World No. 1 tennis participant Novak Djokovic acknowledged the long-awaited “shift of generations” in males’s tennis after receiving a convincing Italian Open quarterfinals defeat from 20-year-old prodigy Holger Rune.
The “Big Three” of Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer have dominated the ATP Tour for practically 20 years, however age and damage have been catching up with them in recent times.
Top seed Djokovic’s 6-2 4-6 6-2 defeat by Rune on Wednesday implies 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 era of gamers led by world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz is sort of a breath of recent air for the game.
“A new generation is here already,” Djokovic informed reporters. “Alcaraz is primary on the planet from Monday he is enjoying unbelievable tennis. I believe it is also good for our sport to have new faces, new guys developing.
“We’ve been saying for years that we will count on that second to come back when you’ve gotten a type of shift of generations.
“I’m 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 document for many males’s Grand Slams with 22 titles every, whereas Federer gained 20 earlier than retiring final 12 months, however the grueling 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 damage lately, referred to as for the physio throughout his match in opposition to Rune and took a painkiller to get him via it.
When requested if Roland Garros can be probably the most open match in years, Djokovic smiled and stated: “It relies upon if Nadal performs.
“But next to him, Alcaraz, Rune – these guys are right there in contention, some of the biggest favorites to win the title.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
