by Bob Stockton
@BobStockton10
The first Grand Slam of 2020 is in the record books and the result from Australia is an ominous one. Novak Djokovic may have been pushed all the way by Dominic Thiem in Melbourne but the Serb’s victory suggests another dominant year.
Djokovic took the honours while Roger Federer made it through to the semis. The only ‘upset’ of note came in the quarterfinals where Rafael Nadal lost out to Thiem but with France coming up, the Spaniard will be confident of success moving forward.
The ‘Cartel’
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are tennis’ ageless trio and they combine to form what the Telegraph has called a ‘cartel’ that has dominated the sport in recent years. Injury cannot hold them back and the three look set to start as favourites in each Grand Slam this year.
For a brief time, Andy Murray joined the three, while there have been isolated successes for the likes of Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. But those two players underline a telling stat: Cilic’s success at the US Open in 2014 was the last time we saw a first-time Grand Slam winner. Will that trend continue in 2020 or can the three-man cartel be broken?
Upcoming Challenges
Next up is the French Open which is essentially a procession for Rafael Nadal. He’s won here on no fewer than 12 occasions since 2005 and is currently the 5/6 clear favourite with Space Casino in the 2020 betting markets for Roland Garros.
In chronological order, Wimbledon comes next. Djokovic is the reigning champion and has won in four of the last six years while Federer took the men’s title as recently as 2017. We conclude with the US Open where Nadal will defend his trophy in September. The years are rolling by but still there are no consistent challenges to the ‘big three’. If, however, we are to get that elusive first-time Grand Slam winner in 2020, who is the man most likely to come through?
Likely Lads
The most obvious candidate would be Dominic Thiem who came so agonisingly close to upsetting Djokovic in Melbourne. The Austrian was enjoying a two-sets-to-one advantage and his opponent looked spent but somehow, Djokovic found the reserves to come through a marathon.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev also came close in the final Grand Slam of 2019 and is one to watch moving forward. Milos Raonic has been tipped for success but the Serb capitulated in straight sets to Djokovic in Australia and hasn’t reached a Grand Slam final since Wimbledon in 2016.
Elsewhere, Nick Kyrgios can be relied upon to talk a good game but he’s yet to back that up with sustained and tangible performances on the court. Other up and coming talents include Stefanos Tsitsipas who we’ve previously tipped for a positive year while others are pointing towards Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and Francis Tiafoe from the United States.
There are some bright stars for the future in that list but will those players have to wait for retirements and injuries before they can break through and end the Djokovic-Nadal-Federer dominance?
