The ATP Finals invites the tour’s top eight players each year, but this exclusive club actually has a much more limited seating capacity. Barring injuries, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, known as the Big Three, along with Andy Murray have usually taken up half the slots.

But in recent years, a group of young players, who could be called the next four, are making the pickings even smaller. Dominic Thiem is heading to his fifth ATP Finals; Alexander Zverev, the 2018 champion, will play for the fourth consecutive year; and the defending champion, Stefanos Tsitsipas is back for his second straight year, as is Daniil Medvedev.

The question is no longer whether these players will become ATP Finals fixtures throughout this decade, but whether they are ready, after Thiem’s United States Open triumph this year, to take over from the players who have long been at the top.

The answer, tennis experts said, was mixed. Expect them to win majors, but Federer, and especially Nadal and Djokovic, will win even more. And by the time the Big Three finally fade, a new generation may be ready to challenge Thiem and company.

Source: New York Times

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