Younger players will not push off Federer, Nadal, Djokovic - Courier
In an interview to Wide World of Sports, the former world No. 1 Jim Courier commented on how the 2019 season will look like according to him. Courier believes that it will still take some time for the Next Generation to step up and overtake the older guys. "I don’t think that 2019 is going to be the year that the young players crack through and completely push off Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Nadal) and Novak (Djokovic) from their perch", Courier said. "I still think those three are the players to beat. Last year Murray was incapacitated with a hip injury virtually all season long and still, all four majors were won by those guys. I don’t see that changing but an injury to one of those guys could open up more road for one of those players."
On the Next Generation, Courier, who is working on Channel Nine during the Australian Open, added: "There are a couple of permutations as to how this will play out over time because time is undefeated and eventually the big three – as we’ve seen it’s going to go from the big four to the big three in a second – time will take them off the tour and there’s going to be a lot of open roads. Zverev is the obvious one, (Stefanos) Tsitsipas is very good, De Minaur is coming on like a freight train right now, Kyrgios, if he gets it all together, can be a factor. Then you have (Denis) Shapovalov. I love another young Canadian, Felix Auger Aliassime, who lost in (Australian Open) qualies this year but is extremely talented and young and 18 years old. There are a lot of young players who are going to have a lot to work within three years time."
Courier also praised Alex De Minaur's fighting spirit: "He fights for every point, doesn’t give an inch, he’s incredibly quick so his defence is exceptional, but he’s offensive-minded. He’s a maximiser and I admire that about him."
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2UtEFj0
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