Bernard Tomic says if he thinks tennis is better now or when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were still playing

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Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are now both retired from professional tennis, as the sport adjusts to life without two of the greats.

Winning a combined 42 Grand Slam titles, Nadal and Federer certainly left their mark in tennis, dominating the sport for almost 20 years.

Federer retired from competition in 2022, upon the conclusion of the Laver Cup, having won 103 singles titles on the ATP Tour.

The Spaniard joined him in retirement two years later, as Nadal played his final match at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, losing out to Botic van de Zandschulp, 4-6, 4-6.

Youngsters Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have risen to the top of the game in their absence, winning the previous five Major titles.

However, one ATP veteran doesn’t believe the current generation is operating on the same level as Federer and Nadal were.

Bernard Tomic thinks Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played in the ‘prime of tennis’

Appearing as a guest on the Changeover podcast, Aussie star Bernard Tomic shared his thoughts on the current crop of ATP Tour talent.

“I look at [Jannik] Sinner, I look at [Jakub] Mensik yesterday, beating Novak [Djokovic] in the final,” he said.

“These guys hit the c— out of the ball and of course, hitting the ball big in tennis and accurate is an advantage.

“Sinner and these guys, they’re huge champions, the way they strike the ball is completely insane and the way they move as well.”

Tomic does, however, believe that the previous generation were more impressive.

“Back in my prime when I was top 20, top ten, it was a tougher period,” he said.

“With [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal, Djokovic, [Andy] Murray, all these guys, [Tomas] Berdych, [Juan Martin] Del Potro, I think that was the prime of tennis.”

The Aussie explained just how dominant the best players in men’s tennis were a decade ago and how they prevented others from achieving Grand Slam success.

“Obviously I didn’t win Slams or go anywhere near that, but I still played in the toughest era that tennis has ever been [in],” he said.

“I think I lost many times in the round of 16, once in the quarterfinals to a lot of those guys that were there, like Federer, Nadal, Murray, Berdych, it was pretty difficult back then.

“They were dominating the sport of tennis back then, there was nothing really you could do, nobody could get to a semi-final of a Grand Slam, they were that good in their prime.”

Tomic then predicted how well the current top ten would perform against the stars of yesteryear.

“Now tennis has changed, the top ten for me is not like it was ten, 15 years ago, guys like Berdych, Del Potro, incredible players,” he said.

“I see the guys in the top ten now, they’re still good don’t get me wrong but if some of those guys had to play Berdych or Del Potro it would be 8-2 or 7-3 [in the head-to-head], they’re not going to match up well, you know what I mean.”

The 32-year-old shared his thoughts on whether he could’ve made deeper runs at Major tournaments in a different era.

“Maybe I would’ve slipped another semi-final of a Slam if they weren’t there in that period,” said Tomic.

Who did Bernard Tomic lose to in his biggest Grand Slam matches?

Since making his debut in 2009, Tomic lost five Grand Slam fourth-round matches, coming up short against several of the sport’s greatest players.

The Australian came closest to a Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon 14 years ago, when he levelled his quarterfinal match with Djokovic at one set all.

It wasn’t to be for the teenager, as the Serb eventually powered through to win in four sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Tomic was able to say he lost to the eventual champion, however, when Djokovic took down Nadal to win his first title at SW19 later in the week.

He hasn’t returned to a Major quarter-final since and last qualified for a Grand Slam main draw in Melbourne four years ago, when he lost in the second round.

Tomic is next scheduled to appear at a Challenger Tour event in Mexico City, which begins on April 7.