The Big Three are still giving the next generation players a hard time – Novak Djokovic

The World No. 1 Novak Djokovic created history on Sunday as he clinched his ninth Australian Open title, making it his 18th slam title. Thus, the Serbian is now only two majors away from matching Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s tally of 20 slams.

Djokovic thrashed Russian Daniil Medvedev by 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 and thus also broke his 20-match winning streak. World No. 1 was at his best and Medvedev had no answers against the King of Melbourne, who continued his love affair with the Australian Open. This was Djokovic’s ninth AO final and he hasn’t yet lost a single final in the tournament.

Meanwhile, as young players like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, and Daniil Medvedev have risen through the ranks in the recent past, some of the experts feel that they have taken over the sport from the Big three- Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic.

However, Djokovic doesn’t feel so as he stated that the top two ranks are still held by him and Nadal and the Big Three are still giving the players of the next generation a hard time on the court. 

“People have been talking about the next generation takeover like it already happened, but the top spots of the rankings are still held by Rafa and myself,” said Djokovic in the interview. 

“They are already there, but Rafa, Roger, and myself are still giving them hard time,” added the 9-time Australian Open winner.

The Big three have won 90% of the slams in the last decade and they have shown that they still have some fuel left in their tank. Furthermore, Djokovic was able to make the most of his experience in the final against Medvedev and it was evident that the Russian still has some work to do. Medvedev was losing his cool after each point he lost and he will need to be more mentally strong in the coming time.