Casper Ruud opens up on the failures of men’s tennis’ 90s generation
Casper Ruud has admitted that the generation of tennis players born in the 1990s have had a tough time living in the shadow of the big three.
This comes after the big three’s dominance in Grand Slams finally waned this year with none of the icons managing to add a Major title to their collection.
However, the two men who split the year’s Grand Slam titles were both born in the early 2000s.
To date men’s players born in the 1990s have featured in 21 Grand Slam finals and won just two. Dominic Thiem’s 2020 US Open win didn’t open the floodgates even if Daniil Medvedev would also win at Flushing Meadows the following year.
Ruud noted that there was an expectation on players like Alexander Zverev, Thiem and Medvedev to break that big three hold much sooner with himself and Stefanos Tsitsipas also having their chances on the big stage.
For this generation, the threat is now that they will be shut out by the new breed of player like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
“It’s clear, we can’t just wait for things to be served, but these big three have been extremely good,” Ruud told Eurosport Norway.
“We’ve been to 21 finals, and only won two, so it’s a bit of a coincidence that there aren’t nicer numbers, but we have ourselves to blame. There was a lot of talk about Zverev, Tsitsipas and Medvedev when they came up, that they would be responsible for a change, and knock out the big ones, but they absolutely couldn’t do that.”
Ruud has been deeply impressed by the impact of Sinner and Alcaraz on the men’s game and believes they are poised to take the sport forward.
“This year we have two young players who have taken all four. It is fun to see for yourself that it is possible, but it is the two who have stood out the most and have an extremely high level, aggressive game and good tennis.”
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Ruud still wouldn’t rule out Novak Djokovic fighting back next season and winning more Majors before he finally gives up tennis.
“I usually say that it is not possible to “round” tennis, the way you round a video game when there is nothing more to achieve, but when it comes to merits and tournament victories, Djokovic has actually completed all the titles it is possible to win. It was great to see him win Olympic gold this season.
“I think that final is the match that I have ever seen with the highest quality on average throughout the match. What he (Djokovic) did there has impressed me so much that the doubts you had before are gone now. Even in a season with injuries, he is so mentally strong that he is able to come back.”
