Top 3 Takeaways from 2018 Rolex Shanghai Masters
With the Shanghai Masters coming to an end, the Asian swing of the ATP tour for the year 2018 too has reached its conclusion. It was a tournament that saw some big upsets, emergence of new exciting players, unfortunate injuries and at the end of it all, the coronation of the pre-tournament favourite.
Here are the top 3 takeaways from the tournament.
#1 Novak Djokovic is the BEST Tennis Player on the planet at the moment
Any player who has won back to back Grand Slams should be rightfully considered the best player of the moment. However, thanks to a disastrous first half of the year, in terms of ranking points, Novak is not the number 1 player – yet.
Novak has not only won the last two Grand Slams, but he has also continued with his imperious form by winning the Cincinnati Masters to complete a career golden masters – a feat no other player has been able to achieve. He has now added the Shanghai Masters title to his burgeoning bag of trophies this year.
Of course, he is still behind Rafael Nadal by about 215 ranking points. With Nadal set to make a comeback soon, it is going to be an exciting two-way race to the year-end number 1 position. But on current form, it is safe to conclude that despite what the official rankings have to say, Novak Djokovic is clearly the best tennis player on the planet at the moment.
#2 Old order still intact; Next-Gen has a lot of catching up to do
For more than a decade, the big three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated the tennis scene. A couple of their contemporaries, notably Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have intermittently put a stop to their absolute domination in terms of winning Grand Slams, but only occasionally.
The generation that came next had some players with great potential. But the likes of Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, and Grigor Dimitrov were mostly blown away by the artistry, power and awesomeness of the big three to such an extent that they are sometimes referred to as the ‘lost generation’.
The latest set of very young and talented players who are now termed as the “Next Gen” were supposed to be the ones who would finally end the monopoly of the big three. It’s true that some of those players, especially Alexander Zverev and a slightly older Dominic Thiem have posed a significant challenge to the old order, but are yet to win a single Grand Slam.
Of course, Father time will catch up with the big three eventually, as it seems to have done with Roger Federer to some extent. Yet, the way Djokovic demolished Zverev and then thwarted Coric’s attempt to win his first Masters, demonstrates that the next gen still has a lot of catching up to do, if they are to win Grand Slams and even Masters 1000s on a regular basis.