The three current ATP players Roger Federer tipped to reach number one in the world before he retired

Follow us on Google Discover

Roger Federer is unsurprisingly still keeping a close eye on tennis despite retiring from the sport in 2022.

He has just been joined in retirement by several other legends, with Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem all hanging up their rackets in recent times.

Murray has now turned to coaching, with the Scot set to team up with his former rival Novak Djokovic for the Australian Open.

And Juan Martin del Potro has just officially retired, with the Argentine saying farewell with an exhibition match against Djokovic.

The Serbian is now the last remaining player of the ‘Big Three’, having been left all alone by Federer and Nadal.

Who did Roger Federer tip to reach world number one before he retired?

The star trio dominated tennis for several years, with Djokovic now in with a chance of edging further ahead of the pair in terms of Grand Slam titles.

Federer did indeed reference the next big stars in tennis before he retired, suggesting which players could reach number one in the book ‘The Master: The Brilliant Career of Roger Federer’.

READ MORE: What Roger Federer singled out as the most heartbreaking moment of his entire tennis career

He shared “maybe” verdicts on Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, with Felix Auger-Aliassime also entering the conversation among “several other players”.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner take over from the ‘Big Three’

It didn’t take long for superstars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz to burst onto the scene not long ago, with Federer among those somewhat taken aback by their rapid rise.

The duo are undoubtedly leading the way to become the next potential ‘Big Three’, with Zvevev doing his best to keep up.

READ MORE: Who Roger Federer picked as the greatest tennis player of all time back in 2018

The German is second only to Sinner in the ATP Tour rankings, with Alcaraz following closely behind in third.

But unlike the Spaniard and the Italian, Zverev has failed to reach the summit, having lost both of his Grand Slam finals played.

World number 11 Tsitsipas meanwhile is also a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, with his chances of repeating those runs now becoming increasingly unlikely.

And while he has impressed, 29th-ranked Auger-Aliassime has perhaps failed to live up to his potential, although there is still plenty of time for that to change.