Rafael Nadal Identifies Potential Successors To Himself, Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have dominated tennis for well over a decade and continue to do so as they are currently ranked number one and two in the world respectively.

The duo have a combined 37 men’s singles Grand Slam titles between them and are widely considered two of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Despite being in the latter stages of their careers they continue to stay ahead of the younger generation coming through on the ATP Tour.

Nadal and Federer were joined by Novak Djokovic and the trio have gone on to win a combined 50 major titles — and their strong hold in the last eleven years is such that 35 of the last 43 Grand Slam events belong to them. They continue to hold the edge as they currently hold all the major titles between them.

However, Nadal is aware it will not last forever and believes there are a number of players in the younger generation that have the talent to take over from the veteran champions. The Spaniard admitted he cannot name all of them but pinpointed two players, who have shown they are capable of beating the best on their day.

Alexander Zverev was the first player on the world number one’s tongue with the young German, 21, already rising to world number three this year. He has won three Masters Series titles in his short career, but has struggled in the Grand Slams with his best result being a quarter-finals appearance at Roland Garros in 2018.

The second player Nadal name checked was Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who has recorded wins over the Spaniard and a number of other top ranked players. The 19-year-old is tipped as one for the future by a number of current and former players.

While the 11-time French Open is not sure if the younger generation will be better than Nadal, Federer and Djokovic were, but is certain that they will take over from them either through their achievements or once the older generation stop playing.

“The young guys are coming: Zverev, Shapovalov,” Nadal said, as quoted by the Express. “I’m not going to name them all, but there are many out there right now who I think are particularly special, and they are obviously going to replace us.”

"It’s either because they are going to just be better than us in a short time or because logic dictates that age will eventually catch up to us. … Our era was particularly exceptional, when a series of players dominated the tour for years, at the highest level of tennis, at the biggest tournaments,” the world number one added.

Nadal is currently preparing to return to action at the Rogers Cup in Canada that begins Aug. 6. It is his first outing since losing in the semi-finals at Wimbledon earlier this month.