Hello all, I know that I’ve been absent for a little while, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still here. I’m just taking a break for a while. The biggest reason is my lack of interest in the tour. I’m sure that anyone following the tour will see virtually the same names in the finals (being Sinner and Alcaraz). This lack of variation slowly but surely decreased my interest in the ATP (the men’s tour). I don’t just mean the lack of different players in the winner’s circle, I also mean the lack of variation in play style.

During the era of Big 3, there were so many contrasting styles. With Federer, you had the elegant Swissman with silky volleys, graceful backhands, and smooth slices. Nadal was the ultimate fighter, never giving up until the match was completely over. His powerful lefty game combined with his unparalleled spin overwhelmed his opponents, especially on clay. Djokovic was/is the tour’s gladiator. His flexibility is almost unheard of amongst the tour.

As someone who grew up watching the Big 3, I understand that some guys are just levels above the field. However, even during the Big 3 era, the entire Top 10 was competitive. Let’s travel back in time to 2015, just 10 years ago. The Top 10 were in this order:

1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. Roger Federer
4. Stan Wawrinka
5. Rafael Nadal
6. Tomas Berdych
7. David Ferrer
8. Kei Nishikori
9. Richard Gasquet
10. Jo Wilfried Tsonga

The depth there is fantastic. The top five all had at least two slams to their name at the end of the year. Nine out of the Top 10 had made a slam final, with the exception being Gasquet, who was a 3x Slam semifinalist. Eight out of the Top 10 were Masters 1000 champions, with Nishikori and Gasquet failing to capture a Masters. However, both of them made several Masters finals.

There’s more that I will get into, with players ranked from 11-20 who were also very talented, and more stats that should be covered. However, those are all things that will be covered in another article. With that said, I’ll see you across the net!