Although the era of the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic is inevitably coming to an end, players on the ATP Tour will have to deal with the emergence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Former World No.3 Dominic Thiem believes the situation will be the same, as the new dynamic duo will not make it easy for their peers to capture many titles.

Thiem announced his retirement for the 2024 Vienna Open, with the intention of retiring in front of his home crowd. The 31-year old played his last professional match against Luciano Darderi in the opening round, with the Italian prevailing in an emotional 7-6(6) 6-2 victory.

Sinner and Alcaraz likely to dominate for the next decade, says Thiem

The Austrian decided to hang up his career after dealing with a lingering wrist injury since 2021. However, Thiem is regarded as one of the few players who could pose a threat to each member of the Big Three, recording at least one victory over all three. Furthermore, he retires as a Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 US Open title.

With Rafael Nadal announcing he would be retiring at the Davis Cup Finals in November and Novak Djokovic approaching the twilight of his career, Alcaraz and Sinner have been dominating the Majors. In an interview with Tennis Majors, Thiem spoke on whether opposing players will have a better chance at winning Grand Slam titles now that the Big Three are phasing out of the picture.

“Yes, I understand people who are thinking that way, but, to me, the situation is quite easy,” said Thiem. “I feel really lucky and privileged to have played against them because they are three of the greatest athletes of all time. This is one part.
“And the second part is that I think it was not easier before, and it didn’t get easier after that. A lot of people said: ‘once they are gone, it’s going to be way easier for everybody in my generation, Daniil [Medvedev] and Sasha and Stefanos and all those players.

“Then what happens? Carlos came up and Jannik came up. And now you have basically a similar situation if you want to win a big title. You have to beat both of them. They won all four slams in 2024.
“So, the situation didn’t really change. I think it’s going to be the same in, I don’t know, 15 years or something. People will say: ‘OK, now, if Carlos, if Jannik, maybe the new guys coming up, if they retire, it’s going to be way easier’. But again, new guys are going to come. It has been always like that in tennis history. I think it will always be.”