Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini shared a different perspective of the newer generation players in the context of the ‘Big Three’ debate. Berrettini said that it is good for the sport that not all the events are getting dominated by the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the youngsters are also competing and beating them in several events. He also feels that the same will happen at the Grand Slams pretty soon.
The Italian is currently preparing him for the Serbian Open where he is the second seed after World No.1 Novak Djokovic. When Berrettini first came up in the scenes he was considered as the next big thing in the tennis circuit. But then he was overshadowed by more glittery talents like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev among others.
The 25-year-old is all set to face his compatriot Marco Cecchinato in the second round as he has a first-round bye. He interacted with the media a day ahead of his match and shared his thoughts about two youngsters Hubert Hurkacz and Stefanos Tsitsipas who were recently crowned with titles at the Masters’ events. The Italian sounded very optimistic regarding the future of the sport and it is not about the ‘Big Three’ anymore apart from the Slams.
“I think It’s a nice thing for tennis that it’s not all the Big 3,” Berrettini said. “Even though the Slams are still a little bit. But I think something’s going to change even in the Slams.”
The 25-year-old felt that the next generation players will eventually take over considering the quality they have shown at this young age. “I think eventually it’s going to happen (NextGen taking over),” Matteo Berrettini added. “Not just because of the age, but because of the experience, because these guys you get are really good.”
The World No.10 feels that the youngsters now on Tour are at a high level. Also considering the matches they play throughout the year they are also getting that exposure and experience which will help them later in their career.
“They proved already that they can play at a really high level and now there are more players, like I said, they are more experienced,” the Italian concluded.