Former World No.3 Juan Martin Del Potro has his say on the future of tennis. He picks who he considers being the flag bearers of the game after the eventual retirement of all players of the big-3. According to him, Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, and Jannik Sinner will be the upcoming superstars when the time is up. It is interesting to be noted that Del Potro’s comment comes at a time when the tennis world is looking forward to a Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner encounter in the Indian Wells Masters semi-final today.
Del Potro said, “One day, the ‘big three’ will end and we have Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner or Holger Rune, other young people who will mark the circuit. But for me, [for] many years – the ‘big three’ – there will not be anything similar.“
Del Potro continued how the big-3 stopped him from becoming the World No.1 player in the world during his prime, “The only thing I lacked was being No. 1, It was always a dream and I always worked for it… but I was proud of my career and I never made it because there was either Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic.”
He continued, “When I look at the rankings and the years of my career and who was fighting to be No. 1, I see that it was beautiful that these were the ones who didn’t let me make it, this dream.” (Source: Tennis Head)
The future big-3 stats
The Spanish World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz, Italian World No.13 Jannik Sinner, and Norwegian World No.8 Holger Rune have already proved their worth to the tennis world in the last year. The 19-year-old Alcaraz even became the youngest player ever to become the World No.1 ranked player last year. This was followed by his first Grand Slam title in the US Open, in 2022.
The current World No.8 Holger Rune’s rise to the big scene was the breakthrough story last season. He won the 2022 Paris Masters tournament by beating Novak Djokovic in the final. Hence, there were great expectations from the young Dane. However, until now he has failed to play at the level he would have liked or had hoped for.
Sinner vs Alcaraz US open 2022 Quarter Finals was one of the most thrilling matches ever in the history of tennis as the youngsters battled out for 5 hours and 18 mins with animalistic rallies, reminding us of the Rafael Nadal– Novak Djokovic iconic rivalry on the court. These two have played 4 times against each other and have 2 wins apiece. Apart from the US open encounter, the pair battled out earlier in Wimbledon 2022 R16 where the Italian came out on top in 4 sets.
Alcaraz has played Rune twice and their head-to-head is tied at one win each. Sinner has a losing record 0-1 against Rune.
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