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In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda a few days ago, former ATP pro Andreas Seppi gave his verdict on Novak Djokovic's title defense at Wimbledon this fortnight, the Next Gen successors to the Big-3 in the form of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune, and more.
The 39-year-old, who pulled the curtains down on a glittering career at the end of last year, also believes that his younger countryman Jannik Sinner has the best chance to end the 47-year-wait for a men's singles Grand Slam winner in Italy.
Seppi has backed four-time defending champion Djokovic to win an eighth Wimbledon title over the next few days, saying that while Alcaraz and Sinner can put him under pressure, the 23-time Grand Slam champion is likely to prevail at SW19 once again.
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The World No. 2 has already reached the semifinals, where he will take on Sinner.
"You have to probably go with Djokovic but I would love to see a different winner. I think Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz have the best chance to put him under under pressure. So, I hope to see a different winner but it's it's probably going be Novak again," Seppi said.
Sinner, one of six Italians in the top 100, advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday with a four-set win over Roman Safiullin. Seppi believes that the 22-year-old has the best chance among the current cop of Italian men, which includes former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti, to end the Italian drought.
"You have to go with Jannik. He has already played the quarter-finals in every Grand Slam. This year, he has not played so well in the first two Slams. But last year, at Wimbledon, he was leading against Djokovic by two sets to love and he had much point against Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open quarter-final. Matteo did reach the Wimbledon final and the semis in a couple of other Slams. He was even closer than Jannik."
"Jannik, I feel, sometimes he's putting himself a little bit more pressure on himself in the Grand Slams as compared to other tournaments. But for sure, he can do very well in the upcoming years to win one Grand Slam, or not just one, but many," Andreas Seppi said.
With another 11 players ranked between 101-200 in the rankings, Seppi believes that this is a good time for Italian men's tennis.
"For sure, Italian tennis is in a good era. There are a lot of good players especially Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti being one step ahead. They are in their early 20s and they're already established in the top 20 and top 10 in the world and they have had some good results. We have a good team to go and to win the Davis Cup in the upcoming years," Andreas Seppi said.
"Berrettini has been struggling unfortunately with some injuries. It's difficult to come back and he did already great last year coming back and winning titles out of nowhere. He's great, his game is very powerful and he can beat anybody on his day. I think he needs more consistency in playing matches and going out on court and competing because if you compete for two weeks and then you have to stop again for two-three weeks it's not easy no."
"I think he just needs some time to get back to his level and then he can he can be back in the top 20 or top 10 as well. There are some others who are outside the top 100 and maybe seeing Sinner and Musetti doing so well, they also get a little bit inspired to you know to work harder and go there as well," he added.
Turning his attention away from his countrymen, Andreas Seppi proclaimed that the presence of former World No. 1 and Grand Slam winner Juan Carlos Ferrero in Carlos Alcaraz's team gives the Spaniard an extra edge.
"When it comes to Alcaraz, I think maybe the advantage he has is that he grew up with Ferrero, who was No 1 in the world and who won the French Open, and who already gave him a lot of important information from a younger age. So that helped him to grow up even faster."
"I think he is a player who people are going to watch and you can see people really love him, how he how he plays, he always has a big smile on his face. He does some crazy things. He has a cool game coming into the net, dropshots and everything," Andreas Seppi said.
The Italian also compared Danish youngster Holger Rune to Rafael Nadal, bringing home the point that Rune, Alcaraz and Sinner all have different playing styles that make them fun to watch.
"He's a really fun and nice player to watch, and then Jannik has the thing that he's really powerful. And then Rune is a little bit more like Rafa why because he's not missing and playing a lot of balls. They all have all a different game style. And I think especially those three have something good to attract people to tennis," Andreas Seppi said.
"I would say Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and this is just my view, are one step ahead of Holger Rune" - Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi, who peaked at No. 18 in the world rankings and won three ATP singles titles during his career, also backed his countryman Sinner to be in the best position to challenge current World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the years to come.
"Jannik has a very powerful game and he plays close to the line and very fast. Their head-to-head (Alcaraz vs. Sinner) is 3-3. Jannik has the best chance of this new generation to put Alcaraz under pressure."
"Jannik, in the end, has the speed and how he takes the ball on the rise. I think physically he's still a little bit behind but if you give him maybe another couple of years, he can surely win one or many I would say."
"Alcaraz is already a complete a player he's doing everything well, moving well and so it's going to be interesting. I would say Alcaraz and Sinner, and this is just my view, are one step ahead of (Holger) Rune. But maybe I'm wrong and Rune is going to be the one who has the best results from the three," Andreas Seppi said.
Being a former player and someone who has seen the current set of players on a close basis, Seppi also rejected the notion that today's players are not as focussed and hhungry as the Big-3.
"For sure. If you see all these youngsters, like Sinner, Alcaraz, Rune, and maybe Tsitsipas, Medvedev and Rublev going back. They all have four or five people with them. And I think they all look really focused on getting to No. 1 in the world or winning Grand Slams. I can't really say they're not doing the best they can."
