Former American tennis star Patrick McEnroe feels that the younger talents in tennis are not impacting the game the way the lies of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic has done for the sport. However, he feels that german youngster Alexander Zverev will very soon win a Grand Slam after he displayed his magic recently by winning the Nitto ATP Finals after beating the likes of Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals and finals respectively.
There are a lot of youngsters in the current ATP Top 10 rankings. Out of the ten players, eight are aged 25 or under highlighted the growth of youngsters in tennis. Medvedev is the senior most player among the next generation stars whereas Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the players who are on the wrong side of thirty. Roger Federer who turned 40 is currently 16th in the ATP Rankings.
Zverev has been in the news for the right and wrong reasons. He received a lot of plaudits for his ATP Finals win last week. But his recent domestic violence allegations have also raised eyebrows among tennis followers. ATP is investigating the allegations and McEnroe shared his feelings regarding the allegations against the German.
“I think it’s affected him personally a lot more than he’s let on,” McEnroe told to The New York Times. “These allegations hanging over him are very uncomfortable, and we can only hope it works out for everybody, including the young woman in this situation.”
The former American tennis star also highlighted how the younger players like Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Zverev have not impacted the game the way the ‘Big Three’ did in the past. He also pointed out the quality difference and how the youngster have failed to attract larger crowds.
“The larger issue for tennis if I put on my ESPN hat and former U.S.T.A. hat is that, let’s be honest, these young guys at the moment are not moving the needle for tennis the same way the older guys have,” McEnroe continued. “They are not selling tickets the first week of the U.S. Open the same way that Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have been doing.”
Lastly, McEnroe opined how Zverev is going to be the latest player to win a Major title. The German was close to winning his first title in the US Open finals in 2020. He also reached the semifinals in the Us Open and French Open this year but failed to eventually get his hands on the elusive trophy.
“I feel like it’s inevitable Zverev is going to win a major,” added McEnroe. “I’ve been saying for a couple of years that he’s been knocking on the door. Now he’s banging on it.”
