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 “Huge Three” of Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer have dominated the ATP Tour for practically twenty years, however age and harm have been catching up with them lately.
High 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 remaining.
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 contemporary air for the game.
“A brand new era is right here already,” Djokovic instructed reporters. “Alcaraz is primary on this planet from Monday he is taking part in improbable tennis. I believe it is also good for our sport to have new faces, new guys developing.
“We have been saying for years that we are able to anticipate that second to come back when you could have a sort of shift of generations.
“I am nonetheless attempting to hold in there with all of them. I nonetheless have the starvation to maintain going. Let’s have a look at how far I’ll play.”
Nadal and Djokovic share the file for many males’s Grand Slams with 22 titles every, whereas Federer received 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 harm lately, referred to 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 relies upon if Nadal performs.
“However subsequent to him, Alcaraz, Rune – these guys are proper there in rivalry, a few of the greatest favorites to win the title.”