Dominic Thiem thinks a familiar story will be told in tennis with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on top.
The Austrian played the final tournament of his career at the Vienna Open and hung up his racket after winning 17 titles, one of which was the 2020 US Open title.
He contested his prime years in an era with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and pushed them harder than most.
But as Thiem bids farewell to tennis, a new era in men’s tennis has begun, led by the World number one and the French Open and double Wimbledon champion.
What is Dominic Thiem’s prediction for men’s tennis with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on top?
Dominic Thiem played a combined 35 matches against Nadal, Djokovic and Federer during his career. The 31-year-old played the ‘Big 3’ in the biggest matches in some of the biggest tournaments in tennis.
Thiem achieved his fair share of wins against them, and many believed had he played in a different era, or once the trio retired, he may have been even more successful.
But with Federer no longer playing, Nadal soon to retire and Djokovic not as invincible as before, a new era has begun with Sinner and Alcaraz, who swept the Grand Slam titles in 2024.
Therefore, Thiem thinks that anyone who believed the rest of the field would now have more opportunities to win Grand Slams are mistaken, as he made a bold prediction about Sinner and Alcaraz moving forward.
“A lot of people said: ‘once they are gone, it’s going to be way easier’ for everybody in my generation, Daniil [Medvedev] and Sasha and Stefanos and all those players,” Thiem told Tennis Majors.
“Then what happens? Carlos came up and Jannik came up. And now you have basically a similar situation if you want to win a big title. You have to beat both of them. They won all four slams in 2024.
“So, the situation didn’t really change. I think it’s going to be the same in, I don’t know, 15 years or something. People will say: ‘OK, now, if Carlos, if Jannik, maybe the new guys coming up, if they retire, it’s going to be way easier’. But again, new guys are going to come. It has always been like that in tennis history. I think it will always be.”
Did Dominic Thiem play against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?
Thiem has played sparingly on the ATP Tour over the last couple of seasons when Sinner and Alcaraz began to surge up the rankings.
As a result, Thiem did not play against either Sinner or Alcaraz during his career, but has been very impressed with their progress.
The pair now occupy the top two ranking sports in the world and claimed multiple majors in a year for the first time in their respective careers.
They have emerged as Djokovic’s biggest challenges, especially Sinner who has won four of his last five meetings against the Serbian.
Alcaraz lost his match against Djokovic in the Olympics final, but has defeated the veteran in the last two Wimbledon finals.
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