“I didn't know how to handle the pressure.” These were the words of Andrey Rublev after falling by surprise in their semifinal duel of the Miami Masters 1,000 against Hubert Hurkacz, an analysis that could well be extrapolated to other great favorites that were falling in Florida as the days went by. The tournament was presumed unbeatable for the aspirations of those tennis players who are called to dominate the circuit in recent years, but neither the absence of the Big Three in full (Nadal, Djokovic and Federer) next to Dominic Thiem's, made them step forward.
The leading theorist of this generation (at least by the current ranking) is Daniil Medvedev, But since he fell in the Australian Open final in an overwhelming way against Djokovic, he has not signed great results except for his title at the ATP 250 in Marseille. In Miami he said goodbye in the quarterfinals before a great version of Roberto Bautista, when he defended his condition of first seed, same round in which Stefanos Tsitsipas said goodbye to Hurkacz, that has emerged as the true scourge of the great favorites in Miami. Now that one of his generational rivals fared even worse, such as Alexander Zverev, who fell loudly in the first round against the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori.
Whether due to nerves, pressure or any other circumstance, the years pass and with the exception of some brushstrokes, such as the US Open conquered by Thiem or Medvedev Masters Finals last year, it is clear that this talented generation of tennis players still has some aspects to polish to finish applying as a serious alternative to Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. The exciting note was given this week by the young man Jannik Sinner (31st), who at the age of 19 will play the first Masters 1,000 final of his career this Sunday against Hurkacz (37th). In addition, it will be the first final of a tournament of this category without representation of the top-30 of the ATP ranking from which Tim Henman and Andrei Pavel starred in Paris-Bercy 2003. Historic.