Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have pretty much been the flag bearers of Men’s tennis in last 15 years. They still continue to be by far the most popular and most successful players of the game. However, with those stars ageing, the days of their retirement from tennis is nearer than ever. In last few years Men’s tennis has however see the evolution of new stars who now look to replace the Big 3 in terms of both success and popularity.
4. Daniil Medvedev
The Russian is emerging as one of the players to watch on the ATP Circuit. Medvedev had a dream run in the US Hard Court Swing 2019. He made it to finals at Montreal, US Open and Washington along with winning titles at Shanghai and Cincinnati.
Medvedev also defeated the then World Number 1 twice this year. He pushed Rafa Nadal to the brink in the US Open final.
The Russian Number 1 has a solid baseline game pretty much resembling Novak Djokovic. He is one of the contenders to dominate tennis in near future by winning Slams and achieving the World Number 1 ranking.
3. Alexander Zverev
The year 2019 might not have turned as expected but Sascha Zverev is still seen as a future multiple slam winner in Men’s tennis. He is now one of the few young players to have defeated every member of the Big 3 club.
Zverev who is just 22 already has 3 Masters Trophies and the Nitto ATP finals trophy under his belt. He only needs to improve his performance at the Best of 5 levels in Grand Slams.
He has both the talent and the temperament to emerge as a successful tennis player and have a great career. Zverev would be eager to have a Career resurgence in 2020 after 2019 did not go as expected for the young German.
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2. Stefanos Tsitsipas
The Greek superstar has truly emerged on the tennis scene in 2019. He has many landmark achievements to his name this year. Tsitsipas won the Nitto ATP Finals trophy, made it to the Grand Slam semis and defeated all members of the Big 3 in the same year.
The Greek now has made his place firm in Top 10 and has his eyes set on becoming a Grand Slam Champion and the World Number 1. That could come in 2020 seeing the rate at which Tsitsipas in progressing.
The Greek has the game excel on Grass and Hard Courts. He might be a surprise to watch especially at Wimbledon and 2020.
1. Dominic Thiem
The Austrian might be a few years older than his other contemporaries in the list but he now looks to have consolidated his game for a dream run. Thiem has 13 victories against the Big 3. This is the most by any player born in the 1990s.
He also has a unique achievement of defeating Nadal on Clay, Djokovic on Hard Courts and Federer on Grass. Thiem might already have been a Champion at the French Open if Rafa Nadal was not there.
The Austrian has now consolidated his Hard Court game also and he had great Hard Court results in 2019, winning at Indian Wells and reaching final of the Nitto ATP Finals in London.