This year 2024 will close with only one active member of the ‘Big Three’, Nole Djokovic. The withdrawal of Rafa Nadal in the last Davis Cup played has now left only the Balkan as the only reference of said magical and dominating trio that has marked a before and after in the world of tennis.
And for samples a button. During the UTS in Frankfurt, two top champions of the ATP circuit, such as the Canadian Denis Shapovalov and the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, They debated the rivals who had impressed them the most on the court and they both agreed on the same player: Roger Federer.
“Federer makes you feel like a junior playerliterally. I faced him in the semifinals in Miami and I had just defeated good players, like Tiafoe or Rublev… and I felt like a junior on the court. It was impressive,” said the Canadian.
“No one makes you feel more helpless than him. I’ve never seen him sweat. He also had the biggest calves on the circuit, if he had shaved his legs, game over. It feels like he’s not even trying. He’s making fun of you. At least, Rafa shouts when he plays, you feel that at some point he is being dominated; “Nole slips… but Federer seems to be having fun while playing,” says the Australian, who beat him in Miami 2018.
Carlos Alcaraz can surpass Rafa Nadal
When Rafa Nadal did it it seemed like something from an alien, but his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz is very close to snatching one of his most precious recordsthe youngest player to win all four Grand Slams.
The one from El Palmar He only has the Australian Open left in its showcases and has up to three years ahead of it to achieve this challenge (2025, 2026 and 2027).
When the Spaniard got it he was just 24 years and 3 months old. And he did it by conquering the 2010 US Open in New York, which was the ‘major’ he was missing then.
On the contrary, Alcaraz is 21 years old right now and its four ‘Greats’ are: Wimbledon (2), Roland Garros and US Open.
Djokovic blindly trusts Murray
One of the most striking news of the week has been Djokovic’s choice of Andy Murray as his coach for 2025. And according to one of the Serbian’s close friends, Nenad Zimonjic, ‘Nole’ blindly trusts the Brit to put the finishing touch on his career: “Novak is a very intelligent person when it comes to making important decisionsand his professional career is proof of this. He always trusted me in times when I needed the help of someone close to him that he trusted. I think Andy Murray can play that role very well because they know each other well, They have similar playing styles and, tactically, the Scotsman was one of the best in the world. Everything you have experienced in your career can help you a lot in your new role. “I think this relationship can work well.”
