In an era of unparalleled dominance of the ‘big 3’ of men’s tennis for an extended period of time, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have combined together to win 53 of the last 64 Grand Slams singles titles won. If this colossal number is not enough, in the recent past, the ‘big trio’ has shared last 10 Grand Slams titles as well with Nadal winning four titles and Federer and Djokovic winning three each since the Australian Open of 2017 down under.
With Nadal a little vulnerable and circumspect at the start of the clay season, one thought that maybe this year’s French Open would be a little open and up for grabs. Dominic Thiem stunned Nadal at Barcelona to increase the likelihood of him being crowned as the new Roland Garros champion. But, it was far from anything like that as the ‘King of Clay’ made a roaring comeback to win his unprecedented 12th title at Paris with relative ease, defeating Thiem in the finals.
In the wake of one more opportunity gone begging for any other player apart from the ‘big 3’ to win the Grand Slam, one can wonder when and where a new face can dare to stun the ‘big 3’ to win a Grand Slam title for themselves.
Wimbledon, the 3rd Major of the year is just a week away and it beckons the next-gen stars and rest of the players on the tour with an opportunity to emerge victoriously and create a moment of their own legacy at the All England Club this July.
Let’s have a look at the three possible players who can win Wimbledon and in the process halt 10-Grand Slam winning streak of the ‘big 3’ of men’s tennis.
#3: Kevin Anderson
The tall South African Kevin Anderson might be injury prone and inconsistency in his game is perhaps his biggest nemesis that has plagued him throughout his career, but he is one of very few players who has an uncanny ability to rise to the challenge on the bigger stages of the game.
At the Wimbledon last year, Anderson finished as the runner-up, losing to Novak Djokovic in the finals. However, his process and journey to reach to his first ever Wimbledon final was nothing short of spectacular.
Being trailing two sets to love in his quarter-final appearance against Roger Federer, Anderson showed tremendous resilience and character to register a monumental victory over the Swiss maestro in five grueling sets. Following his triumph over the 20-time Grand Slam champion, the South African showed the world the side of his that makes him unique and exceptional. Anderson chose not to give up no matter what to emerge victorious in his semi-final clash against American John Isner that lasted for staggering 6 hours and 37 minutes at the Centre Court and their clash was recorded as a third longest match in the history of the game.
With a tremendous serve at his disposal, Anderson has a game tailor-made for grass-court tennis. On his day, he can bamboozle the best of the best players on grass, the surface that favours his style of play. Anderson, at the age of 33, has enough experience from the past to defeat the very best in the business and has a big heart, hungry for success on the grandest of the occasions.
Just as he did last year, if Anderson manages to keep his head high and maintains self-belief, the tall South African has the potential to go the distance this Wimbledon and is certainly one of the dark horses in the lead up to the Championships, Wimbledon.
#2: Marin Cilic
The 30-year old Croat, the 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic is one of the very few players to win a Grand Slam title in an era of utter dominance and supremacy of the ‘big three’ of men’s tennis who have denied almost everyone an opportunity to be crowned as a Grand Slam champ.
Again a big server whose game is highly enhanced when playing on grass, Cilic was a runner-up at Wimbledon in 2017 and has plenty of experience of playing against the big guns at the Grand Slam Majors.
However, the Croatian is going through a phase of the indifferent form of late and his worries continued when he suffered a shock defeat against Diego Schwartzman at the ongoing Queen’s Club Championships.
Following Marin Cilic over the years, one can certainly say that he is a big-ticket player and one can expect him to make a roaring comeback at the upcoming Wimbledon.
If the tall Croat manages to get past the first week of the Wimbledon without much hustle, he would be one of the dangerous players to be left in the draw and from there on, he can certainly fancy his chances in his quest towards his first ever Wimbledon title.
Marin Cilic, a certain unsung hero of our sport is fully capable of throwing at us a few surprises and has an outside chance to lay hands on this year’s Wimbledon crown.
#1: Stefanos Tsitsipas
The Greek young sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas who idolizes Federer has been living the dream on tour this year. An exuberant, volatile youngster Tsitsipas who plays a serene single-handed backhand has already defeated Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic in his extremely short career so far.
One of the most fascinating aspects about Tsitsipas is his temperament and tremendous composure that he maintains on the bigger stages of the game, against better players. His monumental effort to upset Federer at the Australian Open and then a brave effort to stun Nadal on clay in the Madrid Open Semifinals earlier this year speaks for themselves and are enough to understand the tremendous potential and raw talent of the young Greek.
Having won two titles so far this year at Estoril and Marseille, the Greek next gen star also made the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year and would look forward to continuing his rich vein of form into the third Slam of the year.
While it is true and popular opinion as well that experience and sensible play prevail over-exuberance and free-flowing spirit, but in the case of Tsitsipas, his free-flowing game is perhaps his biggest asset leading into this year’s Wimbledon.
Tsitsipas is one of the very few players among the new generation who has a well-balanced game in each and every environment and if he can manage to control his nerves in tense moments, he certainly can potentially go on to win his fits ever Grand Slam Major at the upcoming Wimbledon.
With Wimbledon just around the corner, it would be fascinating to witness how the third Grand Slam of the year unfolds. Will we witness the similar story of one of the members of ‘big three’ reigning supreme yet again at Wimbledon or can a new face rise on a horizon to create an intriguing story of their remarkable success at All England Club?
