No, no, no, said Rafael Nadal, 35, after the Indian Wells final: “This is not the moment to talk about it.” After the 3:6, 6:7 (5) against Taylor Fritz, his first defeat this year, he was asked about chest pains. It had been a grueling tennis week for him, Nadal had needed three sets each on the way to the final against Sebastian Korda (USA), Nick Kyrgios (Australian) and his Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz and was also out of Britons Daniel Evans and Reilly Opelka strongly demanded by the USA. According to his own information, he had not yet found the time to check the injury. “No, no, no,” he said, “We don’t need to talk about me now. That’s it be tournament, he played great matches and a very good final.”
He, this is 24-year-old Taylor Fritz (USA). He, too, had played with pain. In the semi-final against Andrei Rublev (Russia), he injured his right ankle; he had to stop training the next morning. “The worst pain of my life. I almost cried because I thought that was it,” said Fritz after the first Masters title of his career: “A few people from my team wanted me not to play – I will raise them forever.”
It is often the old Nadal who ultimately wins such a competition of the disabled. Now it was young Fritz. Although one would realize who was missing on this final weekend in the desert of California: namely the stars of the so-called next gen, the next generation behind the trio of Nadal, Nowak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The Russian Daniil Medvedev, 26, had lost to Gaël Monfils (France) – and thus regained the lead in the world rankings. Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, 23, and German Alexander Zverev, 24, were defeated early on by young Americans Jenson Brooksby, 21, and Tommy Paul, 24, while Italian Matteo Berrettini, 25, lost in the round of 16 to 22-year-old Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia ).
It wasn’t the Next Gen, it was the next next gen, which was successful in Indian Wells: Even if it should be noted that Fritz is just six months younger than Zverev – but, that’s the important thing, he just joined the circle of contenders later. The lines between the generations have blurred, but one thing is certain: it now takes more than two hands to count all the players who can win major tournaments. This leads to an extremely interesting constellation in men’s tennis.
The boundaries between the generations are blurring: players like Taylor Fritz are not much behind established players like Novak Djokovic.
(Photo: Matthew Stockman/AFP)
Perhaps one should recall what Zverev said six months ago at the US Open about the so-called big three said Federer, 40, Nadal, 35, and Djokovic, 34: “We all wish that they will play forever – but at some point they have to stop.” Well at least Nadal is still there, he is the favorite again at the French Open very soon. Djokovic was not present in Indian Wells because he was not allowed to enter the USA without a corona vaccination. He is the youngest of the Big Three and will continue to be favored and feared when he competes. Federer, on the other hand, has long struggled with wear and tear and injuries.
The question now, however, is whether Zverev’s conclusion from last year is still correct: “The rivalry of the younger ones – i.e. Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Rublew, Berrettini and me – leads to big duels. Semi-finals and finals in Grand Slam tournaments should be exciting . I don’t think either of us will win 20 Grand Slam titles. We may split them between us.”
But it is also possible that Alexander Zverev will not win a single Grand Slam tournament in his career; not only because of the form crisis he is currently in, in his eighth year on the professional tour. The fact is that there are no longer just “the younger ones”, but also the somewhat younger ones, i.e.: Casper Ruud (Norway, 23), Sinner (Italy, 20), Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada, 20 ), Alcaraz (Spain, 20) and Fritz – the next next generation.