Edited: No player currently 30 or younger has won a major

Who will be the next 20-something to win a major title?

  • Dominic Thiem

    Votes: 4 57.1%
  • Daniil Medvedev

    Votes: 2 28.6%
  • Alexander Zverev

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Stefanos Tsitsipas

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 1 14.3%

  • Total voters
    7
  • Poll closed .

Flameboy

Norm Smith Medallist
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Well, assuming no one breaks through at the US Open, it probably will.

I'd be fascinated to hear you actually make your point at some stage.

Is it simply that Nadal is a great player? Because that's not really a point worth making.
Are you watching the USO tonight?
 
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In a few weeks there will be no players younger than 30 to have won a major.

Are the apologists still going to insist this is no reflection on that under-performing generation? Are they still going to insist "the game has changed". Surely it is now evident, as I said at the outset, that these younger players simply aren't very good. The City Boyz Belnakor Alesana Demosthenes form an orderly queue to admit I was right all along.
 

Flameboy

Norm Smith Medallist
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Another year of dominance from the big 3 in majors. But please, keep telling us how they are washed up and no reason for the current state of the younger generation
 
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Another year of dominance from the big 3 in majors. But please, keep telling us how they are washed up and no reason for the current state of the younger generation
The continued dominance of those guys doesn't help your argument. Part of the reason for that dominance is the lack of quality among the younger generation. Where are the young challengers?

The greatness of those established players is not in doubt. But Federer is 37 and Nadal's knees are an ongoing concern. Djokovic is 31 and back to playing great tennis. Such is the lack of quality in the younger generation, he could dominate the next 3-4 years. As I said, where are the young challengers? That has nothing to do with the greatness of the established stars and everything to do with the lack of quality underneath. Djokovic won the tournament but look at the QFs and SFs. It's not just Djokovic and Nadal. The younger players are being outdone by the likes of Del Porto and Cilic too.
 

Flameboy

Norm Smith Medallist
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The continued dominance of those guys doesn't help your argument. Part of the reason for that dominance is the lack of quality among the younger generation. Where are the young challengers?
And what's the main reason?
 
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And what's the main reason?
There is no singular reason that applies across the board. You could go through them one by one and outline their specific shortcomings. Collectively, they just haven't been good enough. There is still time for Zverev to get it together. He's 21 so I'm not so critical of him, although you'd hope he starts to fire a shot at majors in 2019. But guys like Raonic and Dimitrov have been very disappointing. Nishikori to an extent too. And who else is there? The list of guys you could even remotely consider as "contenders" is actually pretty short. Then we're into the likes of Goffin and Thiem?

Djokovic must look at the field and fancy his chances. Where does the next threat come from?

Go into these rankings and sort the top 100 by age. Then go down the list. From Del Potro and Cilic down (they're about to turn 30), it's pretty uninspiring.
 
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Flameboy

Norm Smith Medallist
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I was asking you what the main reason is for their dominance, not about the shortcomings of the next gen.
 
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I was asking you what the main reason is for their dominance, not about the shortcomings of the next gen.
The reality is that there are different reasons for each player. There is not a singular catch-all explanation that describes the success of all three. There is, however, no young challenger who is really pushing them. That certainly makes life easier for them. And I have to say, I wouldn't consider Federer to be dominant. And even Nadal's output is going to be determined by the state of his knees. Assuming he is relatively injury-free, he remains an unbackable favourite at Roland Garros. But I think a fit and focused Djokovic has his number on grass and hardcourt.
 
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