Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams had the tennis world on their shoulders for 20 years. As the landscape shifts, it's worth remembering they are outliers for a reason, writes Jon Healy.
Indian Wells crowns for Alcaraz and Świątek come as tennis starts exciting era after dominance of Big Three and Serena WilliamsWhen Nick Kyrgios went on Logan Paul's podcast he was asked who he thought the greatest tennis player of all time was.
Of the five GOAT contenders on the men's side, all but one — 11-time winner Björn Borg — started winning from 1990 onwards. Gauff, Sabalenka and Rybakina have also been runners-up in that time and Tunisian Ons Jabeur has made three slam finals without winning. Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka, one of only 17 women in the Open Era with four slams to their name, is on the comeback trail.
A complete crapshoot would suggest no truly elite talent, but widespread brilliance leads to a comfortable predictability through the first half of the big tournaments, then a thrilling rush to the finish.Looking at the last eight of the men's draw at this year's Indian Wells — often called the "fifth major" — seven spots were populated by the aforementioned contenders, with Czech 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka the only ring-in.
Tennis is so hot right now that Zendaya is making movies about it, and Iga Świątek is leading the women's charge.World number one Świątek dominated Sakkari 6-4, 6-0 in the final to remind everyone of her brilliance, and Alcaraz did the same with a 7-6, 6-1 win over Medvedev. Roddick told a story from the 2022 US Open of the pressure being heaped on a then-19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who at that stage had won just 13 grand slam matches.
Djokovic won his first in 2008, then didn't win another until a three-slam 2011; Nadal only had two multi-major seasons in the first 14 years of his career; and Federer … well, he was about as consistently amazing in his prime as we all remember, although he didn't win his first slam until he was 22, making him the latest bloomer of any of these legends.ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation.
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