US Open: Legend Doesn't Want Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Prefers New Generation

Former World No. 1 Mats Wilander is tired of seeing Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer dominate men’s tennis, especially in the Grand Slams. The last player to win a major apart from the trio was Stan Wawrinka at the US Open in 2016 – and Wilander doesn’t even want to see the Swiss player in the final four.

The Swedish seven-time men’s singles Grand Slam winner is keen for one of the younger players to step up and show that they can challenge the world’s best on the biggest stage. Wilander believes it will be disappointing if at least two of the new generation do not make the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 2019.

Wilander admits that it is difficult for the new generation to challenge Djokovic or Federer at Wimbledon because one needs experience to play on grass, while a certain style of play dictates how you play on clay making it hard to beat the likes of Nadal. But the Swede is certain that on hard courts, the younger generation should be able to beat the world’s top three.

"I will be surprised and disappointed a lot if one or two younger players cannot reach and go beyond the semifinals on a hard court,” Wilander said ahead of the US Open, as quoted on Tennis World USA. "On grass you need experience, on clay a certain gamestyle, but on a hard court, you literally have no excuse. We need two guys in the semifinals that are not called Roger, Rafa, Stan or Novak.”

The Swede also singled out Nadal as the only player who can beat Djokovic in a five-set Grand Slam match, he believes even Federer will struggle to beat the Serbian, who enters the US Open as the favorite. Wilander picked out one young player that could beat Djokovic – Daniil Medvedev – who recently won his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati.

“I think Nadal is the only one who can beat Novak Djokovic in a five-set Grand Slam match,” Wilander added. Daniil Medvedev can beat him too, but Nadal is the biggest threat for Novak."

"I think the biggest difficulty is that he will have to play seven matches. It doesn't matter what the gamestyle is, you can have a problem against a big server or a baseline guy,” the Swede said talking about why Federer will struggle.