Novak Djokovic? Missing injured. Rafael Nadal? Preparing for the Davis Cup and the impending end of his career. Roger Federer? He has been enjoying his tennis pension for over two years now. When the best tennis professionals hit the season finale in Turin on Sunday, the three defining players of the millennium will all be missing – for the first time since 2001.
The line-up at the ATP Finals in the Italian metropolis makes it clear: the generational change in tennis is on its last legs. The future belongs to others, especially Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who shared the four Grand Slam titles this year. “I have to continue on my path. At the end of my career I want to sit at the same table as the big boys,” Alcaraz said a few months ago. The Spaniard (21), like world number one Sinner (23) from Italy and, above all, Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev, who at 27 is still missing a major title, still has a lot of work to do.
Djokovic, record champion at the season finale with seven titles, is the only one of the “Big Three” who will still be on the tour next year. But the Serb is already making big compromises – the 24-time Grand Slam champion can no longer be enthusiastic about tournaments like Turin. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m done with these tournaments in my career,” he said of the meeting of the year’s top eight from November 10-17. Djokovic would have qualified, but withdrew due to an unspecified “persistent injury”.
Nadal, who has never won the finals in his illustrious career adorned with 22 major titles despite appearing in two finals (2010 and 2013), is preparing for his big farewell performance at the Davis Cup finals in Malaga. Injuries have set the Spanish clay court king back massively over the past two years, and he was last able to qualify for the season finale in 2022. He also knows that the future belongs to Sinner and Alcaraz: “I wish them that they can grow even further. They will have a great career.”
In addition to Alcaraz, Sinner and Zverev, the former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev (28/Russia), Taylor Fritz (27/USA), Casper Ruud (25/Norway) and debutant Alex de Minaur (25/Australia) and the Russian Andrej Rublew (27) for the title.
