Boris Becker names five ‘exciting’ players who are heirs to the tennis throne

ATP Tour

Shahida Jacobs
December 9, 2019

Boris Becker believes it is only a matter of time before the next generation starts to dominate tennis, adding that the likes of Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and “box office” Nick Kyrgios are coming into their own.

The Big Three of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer once again dominated tennis in 2019 as they finished the year as the world’s three best players.

Nadal and Djokovic, meanwhile, shared the four Grand Slams between them, but Becker allayed fears that tennis will “end” once the trio decide to call it a day.

“Whenever an era of champions ends, we think it will be the end of tennis, but then a new generation comes along,” he told The Weekend Australian.

He added: “I was part of it when we ended and it was the turn of [Andre] Agassi and [Pete] Sampras. Now we are thinking this is going to end with [Federer, Nadal and Djokovic] but it is never going to end.

“We have fantastic young, exciting players who are coming into their own and they will be everything in the future.”

As for who will replace the Big Three when they do retire, Becker fancies fellow German Zverev, French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem, Australian Alex de Minaur and Canadian Denis Shapovalov while he also feels the controversial Kyrgios can’t be written off.

“Zverev, of course, will be there contending, Dominic Thiem as well. There is de Minaur and Shapovalov, who is very good, and I also want to remember Kyrgios, who has big potential and is box office when right,” he said.

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Alexander Zverev Nick Kyrgios