Taylor Fritz is the latest star to wade into a debate that has gained huge relevance over the last few years.
After all, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s emergence into a new dominant force on the ATP Tour, almost instantly after the Big Three’s influence had begun to wane, has led many to argue that they will surpass what came before them.
With the Spaniard in particular, it’s hard to argue against this notion, given what he has already achieved at just 22 years old.
Despite this, many are keen to argue that his dominance just proves that he is playing in a weak era of the sport.
Taylor Fritz does not agree.
Taylor Fritz compares his era to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s
As one of the unique few top-level players to toe the line between generations, he is well-positioned to provide his verdict on such an argument.
After all, he has played all of the Big Three and their rivals and also faced off against Alcaraz and Sinner.
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Speaking on a livestream, he argued: “I think it’s a very popular opinion online to say that like, we’re in a weak generation or, like, the top ten back then was stronger.
“I think there’s a big nostalgia factor to it. I personally don’t think… It’s tough to say, I would say the level’s pretty close, honestly. It’s really tough to say.
“But the best way to put it is, like, I also beat top 10 players when I was, like, 20 years old, so it was like eight years ago. And I know that I’m like, way, way, way better than I am [now] than I was then.
“So I don’t think there’s, like, a discrepancy in level. I think it probably stays pretty similar.”
This ironically comes just after Casper Ruud said what Alcaraz and Sinner do better than the Big Three already.
Carlos Alcaraz is on track to surpass the Big Three
As noted earlier, Alcaraz is on track to break every record set by the Big Three.
After all, earlier this month, he became the youngest man in tennis history to complete the career Grand Slam by beating Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.
This saw him surpass Rafael Nadal’s previous record and bring him up to seven major titles already.
This is six more than Roger Federer and Djokovic had at his age, and two more than his compatriot had.
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Should he maintain his current trajectory, the Serbian’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles will certainly be under threat, perhaps even sooner than expected.
Alcaraz’s generation is not inherently weak; he is just that much better, and likely would have been no matter the era he played in.
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