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Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Tennis News

‘He has what it takes’ – Top coach names player he expects to succeed Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic


Dominic Thiem will be the next word number one after Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, says his former coach Gunter Bresnik.

Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer have dominated tennis for 16 years and only Andy Murray has been able to take the top ranking away from the trio.

However, Thiem reached – and lost – his third Grand Slam Final at the Australian Open last week, taking Djokovic all the way to five sets before falling agonisingly short.

Bresnik, though, saw more than enough in his game to suggest he is going to be the man to beat in the post ‘big three’ era.

In fact, Bresnik believes Thiem already has Federer firmly in his sights.

ALSO READ: REVEALED: The incredible stats behind dominance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic

“In the short term he will be number 3, in the long term he will be number 1,” he told Austrian broadcaster ServusTV.

“Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would have seen Thiem as the future number 1 years ago.

“The top 3 [and] top 5 – because I don’t want to exclude [Andy] Murray and [Stan] Wawrinka – he has beaten everyone during their prime.

“Hats off to the boy. He has what it takes and he will confirm it.”


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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.