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Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer Y Rafael Nadal they have been absent from the ATP Finals title match for the past two years, replaced by younger rivals looking to break their monopoly.
Instead of the “Big Three”, it was Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev who took center stage at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday, with Russia’s Medvedev at the top.
But do the results of the end-of-season tournament signal the end of an era for men’s tennis or another false dawn for the chasing group?
The disappearance of Djokovic and Nadal at the hands of younger rivals on a dramatic Saturday in London felt significant, and not just because of the results themselves.
The 27-year-old Thiem of Austria pulled off a surprising 4-0 comeback against in the decisive tiebreaker to beat world number one Djokovic after blowing four match points in the second-set tiebreaker.
Fourth-seeded Medvedev did not let the first-set loss to Nadal faze him, once again ending the Spaniard’s record of 71 consecutive wins after winning the first set.
But recent history shows that the season-ending ATP Finals do not provide a reliable indicator of what is to come next season.
Medvedev, 24, is the sixth different winner of the event in six years.
Since Andy Murray lifted the trophy in 2016, the champions have been Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who can boast a single appearance in the Grand Slam final between them.
Indoor hard courts are Nadal’s weakest surface, while Djokovic hasn’t played his best in London since a streak of four titles in a row from 2012 to 2015.
Federer, absent this year with injury, lifted the last of his six titles at the event in 2011.
The Grand Slams remain the ultimate prizes in tennis, and the Big Three’s period of unprecedented dominance is far from over.
They have won a staggering 56 of the last 67 majors between them, including 14 of the last 15.
Thiem finally broke the dominance by winning this year’s US Open, but Nadal and Federer did not participate and Djokovic was the clear favorite until his disqualification.
Nadal just won a 13th French Open title without dropping a set and he and Djokovic especially will remain strong favorites heading into 2021.
The veteran Spaniard issued a chilling warning to the young suitors following his loss to Medvedev in London.
“My motivation has always been the same,” he said. “Next year will be an important year. I hope I am ready to fight for the things I want to fight for.”
Experts have predicted a changing of the guard many times in recent years, but such predictions have always been premature.
It’s impossible to delay the inevitable, of course: Federer will turn 40 next year and has missed most of the 2020 season after two knee surgeries.
Nadal is 34 and Djokovic is 33 and both can be more unstable in the big moments than they were before.
Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev and Tsitsipas have been more successful against the Big Three than previous generations, and an even younger generation is making waves.
But, with Federer and Nadal tied at 20 Slams and Djokovic three behind, the three dominant players from the last 15 years are playing for history and are enormously motivated to achieve more.
Medvedev, who reached the final of the 2019 US Open, where he lost to Nadal, welcomed the rise of the young.
“I think it’s great for tennis,” he said. “We are starting to take our marks. Dominic won his first Slam, playing incredible tennis right now.”
But ATP Finals runner-up Thiem thinks it is too early to dismiss the old guard and predicts “exciting times” ahead.
“We show that we can play with the legends, that we can also beat them, that we can also win the biggest tournaments,” he said.
“I think in the next few years the Big Three will keep playing for all the big titles, but I guess there will still be a time when those guys retire, I don’t know, in three, four, five years. And then I guess we’ll be the favorites for all the great titles. “
