With the new season just around the corner (kicks off on January 7 with the Antalya and Abu Dhabi tournaments) and Roger Federer in the dry dock due to physical problems (at least for the Australian Open), the question is clear: will anyone be able to question the dominance of Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal on the ATP circuit? Among the possible candidates, the current number 3 in the ranking stands out above the rest, Dominic Thiem, that in its own right has become the great alternative to the members of the Big three after win his first Grand Slam in New York in 2020 (defeating Alexander Zverev). He was able to round off the course in his second consecutive appearance in the Masters Cup final, but a Daniil Medvedev imperial crossed his path.
By results and after having reached tennis maturity at the age of 27, Nicolás Massú's pupil aspires in 2021 to question the reign of the Serbian and the Balearic Islands, entering an unknown terrain for the vast majority of tennis players since the establishment of the Big Three, and it is about ascending to one of the first two positions in the ranking. Since July 25, 2005, when Lleyton Hewitt was moved to number three, only Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray have held the top two positions. of the world ranking, a select club that the Austrian could join this season. Only 725 points separate Thiem from the Manacorense's number 2, so he could come a lot closer after the ATP Cup: the Austrian barely defends points as he only won one match, for Nadal's four wins.
But it is also true that Thiem will have to bear more pressure than ever on his shoulders after an exciting 2020 season, something that has conditioned the results of other players who postulated as threats to him. Big three in the past. And it is that since the irruption of Federer and Nadal, With the exception of Stan Wawrinka and Murray, no player has been able to lift more than one Grand Slam title after inaugurating his record in this section. This is shown by the statistics of Juan Martín del Potro and Marin Cilic, that after winning the US Open in 2009 and 2014 against Federer and Nishikori, respectively, they have not been able to reissue such successes in subsequent years. In the case of the Argentine, injuries have also largely conditioned his career as a professional. Thiem will have taken note and knows that it is before the year of his confirmation …