee meniscus injury, while at Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz defeated him in the final for the second consecutive year. At the US Open, the lowest point of the year, unexpectedly exiting in the third round. But everything was sweetened by the victory of the Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics, which closed and crowned the dream that the Serbian champion had been pursuing for a lifetime.
Sinner and Alcaraz are the ones who carry the flag of the new generation: the two have triumphed in the first three Slams of the season: the Italian in Melbourne, the Spaniard both in Paris and on the grass in London. Jannik can match him this season in New York, but the road to the final stages is long. Flushing Meadows could give us a new Slam winner, given the many contenders, or for example, it could give Daniil Medvedev his second Major. Next week we will know for sure.
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Source: Los Angeles Times (edited)
