Frances Tiafoe narrates Gael Monfils’ take on how Big-3 ruined his career records as the new gen has things easy

Frances Tiafoe believes that the current field is more open as compared to what it was during the Big Three dominance.

Frances Tiafoe narrates Gael Monfils’ take on how Big-3 ruined his career records as the new gen has things easy

Frances Tiafoe (Source: 2023 US Open)

The Big Three of Tennis – Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have dominated tennis for the past two decades. The trio have collected 65 Grand Slam titles amongst each other, with Novak Djokovic leading the way with 23 titles. Recently, Frances Tiafoe commented on how the Big Three domination back in the days is different as compared to a relatively open field in the current scenario.

Gael Monfils recently raised the point about the dominance of the Big Three in the last couple of years, and how difficult it was for players to reach the latter rounds in Grand Slam tournaments. Frances Tiafoe commented on the situation, and agreed with the Frenchman’s analysis of the situation.

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Frances Tiafoe stated that back in the day, players had to face the likes of Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer to get into the quarterfinals. This was a tall order, given the dominance of the two players on the tour.

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“It’s funny, I actually had this conversation with Gael a couple weeks ago. He was like, Man, Frances, man, if I was your age, my career would have been so different, da, da, da. I would go quarterfinals of slams. I was like, Man, I have to play Rafa at the French, I guess I’m done. I have to play Federer at Wimbledon, I guess I’m done. He was like, Y’all’s era is way better, da, da, da,” said Tiafoe in the US Open press conference.

Also Read: Rick Macci DECLARES Novak Djokovic as top pick for U.S. Open following his astonishing triumph in Cincinnati

Frances Tiafoe believes that the game is ‘changing’ as Big Three Era ends

Frances Tiafoe (Source: US Open)
Frances Tiafoe (Source: US Open)

Frances Tiafoe recollected that his first quarterfinals was against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. The American believes that things are changing in the sport at the moment, as all players ranked inside the top 10 barring Novak Djokovic are roughly of the same age.

“Yeah, I mean, my first quarterfinal in Australia, I played Rafa. I was like, This is a tall order. But now, I mean, it’s definitely much more open. A lot of these guys, I mean, playing in top 10 or whatever, that are ahead of me, other than Nole, we’re all the same age. I grew up with a lot of these guys. I’ve played them since I was 12 years old. A little different circumstance. Game is changing,” said Tiafoe.

Frances Tiafoe enters the 2023 US Open as the local favorite. He will go up against Learner Tien in the first round on Monday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. He has not been in the best form in lead-up to the final Grand Slam of the year, losing in the first round of the Canadian Open, and the second round in Cincinnati. He had his best Grand Slam run at the US Open last year, when he reached the semifinals, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets.

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