"This could be now, could be my turn": Jimmy Connors says Sinner, Alcaraz and Rune buoyed by twilight of Big Three"

Former world number one Jimmy Connors believes that the new ‘Big Three’ in men’s tennis might be on the horizon.

For the large part of last two decades, the likes of Switzerland’s Roger Federer, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated the men’s tennis in the singles category. It is because of this reason, they are known as ‘Big Three’.

While Federer has already retired from the sport, Nadal announced last year that the season in 2024 will be his last at the highest level. Djokovic, despite going strong, is going to turn 37 this year.

Read also

“We both ran the other way": Jimmy Connors-John McEnroe coaching partnership nearly happened in 1990"

Connors was recently quoted in a report where he stated that the new Big Three might well be on the horizon featuring the likes of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Denmark’s Holger Rune.

"At a very young age, he has had some pretty damn good success,” he said. “But, along with that comes some injuries which we know about. I think some of the players have realized just how to play him or how he plays. What he did so well at the beginning kinda caught them off guard. Maybe, they have caught on to that a little bit.

Read also

(VIDEO) VAMOS RAFA: Rafael Nadal produces trademark celebration and raises the roof after saving match point in Las Vegas

"Maybe he needs to change up a little bit and try to figure out something else. It's not a big move, it's just tiny little scratches along the way that maybe he can change to kinda offset his opponents a bit… but hey, I’d like to be 21 years old and to have had his type of success and still have 15-17 years more to play.

“He might be going through a little bit of a downtime. But, you can see he enjoys the game, he works hard at the game and to continue to be at the top of the game, he is gonna have to stay with that.

“Jannik Sinner is coming up and there is Holger Rune. A lot of these guys see that Federer's gone and Nadal might wait through the French and play the Olympics. Who knows what happens, Djoker still playing.

"All these kids are trying to say, 'Okay, this could be me now. Could be my turn now.' They are starting to play like it and they are gonna make it nothing but tougher for each other.”

ATP Tour

@atptour

·Follow

Great to see you, @carlosalcaraz 👋 @RioOpenOficial | #RioOpen10Anos

Watch on Twitter

1.4K

Reply

Copy link

Read 8 replies