Novak Djokovic: Me, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are there for a reason

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic believes one of the biggest reasons for the Big Three dominance at the Grand Slam level is that they never failed to deliver their best tennis on the biggest stage. 

On Sunday, Djokovic prevented Daniil Medvedev from winning his maiden Grand Slam title as he beat the Russian 7-5 6-2 6-2 in the Australian Open final. 

Dominic Thiem is the only active player under 30 to have a Grand Slam in his collection. 

"I think just Roger, Rafa and myself have managed to always play our best tennis at slams,” Djokovic said, per Tennis Majors. “We have the experience of knowing what to do, how we can win matches in best-of-five on different surfaces. I think that’s made it more challenging for guys that are in the next generation, up-and-coming.

“I mean, Dominic (Thiem) contested in several Grand Slam finals before he actually got a trophy, got a win. How long is going to take for maybe Zverev or Tsitsipas or Medvedev to do the same? I don’t know. But they seem awfully close. I mean, Medvedev was definitely a guy to beat today. I mean, 20-match winning streak. Tsitsipas, Zverev, Medvedev, they all won World Tour Finals, multiple Masters 1000 events and high ranking. They have all contested in semis and finals of slams, so it’s just a matter of time. But hopefully not so close."

Djokovic sees potential in younger players 

"There is a lot of quality in tennis from the younger guys that are coming up. I was mentioning before they’re very close to start winning major titles more consistently. But Roger, Rafa, myself are still there for a reason. We don’t want to hand it to them and we don’t want to allow them to win slams. I think that’s something that is very clear. Whether you communicate that message or not, we are definitely sending that vibe out there. I’m sticking to that," Djokovic added.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3aF27VE