Novak Djokovic stated the lengthy awaited “shift of generations” has lastly come to males’s tennis after the world primary misplaced to 20-year-old Dane Holger Rune within the Italian Open quarterfinals.
The ‘Big Three’ of Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer have dominated the ATP Tour for almost 20 years however age and harm have been catching up with them in recent times.
Top seed Djokovic’s 6-2 4-6 6-2 defeat by Rune on Wednesday signifies that for the primary time in 19 years neither the Serb nor the injured Nadal will play within the Rome closing.
Djokovic, who has now misplaced two in a row to Rune, stated the subsequent technology of gamers led by world quantity two Carlos Alcaraz is sort of a breath of recent air for the game.
“A new generation is here already,” Djokovic instructed reporters. “Alcaraz is number one in the world from Monday, obviously he’s playing amazing tennis. I think it’s also good for our sport that we have new faces, new guys coming up.
“We’ve been saying this for years that we will anticipate that second to come back when you’ve a form of shift of generations.
“I’m personally still trying to hang in there with all of them. I still have the hunger to keep going. Let’s see how far I’m going to play.”
Nadal and Djokovic share the report for many males’s Grand Slams with 22 titles every, whereas Federer gained 20 earlier than retiring final yr, however the gruelling Tour is taking a heavy toll on their our bodies.
Nadal has not performed since injuring his hip on the Australian Open in January and has missed the claycourt swing forward of the French Open, the place he’s a 14-times champion.
Djokovic, who battled an elbow harm just lately, known as for the physio throughout his match in opposition to Rune and took a painkiller to get him by means of it.
When requested if Roland Garros could be probably the most open match in years, Djokovic smiled and stated: “It depends if Nadal plays or not.
“But subsequent to him Alcaraz, Rune – these guys are proper there in competition, a number of the largest favourites to win the title.”