Tennis fans around the world have been used to the domination of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in last 15 years. These 3 greats have won 55 of last 66 Grand Slams. In other tournaments they have also been unchallenged except by a certain Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
However, in 2019 there appeared shades when three young players born in 1990s were able to at times unsettle the BIG 3, in the best of 3 matches and some Grand Slam matches. We take a look about those 3 budding superstars of tennis.
3. Daniil Medvedev
Unlike his other two fellow players Medvedev did not manage to defeat all of the BIG 3 this year but he did definitely come close. Medvedev was 1 of the only 2 players who defeated Novak Djokovic twice this year. These wins came at the clay courts of Monte Carlo and the hard courts of Shanghai Masters.
Against Nadal, the Russian came twice close to victory but was unable to cross the finishing line. He however did trouble the Spaniard enough on both the occasions. Medvedev played just 1 match against Federer in 2019, where he ended on the losing side. Number 3 on my list of 3 budding superstars of tennis.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=1970738763028252&external_log_id=db0ba9980482c15dfdd7f4893486c6f3&q=Medvedev+vs+Djokovic+Shanghai
2. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas has been one of the most exciting players on the ATP circuit in last 2 years. This year he had a career progression in 2019. Tsitsipas defeated Federer in 2018 Australian Open and then went on to reach the Grand Slam semi-final. The Greek also had a walkover win over Federer at the Italian Open.
Tsitsipas also managed to beat Novak Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters event this year. The Greek achieved a rare feet of defeating Rafa Nadal on clay. He did that in Madrid Masters event. He is thus one of the very few young players in the ATP circuit who have managed to defeat all the 3 big guns. Number 2 on my list of 3 budding superstars of tennis.
1. Dominic Thiem
This Austrian superstar has had a stellar year in 2019. His record against the BIG 3 confirms that. Thiem played 3 matches against Federer so far and was able to win them all. They included Indian Wells Final, Madrid Master Quarterfinal and the Nitto Finals Round Robin match.
The Austrian great also defeated Novak Djokovic twice in 2019. This included the historic Roland Garros semi-final and the Round Robin match at Nitto ATP finals. Thiem was also able to defeat Nadal in the Barcelona semis. He thus has 6 wins against the BIG 3 so far this year. Number 1 on my list of 3 budding superstars of tennis.