Roger Federer has officially retired and it sounds like Rafael Nadal might try and get healthy for one more full year on the Tour in 2024 having not played since his Second Round upset loss at the Australian Open back in January. And at 36 years old, Novak Djokovic is certainly reaching the latter part of his career, which means someone had to come through and fill in.
The dominance of the Big Three has hurt a couple of generations of players, but men's tennis might finally be ready to see a new era of stars come through and win multiple Grand Slam titles.
Carlos Alcaraz will be leading the way as the current holder of the US Open title and now the Wimbledon Champion and he is one of a handful of multiple Slam Winners now operating on the Tour. The likes of Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev have had their Grand Slam moments and could have more than the one US Open that each has won, but Carlos Alcaraz looks the player that will take tennis forward with the likes of Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner now having someone to chase.
The Spaniard will likely go into the US Open as the favourite to defend the title he won there last year, but Novak Djokovic will know he was one or two points from winning the Wimbledon title himself and the Serb is going to be massively motivated by what happened on Sunday. This could mean we have a couple of years of a really good rivalry between the King and the Prince of men's tennis and hopefully the bar has been raised for some of the younger players who have the capabilities of bridging the gap.
Novak Djokovic has not won the US Open since 2018, but he has not had a lot of luck in New York in recent years and he will be doing all he can to change that. Last year he was not even allowed to travel to the tournament, but in 2020 it was a Default that proved costly in the Fourth Round, while the loss to Daniil Medvedev in 2021 saw Djokovic run out of steam having won the first three Grand Slams of the season and having a five set Semi Final win before losing the Final.
The final Grand Slam of the season cannot come around quickly enough and Novak Djokovic is still the favourite to finish with the Number 1 World Ranking at the end of the season. Carlos Alcaraz winning Wimbledon is great news for tennis fans because we are going to see Djokovic find a renewed motivation to keep himself on the throne as the King and this can only be good news for those watching on.
Sports are all about having the next generation come in and move things forward and Carlos Alcaraz is looking the player to get behind to take things on from the Big Three era.
Women's tennis is looking to Iga Swiatek to do that for their side of the sport, but it is a touch disappointing that the two perceived main rivals to the Pole were not able to win the title at Wimbledon. It means Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina both only have one previous Grand Slam victory and more is needed from both of them to really help build a genuine rivalry at the top of the WTA Tour.
Iga Swiatek has won four Grand Slam titles, but has never really enjoyed playing at Wimbledon so her Quarter Final defeat was not completely unexpected, even in the weaker half of the draw. Elena Rybakina was also beaten in the last eight, while Sabalenka will be wondering how she blew her winning position in yet another Grand Slam Semi Final defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.
All credit has to be given to Marketa Vondrousova for winning the Wimbledon title and the lefty could be a top player on the Tour as long as she can stay healthy after wrist issues just held her career back. Not many would have tipped Vondrousova up for the title before a ball had been hit at Wimbledon and she was arguably one point away from losing her Quarter Final match against Jessica Pegula as the Czech player became the latest maiden Grand Slam winner.
The victory also means that half of the last fourteen Grand Slams played by the women has been won by a first time Slam Champion. Going a bit further, fourteen of the twenty-five Slams played since Serena Williams won her twenty-third and final title have been won by first time winners, while multiple Slam Champions like Naomi Osaska and Ashleigh Barty are not on the Tour now. As I have mentioned before, this is not ideal and there has to be a hope for fans of the WTA that one of the multiple former Grand Slam Champions in the US Open draw will be able to win the title.
The likes of Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff will have something to say about that in New York City in a few weeks time, but you would make the top three players in the current WTA Rankings to be the favourites when the tournament comes around.
The third Grand Slam of the season is over and there is just one more grass court tournament to be played, although that usually brings in a weaker field in Newport. This week the European summer clay court season has gotten underway with events in Bastad, Gstaad, Budapest and Palermo, while the hard court events will soon begin to get going in preparation for the US Open.
Some big names are taking part on the ATP Tour this week and I will be making some selections, although it may not be every day.
The focus will likely be on the European clay court events, with Tuesday beginning with Picks from the ATP Bastad event.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - 5.5 games v Jozef Kovalik: Any player that comes through the Qualifiers has to be respected, but Jozef Kovalik has not had a very strong season on the clay courts.
In general his matches have been played against those outside the top 100 of the World Rankings and yet Kovalik holds an 11-17 record on the surface in 2023. Three times he has played against top 100 Ranked opponents and Jozef Kovalik has lost all three of those matches, while struggling with his return of serve.
It has to be expected that Kovalik will have more return success against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who has won 61% of service points played on the red dirt in fourteen matches this year. That number does jump up to 64% when only focusing on matches played against those outside of the top 50 in the Rankings, while the Davidovich Fokina return is a major weapon for him on the surface.
Last year Alejandro Davidovich Fokina crushed Jozef Kovalik in straight sets in Hamburg and it was the return of serve that proved to be a major difference between the players on the day.
The Spaniard should have the return to put Kovalik under pressure and eventually break through the defences on his way to a relatively comfortable First Round win.
Elias Ymer - 5.5 games v Leo Borg: It will never be easy for the son of Bjorn Borg to make a big impact on the Tour with the expectations that come with the surname and that has been an issue for Leo Borg.
Of course the flip side is that Borg is going to be given a lot more opportunities because of the achievements his father had in his prime and a Wild Card into Bastad is an example of that.
Leo Borg faces another Wild Card in Elias Ymer, but the latter has been one of the stronger Swedish players since the retirement of Robin Soderling. Elias has not matched the progress made by his brother Mikael, who is surprisingly playing in Gstaad rather than here in Bastad, but Ymer is considerably higher in the World Rankings than Leo Borg.
The serve needs to be improved by Elias Ymer if he is going to crack the top 100 in the World Rankings, but he has struggled to find the consistency needed. The return is the stronger side of his tennis, but Ymer should still have too much all around for Leo Borg who has not beaten anyone Ranked inside the top 350 over the last twelve months on this surface.
The lower Ranked player has had issues remaining competitive within matches when things start going downhill and Elias Ymer should have enough to find at least four breaks of serve that should allow him to cover.
MY PICKS: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - 5.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Elias Ymer - 5.5 Games @ 1.72 Coral (2 Units)
Sebastian Baez - 3.5 Games @ 1.70 Coral (2 Units)
Alexander Zverev - 5.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Bernabe Zapata Miralles - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
Tomas Martin Etcheverry - 3.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
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