4/4 - Jannik Sinner is the first player to reach the final at the ATP Finals as undefeated in the tournament before turning 23 since Roger Federer in 2003. Path. #NittoATPFinals | @atptour @ATPMediaInfo
They are close, but they are far - the journey of new tennis stars towards Novak Djokovic's greatness
ATPSunday, 17 December 2023 at 11:30
Ex-coach of the former world number one Serena Williams believes
younger players are getting closer to competing with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic but are
still not there yet.
The 36-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the
history of men’s singles tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand
Slam titles. Djokovic had a fabulous season in 2023 where he ended up winning
three out of four Grand Slam titles.
Those victories came as a little surprising considering many
predicted the Belgrade-born to struggle against the young rising stars like
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Denmark’s Holger Rune.
Serenas’ ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou was recently quoted in
a report where he stated that younger players are getting closer to competing with the
current world number one but they still have some distance to cover.
“They are close, but they are far,” he said. “They are close
in terms of level. Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in the final of
Wimbledon, Holger Rune beat him two times, one time last year and one time this
year.
“So the level is really good. The level of tennis is very
close to his. Now what makes the difference is still his ability to compete and
his mental strength, that puts him still in a way, way above. Because if you
look at his season, he won three Grand Slams and reached the final at the other.”
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- Why does Tennisuptodate feel like her PR Department's constant deluge of daily/weekly media submissions are 'tennis news' ?
mandoist19-11-2024 - 'Apologies', in cases like this where people are caught being their True Selves, are best shoved up their butts.mandoist19-11-2024
- Paolini playing Swiatek and then has to come back an hour later to play doubles. The BJ Cup is like the rest of tennis entrepreneurs.PalopoDave18-11-2024
- Nice amount
AceOfBase18-11-2024 - Bitchy Jean King just said (in interview) "the WTA players should stop whining about the schedule and just Play". That's how she really feels about "my girls".mandoist16-11-2024
