ATP Chief, Andrea Gaudenzi believes tennis is capable of building new champions when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic retire

ATP Chief, Andrea Gaudenzi believes tennis is capable of building new champions when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic retire
Roger Federer
Roger Federer

The Big Three of Tennis- Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have dominated men’s tennis for a period of over 18 years. First, it was Roger Federer who ended the dominance of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the early 2000s. Then, Rafael Nadal burst into the scene in the mid 2000s and played out several memorable Grandslam finals with Roger Federer. Novak Djokovic took the tennis world by storm after his miraculous display in 2011, and there was no stopping him from there.

With Roger Federer turning 40 this year and the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic turning entering their mid 30’s, there have been doubts cast over the future of men’s tennis. However, the chairman of ATP, Andrea Gaudenzi believes that tennis will keep producing champions that will attract the attention of the fans. Guadenzi also stated that the Big Three are one of the greatest players, the sport has ever produced.

“I am not worried at all for our sport, if we do the right thing,” Gaudenzi told Reuters this week. “And that doesn’t mean taking anything away from those three guys. They are probably the best players our sport has ever had and maybe will be for a very, very long time,” he added.

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It’s going to be very, very difficult: Guadenzi on breaking Big Three’s records

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal

Andrea Gaudenzi stated that he is not worried by the prospect of the Big Three hanging up their racquets. He stated that when Pete Sampras retired in 2002, there were several doubts as to who would replace him. However, Roger Federer slowly made himself the face of tennis and even broke Sampras’ record of 14 majors.

“It’s going to be very, very difficult to achieve that type of records, even though I said the same thing when Pete Sampras retired,” Gaudenzi said. “I thought there won’t be anyone ever beating Pete’s records. Here we have three guys doing that. So never say never,” he added.

The fan-base of each of the Big Three players is huge and they continue to remain the face of tennis. Only 11 of the past 68 majors have been won by someone outside the Big Three. However, Gaudenzi is optimistic that tennis will have it’s new champion and fan favorite, once the Big Three retire.

Also Read: We are lucky to see all of them playing in the same era: Milos Raonic on the Big 3