Roger Federer is off to a strong start to 2019 – but is this the year a young man cracks the ‘Big Four’?
The 37-year-old started the year on the right foot won for the second time in a row the Hopman Cup alongside his Swiss teammate Belinda Bencic. It was the perfect warm-up on the way to defending his title for the sixth time at the Australian Open.
Despite his advanced age, Federer is eager to improve his record of 20 Grand Slam titles and extend the dominance of the Big Four, an elite group that has played together for over a decade.
Together, Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won a whopping 51 of the 62 Grand Slam tournaments since the 2003 edition of Wimbledon.
There was no sign of their reign ending last year – the trio shared the 2018 Grand Slam titles.
Briton Andy Murray, on Friday announced his impending retirement from tennis, is not seeded for the first major of the year, but completes the group. He has won three Grand Slam trophies and has a considerable number of tour successes.
“Am I confident? I don’t know,” Swiss champion Federer told CNN’s Christina MacFarlane before the start of the Open on Monday.
“I’ve been training really well, I’ve had another great season this year, I still enjoy playing and I’ve won the last two editions of the Australian Open, so yeah, I should definitely go into the tournament with confidence.”
Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, Federer – widely considered the greatest male tennis player of all time – has fallen down the rankings in recent years, with both Serbia’s Djokovic and Spain’s Nadal currently ahead of him in the world rankings.
Djokovic in particular will probably continue to dominate the sport for a while.
The Serb, who won the last two of the four majors in 2018, will be an irresistible force again this year. With a record-breaking six Australian Open titles, he is at least as likely to win in Melbourne as his long-time friend and rival Federer.
The Serb, the current number one in the ATP rankings, is the top seed of the tournament.
“Djokovic has enjoyed great success in Australia, he has won the tournament six times, and with the way he finished last year, it’s hard not to say he will be,” tennis legend and presenter John McEnroe told reporters.
“Federer has positioned himself to have a good run. It’s hard to pick him.”
And where are the youngsters?
It’s unbelievable that there isn’t a men’s Grand Slam winner born in the 1990s. The youngest, Marin Cilic, who won the 2014 US Open, was born in September 1988.
McEnroe says it’s becoming increasingly difficult for younger players to break through the fast, physical play of their older opponents over the course of a grueling tournament.
“The game has become more physical and the ball is hit faster – it’s just become more difficult for a young player to withstand that for seven matches,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion told reporters in Melbourne.
So it could be up to another veteran to break the foursome’s power on the tour.
According to the numbers, Juan Martin del Potro (No. 5) is best placed, although he will not compete in Melbourne due to injury. Or Cilic could have the fighting spirit and determination that saw him beat Kei Nishikori in straight sets at Flushing Meadows in 2014.
Kevin Anderson, runner-up at Wimbledon last year, could also pose a challenge.
Still, McEnroe believes a turnaround is coming.
“I believe this year will be the year one of these young players breaks through,” he said.
Many experts, including McEnroe, believe that Germany’s Alexander Zverev – Federer’s Hopman Cup final opponent – is the most likely candidate to lift a Slam trophy.
After his victory over Djokovic at the ATP Tour Finals in London in November, where he defeated the No. 1 and 2 seeds on two consecutive days, the German is gaining confidence, technique and skill – and in 2019, the world No. 4 is having good ones Chances of winning his first Slam trophy.
In addition to him, there are a number of other strong contenders in their 20s, including Austria’s Dominic Thiem, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios, Russian duo Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev and Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
“The door is open: if you look at the rankings, there are a lot of players capable of making the big break,” McEnroe said.
“I believe there will be a changing of the guard this year. Whether it’s Zverev or one of the others like Khachanov or Tsitsipas, they will achieve something big.”
But for this to happen and for the world to welcome a new generation of superstars, the old guard must first step aside.
Also read:
Those: edition.cnn.com
2023-12-24 04:58:11
#Roger #Federer #strong #start
