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Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev - not close to big three right now says Andy Murray
Alexander Zverev, Andy Murray, Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Tennis News

Andy Murray: ‘The younger guys have shown they’re not particularly close’


Andy Murray believes the Australian Open has been a humbling experience for the younger players who thought they were closing in on the big three.

Many fancied Daniil Medvedev to kickstart a changing of the guard when he faced Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final last week.

The Russian was completely overpowered by Djokovic, though, who won in straight sets with ease.

And, according to Murray, it has become apparent that the younger players are more pretenders than contenders right now.

“The younger guys, for me, they’ve not shown that they’re particularly close,” Andy Murray said.

“I expected the final to be closer. But it’s different standing to return or to serve in a Grand Slam final than a quarter-final or a semi.

“When you’re coming up against someone who’s won 17 of them it’s pretty intimidating.

“Obviously at the US Open, Dominic Thiem did what he had to do to win the event.

“But if Novak hadn’t put a ball through the line judge’s throat, it would have been the same outcome I think.

“The guys have been at the top for so long that they have won on every surface and have been really good on all courts,’

“The guys trying to get to those positions don’t necessarily play as well on all of the surfaces, so that reduces the opportunities to potentially win Slams.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.