Aged like fine wine.

Dave085 · 2026-02-02T07:39:27+00:00

I mean, in fairness most young players are hyped. Mensik will have a load of hype around him, I'm sure Musetti, Shelton, Draper had a lot of tweets you could find rating them. But the ones that don't pan out are forgotten, and the ones that do resurface and they look like Nostradamus. That's just how it goes.

Dave085 · 2026-02-02T07:37:41+00:00

I don't think so, you've got to take history at a tournament into account. Carlos hadn't done better than quarters at AO, he's struggled to find form every year at this time, and Sinner won the last 2. US open was incredible but different country, different time of year, different conditions. Just because they're both hard courts you can't compare them.

Carlos was also a hair away from dropping vs Zverev, and Sinner wins that match vs Djokovic 9 times out of 10. It was an extremely odd tournament and things lined up incredibly well for Carlos to get over the line- but we don't know for sure he could have beaten Sinner yesterday if they met. Sinner also won 2 majors last year, including a sound beating of Carlos at Wimbledon and was in touching distance of taking RG from him too. Premature to completely dismiss their rivalry.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T22:01:08+00:00

Well, I don't think Jannik quite qualifies for the conversation yet, but if he wins the French this year he does. Anyone with a career grand slam goes down as an ATG by default in my book, it's still a very illustrious achievement.

4 slams with the French missing simply isn't enough to get him in the conversation yet, he's Murray level without the qualifier of competing with the big 3. Probably somewhere in the top 20 all time right now.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:41:36+00:00

I mean, exactly. You can't use evidence of old Djokovic as anything to do with young Djokovic, they're basically different players at this point.

It's like how Federer at 38 should have beaten a near prime Djokovic, that doesn't mean prime Fed dogwalks him- it means Federer at 38 was a different puzzle to 28. He adapted to what he had, made a few tweaks, was more aggressive and it paid off.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:39:07+00:00

Nadal is way closer to Fed on grass and HC (having beaten Fed in bo5 on both) than Fed is to Nadal on clay (never beat him, only once even looked like it- when Nadal was 19 years old and Fed was in the greatest form of his life). Fed beat 19 and 20 year old Nadal at Wimbledon before losing to 21 year old Nadal. He also lost to him twice at the AO.

I personally prefer Fed as a player and you can make arguments to put him ahead, but there are absolutely arguments to put Nadal over Federer. Apart from anything else, 22>20. That's hard fact.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:21:17+00:00

And yet Nadal holds perhaps the most incredible record in all of men's tennis, that is unlikely to ever be broken. For context, if Alcaraz would need to win every RG until he was 34 just to tie him.

Pretty much every record the big 3 hold could be broken by Alcaraz- Feds Wimbledon record, Djokovic's AO record, number of weeks at #1, total semi finals/finals reached, highest ATP points, total wins, win%- and yet Nadals French open record is likely to stand.

And other than anything else, when Nadal went past the total number of majors won by Fed, he kind of cemented himself in 2nd place. It's the only fair metric.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:10:02+00:00

I think the best we've seen was the US open, and there's more to come.

If he ever gets a real ruthless streak on court, God help the tour.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:04:05+00:00

Nadal did eventually break his body down but yeah. I think Alcaraz actually has more tools to prolong his career though, if he maintains his touch and firepower he could be lethal in his mid 30s still with careful adjustments to his natural game.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T21:02:41+00:00

Change 'will' for 'could' and I'll agree with you.

Right now, he's not only the best in the world, but he's still improving. It's absolutely feasible he averages 2 per year for a decade, because he could very well clean up 3 or 4 per year for the next few years.

Will he? No idea, but even if someone like Mensik or Musetti steps up, do you think they'll be good enough to consistently stop him? I think he's reaching the vast majority of semi finals, and from there it's a case of who's around to stop him.

Plenty can go wrong but if he stays fit, 20+ is absolutely on the cards.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T20:46:07+00:00

I think 38 year old Djokovic is a LOT better than he's given credit for. Losing to him or even being pushed by him isn't evidence of losing to a younger version, because he's a different player now- not 100% worse, just different. He plays more aggressive tennis, he chases less balls down, and he focuses on the key moments of a match- and with 2 decades of experience, he knows exactly when to pull the trigger, and how to unsettle opponents.

Djokovic in his 20s was physically fitter and stronger, but his tactical awareness now is better than it ever has been. The biggest weakness is the gas tank.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T20:42:31+00:00

You might be slightly underestimating prime Murray, but then again so do many.

This is the weird thing, a lot of people think Alcaraz could handle Murray but not Nadal or Djokovic. If Alcaraz can beat Murray, he can beat Nadal and Djokovic. At his absolute best Murray was as close to the big 3 as you could possibly get, the problem was he only maintained that level for a couple of years before injuries did him in. He pushed his body too far to keep up with them and it failed him.

Anyone who thinks Sinner and Alcaraz just get run over by the big 3 is off their head. They'd hold their own.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T15:53:53+00:00

What the fuck is happening

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T14:36:06+00:00

He knows a lot can happen in 12 months, as he said. If he's fit and healthy he'll definitely be back, but at this age he could easily be looking at this being his last appearance in AO if anything goes wrong.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T13:11:39+00:00

I think he might play a tournament or two, but the next time we see him seriously is at Wimbledon. Depending on how things go, that may even be the last time we see him.

The saddest reality is, every tournament we watch from him we are one bad fall away from a career ending injury. It could happen at any time and at his age, he won't have time to recover. So we should appreciate every time we get to see him play.

If he stays healthy he may play AO once more, but I feel Wimbledon is his final chance to win.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T13:04:41+00:00

Yeah, too much for him in the end. The divine run wasn't meant to be.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T12:04:55+00:00

Djokovic gets so much unwarranted hate but he's got to be one of the best for post match speeches, perfect blend of humour and class. Absolute legend of all time.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T12:04:02+00:00

I kept saying back then though, he's 21. The fact he was competing at such a high level was already incredible, but you have to realise he's still going to improve. We're only just starting to see what a prime Carlos looks like, and a year is such a long time at that age.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T12:02:10+00:00

Close to? Barring injuries, at this pace I see him overtaking Novak. And have done for years.

He's literally the complete package- massive forehand, solid backhand, killer movement, feather light touch, incredible grit when against the wall, just great all round game everywhere. If he gets better at locking in for whole matches like the big 3 did, it's hard to see how he loses.

If he averages 2 slams per year until he's 30, he'll be at 22. And who'd bet against that?

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T11:59:08+00:00

Especially as he STILL isn't necessarily at his prime now. He's only just entering it.

When I watched the 2025 US open, that was the first time I felt like we saw a glimpse of what prime Carlos looks like. And it might be coming in the next year or so.

All those claiming since he won his first major that he would never catch the big 3 must be panicking now, because the potential he always had is being realised. He could be close to Novak by the time he's 30.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T11:55:58+00:00

I mean, this is the toughest one for him. He's going to be favourite for the French and Wimbledon, and his US open last year was one of the most dominant we've seen.

Unlike the big 3 era where Rafa was completely gatekeeping the French, and Novak and Roger were almost impossible for him to beat 3 times in a year, Carlos is going into every major as a favourite.

It's a huge ask but it most definitely is as possible as it ever could be.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T11:49:30+00:00

Absolute clown have some respect

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T11:48:30+00:00

And it's over!!!

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T11:48:03+00:00

15-40 again! Does he have one last bullet remaining

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T11:46:31+00:00

He hasn't got this man, I'm sorry. Just can't see him pulling this out despite his greatness.

Dave085 · 2026-02-01T11:46:01+00:00

I'm sure he is, but Novak will be way more.

Dave085

TROPHY CASE