Roger Federer's former coach Ivan Ljubicic has predicted that Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner will come to dominate men's tennis.
The Big Three of Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic made history in the sport, breaking record after record and creating decades-worth of epic showdowns as they faced each other across numerous Grand Slam finals. The trio have 65 major titles between them, Djokovic leading with 23, Nadal with 22, and Federer with 20.
However, following Federer's retirement in 2022, Nadal has been out with injury for most of the 2023 season and is seemingly planning on retirement soon, meaning Djokovic is the only remaining Big Three player still dominating the sport.
Nevertheless, the 36-year-old has faced some difficulty recently, most notably at Wimbledon this year, where the seven-time champion lost to current world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz after a five-set thriller.
Indeed, the loss of the legendary trio has opened up more space at the top of the ATP singles rankings, and a new group of talented young players has been moving up. Among them are 20-year-olds Alcaraz and Rune, as well as 21-year-old Sinner.
In an interview with Tennis Majors, Ljubicic predicted a new Big Three of sorts made up by Alcaraz, Rune, and Sinner. However, he did not neglect world No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, saying that he will still be very much in the conversation.
"Most likely, five years from now, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune will be number one, two and three in the world rankings with Daniil Medvedev still around to make life difficult," he said.
All three players certainly have a lot of achievements in proportion to the few years they have been playing at the senior levels of the sport.
Alcaraz already has two major titles, having won the 2022 US Open prior to his recent Wimbledon victory. Meanwhile, world No. 6 Rune has four ATP Tour titles to his name, and Sinner, currently ranked at No. 8 in the world, has won an impressive seven titles on the Tour.
The former coach of Federer went on to talk specifically about the Italian player and how he has improved since last season.
"Sinner has improved, as he should at his age. Everyone would like to see this definitive leap in quality. But his path is not disappointing. Last year I was disappointed from the fact that he hasn't played enough big games, which I thought was important. I was sorry he didn't play any big match, no semifinal, no final.
"He's taking the step that he should have done last year. There are no doubts. I don't know if it will be this year or next, but his determination will allow him to continue to grow," he said.
Ljubicic says Sinner, Alcaraz, Rune will be at the top of tennis in 5 years: “5 years from now, most likely Carlos, Jannik & Holger will be 1, 2, & 3, with Medvedev still around making their lives tough. Maybe some guys will surprise us. But this is what it feels at the moment”
