Roger Federer Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic discusses tactics Credit: Alamy
Milos Raonic was recently asked about his thoughts on the quality of players on the ATP Tour compared to a few years ago and he gave an exciting answer as he thinks the brilliance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic changed people’s perception of what matters. as per usual. .
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have dominated tennis over the past two decades winning 65 major tournaments including Djokovic 23 times. 1st place in the ATP ranking.
They were followed by Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, who both won three majors during the Big Three’s dominance, while Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro were the only players to win majors when the trio were at its peak.
Needless to say, the others were all playing second fiddle – or even third fiddle behind Murray and Wawrinka – as they had to fight for scraps.
With Federer retiring last year and Nadal currently out through injury, Djokovic is the last remaining member of the Big Three, giving the rest of the tour some breathing room.
It has been suggested that the overall quality of men’s tennis is better these days, as players lower in the rankings have a better chance of beating the top seeds.
Raonic, who recently returned to tennis after a two-year absence due to injury, is not entirely sure as he believes MM. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic spoiled the scene.
“For me, obviously, I haven’t played enough great players to know them, but I would actually say it’s a bit of the opposite,” the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up said.
“I think just three guys, having three perfect types of legendary athletes in a sport, not even in a generation, but in a sport at the same time, you kind of mess with everyone’s expectations of what’s normal .
“If you think back to many tournaments, you will play three. I’m obviously talking about when the three guys took the Masters Series seriously. I think we kind of forgot now because it was kind of a pure Grand Slam focus for them the last two years.
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“When I first went on tour, it was a lot about them with Andy. I would say they were involved in 60% or 70% of the semi-finals. And maybe when it comes to mud, David Ferrer was the guy that changed. So you had three guys that were there all the time and won most of the events.
“But I think you still see the same kind of thing, the guys went from 16 to 5 in the world, let’s say, maybe it was kind of a loss at the start of the events. You know, they weren’t – like, it’s not like everything. One week, the top eight seeds were in the quarters. So it’s a whole different matter.
“I think three guys have ruined everyone’s expectations for so long. In sports, and in many things, we have very short-term memory, and I’m guilty of that too. Tennis was very different before Roger arrived. .”
Raonic believes things will return to normal over the next few years, with the normal situation being similar to when Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras were close to retirement and many players managed to win all four Grand Slams. .
He added: “I think that kind of period ahead is probably what tennis is – Novak is obviously still here, and he will continue to be very involved in the later stages of the Grand Slams.
“But I think that’s what tennis was like when Andre and Sampras were a little older. You have a lot of different players who are going to win slams.
“And if you look at history and you look at the trend, there are a lot of players with one or two [Slams]. And then, as you increase in number, the number of players decreases. I think only three guys really messed up everyone’s standard, or recalibration of what’s normal. »
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Article “Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all misjudged what was normal. » It first appeared on Tennis365.com.
2023-08-12 08:18:40
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