The tennis Grand Slam season for 2020 is about to get underway at the end of January, and once again the attention will turn to whether any male player can break the dominance that they have had on the Grand Slams. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal’s reign on the tennis world are unparalleled.
The trio have won as astonishing 55 of the last 66 Grand Slams since 2003. They have also won the last 12 Grand Slams. The last non-big three player to win a Grand Slam was Stan Wawrinka when he was crowned the 2016 US Open champion. Their dominance over the tennis world seems to be growing with every passing year, and fans would be hard-pressed to predict that they won’t do the clean sweep once again this season. But, are there any emerging stars that can claim to break this trend?
Leading Chances To Break Big Three
The ATP Finals were met with a host of younger players claiming that 2020 was going to be the year that the Big Three’s dominance would be brought to an end. However, many fans took it as a pinch of salt, as the same thing was promised 12 months ago. One of the stars that is adamant that he can break the trend is Alexander Zverev. The 22-year-old is one of the most exciting prospects in tennis, but he is yet to perform on the biggest stages. He has failed to make it past the fourth round of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Meanwhile, he has only reached the quarterfinals of the French Open.
It would seem that the French Open would be his best chance of victory, and that would also be the case for Dominic Theim. The Austrian has reached the final of the French Open for the past two years but was beaten by Nadal on both of those appearances. It would take a performance of seismic proportions to knock Nadal of his Roland Garros perch.
The final player that could realistically have a chance of breaking the trend is Daniil Medvedev. The Russian enjoyed a progressive campaign last season, and he reached six consecutive tournament finals, which included the US Open and three Masters events. He ended the year as the fourth-best player in the world, and there is certainly more to come from him in 2020.
Do They Have A Realistic Chance?
By studying the sports betting odds, punters will quickly realise that while the up and coming players have the pedigree to challenge the Big Three, none of them are fancied in the betting. Nadal will be expected to continue his dominance in France, while Djokovic and Federer are among the favourites for the remaining three Grand Slams.
It would appear that the best chance that the Next Gen have is if one of the Big Three players picks up an injury or suffer a shock defeat. But, if that chance opens up, they will need to seize the opportunity.
