‘A young player will win a Grand Slam next year,’ predicts Rafael Nadal ahead of Australian Open

ATP Tour
Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev after US Open final

Rafael Nadal believes a next generation player could win a Grand Slam title next year after saying he does not think the ‘big three’ will sweep up again.

Grand Slams not won by Nadal, Roger Federer, or Nivak Djokovic have become a real rarity on the ATP Tour, but younger players have started making in-roads.

Dominic Thiem has reached two French Open finals in a row, and Daniil Medvedev reached the final of the US Open last season. All three titles were ultimately won by Nadal, though.

“I don’t think that the Big Three are going to win all four,” Nadal told French newspaper L’Equipe.

“A young player is going to arrive next year.”

Nadal has a long-standing love affair with France due to his dominance at the French Open, and he says he has one major ambition left – if he has it in him.

“To be at the Olympic Games in Paris (in 2024) would be a dream but it is difficult to say now because it is a long way away,” he said.

“Logic would tell me I will not be there. But you also have to distrust logic.

“If you had said to me, five years ago, that I would have such a season in 2019, I would have said it was impossible.

“And at the end of 2009, if you had said I would still be playing just before the start of 2020, I would have said no. So logic…”

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