"A lot of that wave of next-gen seems to have dissipated" - Tennis journalists highlight a big gulf between Djokovic, Nadal & the rest of the field
Renowned tennis journalists Ben Rothenberg and Tumaini Carayol recently got together to discuss the gulf in quality between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and the Next Gen of men's tennis. They believe that some members of the Next Gen, including Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, and Karen Khachanov, have not lived up to the billing.
Djokovic recently pocketed his 22nd Grand Slam, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Australian Open. This means that the Serb and Nadal have now combined for 16 of the last 19 Majors, despite being in their 30s during this period. Carlos Alcaraz, Dominic Thiem, and Daniil Medvedev are the only other players to have won a Slam during this period, although their success has only been limited to the US Open.
Speaking on a recent episode of the No Challenges Remaining podcast, Carayol remarked on how Djokovic and Nadal are still operating at a high level despite their relatively advanced age compared to their peers. The Brit also clarified that he considers the Serb a vastly superior tennis player than all of the Next Gen members.
"Seriously, on one hand, I think Djokovic is this good. Yes. He's 35 years old. Yes, he's old or whatever. Same with Nadal. Yes, they're old. But like the level he's playing is still incredible and still, you know, he's still so good. And, you know, regardless, he's better than he's a better tennis player than these guys. He would you know, that's just clear. He's just much better," Carayol said.
Carayol went on to express his displeasure at how the Next Gen meekly surrendered at the Australian Open, beginning his criticism with Daniil Medvedev's poor showing at the tournament.
"But I think what really just struck me and kind of irked me this year, it's just that a lot of that wave of next-gen just seems to have kind of dissipated," he said.
"If you know, Medvedev got to number one and was, you know, incredibly good in the slams. But now he's going through a more difficult period. He could easily, easily bounce back from that and contend again. But he was clearly not a threat in any way," he continued.
Ben Rothenberg intervened at this point, mentioning Alexander Zverev's shock defeat to Michael Mmoh in the second round. That said, the American suggested that Zverev can be excused from the list given he suffered a serious injury that kept him out of the sport for several months.
"If you want to mention Zverev, he's way off right now. I mean, obviously, he's come back from an injury, but that match, that loss to Michael Mmoh was pretty dire," Rothenberg said.
Carayol agreed with Rothenberg's assessment of Zverev's situation before turning his attention to Australian Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Brit journalist believes the Greek did not experience a difficult route to the final.
"And so, yeah, he's (Zverev) coming back from injury and he's just, as you said, way off and so Tsitsipas did very well. He was the favorite to reach the final from the top half from very early on and he won most matches convincingly," he said.
"The one time he had a bit of a blip against Khachanov in the semifinal, you know, he bounced back immediately, but he didn't have any big clash that you'd expect for someone reaching a second Slam final," he added.
Carayol lamented the quality of draws nowadays, highlighting how Dominic Thiem had to take on and beat Novak Djokovic at the 2019 French Open.
"When you think a few years ago like Thiem having to like take down Djokovic in five sets at Roland Garros in you know, a hurricane and you compare it to how some draws are now and not just Tsitsipas, for example you know Khachanov making the semifinal," he said.
"Rafael Nadal's main issue has been injuries, not the quality of the field" - Tumaini Carayol
Tumaini Carayol believes men's tennis is enduring a "strange period" at the moment given how Djokovic and Nadal continue to dominate the field. He believes Nadal's poor form in recent months is due to his own injury problems rather than the threat posed by his peers on the tour.
"It's definitely a weird, strange period in men's tennis at the moment. Djokovic is still just, you know, just dominating as he did," Carayol said.
"Nadal's main issue has been injuries not the quality of the field. You know, catching up with them is the fact that he injured his abdominal muscle before the semis of Wimbledon and just hasn't recovered. More things keep on piling up on top of that," he added.