Novak Djokovic on Wednesday said that the long awaited “shift of generations” has finally come to men’s tennis after the world No. 1 lost to 20-year-old Dane Holger Rune in the Internazionali d’Italia quarter-finals.
The “Big Three” of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have dominated the ATP Tour for nearly two decades, but age and injury have been catching up with them in the past few years.
Top seed Djokovic’s 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 defeat by Rune means that for the first time in 19 years neither the Serb nor the injured Nadal will play in the Rome final.
Photo: AFP
Djokovic, who has now lost two in a row to Rune, said that the next generation of players led by world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz is like a breath of fresh air for the sport.
“A new generation is here already,” Djokovic told reporters. “Alcaraz is No. 1 in the world from Monday, obviously he’s playing amazing tennis. I think it’s also good for our sport that we have new faces, new guys coming up.”
“We’ve been saying this for years that we can expect that moment to come when you have a kind of shift of generations,” he said. “I’m personally still trying to hang in there with all of them. I still have the hunger to keep going. Let’s see how far I’m going to play.”
Photo: AFP
Nadal and Djokovic share the record for most men’s Grand Slams with 22 titles each, while Federer won 20 before retiring last year, but the grueling tour is taking a heavy toll on their bodies.
Nadal has not played since injuring his hip at the Australian Open in January and has missed the clay-court swing ahead of the French Open, where he has won 14 times.
Djokovic, who battled an elbow injury recently, called for the physio during his match against Rune and took a painkiller to get him through it.
When asked if Roland Garros would be the most open tournament in years, Djokovic smiled and said: “It depends if Nadal plays or not, but next to him Alcaraz, Rune — these guys are right there in contention, some of the biggest favorites to win the title.”
Rune faces Casper Ruud in the semi-finals after the Norwegian beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
The other quarter-finals were to be played after press time last night.
In the women’s singles, two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek retired in the third set of her quarter-final against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina because of a right-thigh injury.
It was 2-2 in the third when the top-ranked Swiatek stopped after more than two hours of play. She had won the first set 6-2 then Rybakina won the second set 7-6 (7/3).
Rybakina faces Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Paula Badosa 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Additional reporting by AP
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