"I missed them"- Roger Federer opens up on never facing Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune & Jannik Sinner, and their rise soon after his retirement

Roger Federer talked about the young generation of players taking the center stage, with the rise of Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz.

In a recent interview, Federer, who is in Vancouver, Canada, attending his brainchild event, the Laver Cup, discussed the current tennis scene on both the women’s and men’s side.

On the men’s side, he highlighted the significant Grand Slam campaigns of the top 3 players in the world - Novak Djokovic, who won the Australian Open, the French Open, and his 24th Slam at the US Open; Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated the Serb to win Wimbledon; and Daniil Medvedev, who defeated the Spaniard to reach his third US Open final.

“On the men’s side, we have some great, great moments with Novak rewriting history, Alcaraz winning Wimbledon. I mean, I think, Medvedev played fantastic as well in New York,” Roger Federer said in a video for Eurosport.

The changing of guard in tennis has been all the more noticeable in 2023, thanks to Roger Federer hanging the racquet at the Laver Cup last year and Rafael Nadal taking the back seat this season.

The rise of stars such as Alcaraz, Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner has further escalated the discussion about the new generation of stars.

Federer expressed his disappointment about not having played a single match against any of the three players.

“Young guys coming through as well. A generation that I didn’t play very – at all, actually. Rune, Sinner and Alcaraz, unfortunately I missed them, you know, playing against them,” he said.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion also noted that the new stories being written and the fresh rivalries forming so soon after his swansong and Rafael Nadal’s impending retirement is a great sign for tennis.

“I thought sometimes, you know, it goes through these phases when somebody retires like myself or Rafa not playing that maybe things are a little bit like, ‘Oh, it’s not so cool.’ Of course, our fans are thinking that, but overall, I think actually there’s always great stories rewritten, you know,” Roger Federer added.

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"The future looks bright" – Roger Federer on the rise of Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune in the Wimbledon 2023 quarterfinals

Jannik Sinner (22), Holger Rune (20) and Carlos Alcaraz (20) are the youngest players currently featuring in the World’s Top 10. The trio have been touted by many as the next Big-3.

Sinner, Rune and Alcaraz have done justice to their rising popularity by making a mark at Grand Slam events as well as dominating the Masters 1000 events this season.

It is worth noting that one of these three players has featured in the final of each of the seven Masters tournaments contested so far in 2023.

Carlos Alcaraz was the winner in Indian Wells and Madrid, and the runner-up in Cincinnati. Jannik Sinner won the Canadian Open and lifted the runner-up trophy at the Miami Open. Holger Rune, meanwhile, was the runner-up at the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Italian Open.

Roger Federer praised the young, up and coming generation of players and revealed that he has been enjoying their matches, and has been keeping track of the results.

“I think the future looks bright. And of course, the game can always evolve, will always evolve. And the good thing is, I really enjoy watching and still following a lot of the results. I mean, I just like how it’s actually not in a lull,” he said.