[Supercell]

Thiem and Medvedev did something great in this tournament. Each of them beat both Djokovic and Nadal this week. What's more, before the semis I kinda expected this outcome (none of Djokodal looked favoured to me), which had never happened before. Will younger guys get the upper hand over legends at slams in 2021 as well? Will one of them reach #1 soon? Discuss. Here is my take:

HC: on this surface we are closest to a tipping point, the change is happening already. Thiem reached finals of the biggest HC tournaments of 2020 (AO, USO, WTF), winning his maiden slam. He's actually expected to reach finals on regular basis. If Medvedev is on a great run (like now) he has a good chance to win a slam as well. We can't forget about other guys (Zverev and co) too. USO is wide open, at the AO even Novak can't feel safe anymore.

Clay: Nadal is still the man to beat, no doubts. The situation is not as open as on HC. It's hard to imagine Thiem not winning RG at some point though. Will it be next year? I would still favour Nadal but it can't be ruled out.

Grass: Here the situation for the mentioned guys is most complicated. They haven't achieved any significant result at Wimby so far while legends successfully dominate at this event (Djokovic 2-time defending champion, Nadal also strong in recent years, possibly resurgent Federer can also block younger guys).

#1 position: Djoko is heading towards 300 weeks at #1 but ranking situation is open in the long term. Thiem (being a contender on clay and HC) has a good chance of getting #1 at some point next year and to be the first to snap a gigantic 17 (!) years long streak of Big4. Medved is looking like a candidate for top3-top4 next year and unless he significantly improves his clay results #1 will be difficult to reach.

 

[sheep85]

only thing significant to date in this finals is rafa still can't win shit indoors, but that was obvious anyway.
honourable mention tho to nole for not being able to hit a proper BH recently to save his life.

 

[Bella&Mirka]

Yes change is approaching but of course the remarkable situation yesterday was that both Greats lost from strongly winning positions.

I still believe that only Time will cause them to lose Slams consistently, rather than the opposition.

 

[NADALalot]

Dimitrov, Zverev, Tsitsipas all won the ATP Finals.....and continued to be slamless losers.
Yes, its a sign.

 

[Borkob90]

They are 68 years old combined and were both just 3 points away from having another Novak vs Rafa final. To me, their performances from yesterday are to be admired. Two best players of all time. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

 

[Mr.Black]

It’s the end of the season, older guys are probably a little less enthusiastic about it, younger guys have a lot of chance to prove themselves. As the last 4 years have shown, doesn’t really say much.

Once the youngsters can snatch at
least 2 GS in a season from the Big 3, then you got something. Who knows, 2021 might be it.

 

[Dominic S]

WTF has never meant anything regarding future slams because it’s best of 3.

Make is best of 5 (which imo it should be) and winning it would mean way more

 

[Johnny Groove]

Yes, Thiem can be #1 next year

 

[DjokoKing]

People said the same after Thiem beat King in London last year. We all know the story in the AO final just a couple of months later.

 

[Break point Dom.]

I love this tournament. Multiple new winners and quality of most matches very high. As out of this world as the big 3 have been over last 15 years this is what Tennis was like when I was growing up e.g. you can't predict winner of tournament with huge confidence.

Would still like the final to be 5 sets though.

 

[Hugo]

People said the same after Thiem beat King in London last year. We all know the story in the AO final just a couple of months later.

Yes, we know the story. Thiem came very close to winning against Nole on his all time favourite surface.

 

[DjokoKing]

Yes, we know the story. Thiem came very close to win against Nole on his all time favourite surface.

Still lost. Zverev was closer to beating Thiem in the US Open final than Thiem was to winning the AO final.

 

[Hugo]

Still lost. Zverev was closer to beating Thiem in the US Open final than Thiem was to winning the AO final.

See what a WTF can do for you...