While Novak Djokovic is still the present of tennis, he's pretty certain that Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner are the future of the sport.
We've seen some pretty solid players emerge on the ATP Tour over the years, but none of them really seemed to be poised for the success like these three youngsters have. Carlos Alcaraz has already proven himself as a great player, winning two Grand Slams, and he'll only be better.
Holger Rune hasn't won that trophy yet, but he's beaten some of the best players in the world and made some solid runs, so he'll likely win a few in the future. Jannik Sinner has been a good player for a few years now and finally made the next step this year, so he's likely to win a few more.
These three seem to dominate the sport moving forward, and Novak Djokovic certainly sees it that way. He's had the chance to play against all of them, so he understands their quality well, and he spoke about them after his win over Hubert Hurkacz at the 2023 ATP Finals.
The field is strong. I mean, the generation of Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner is very strong. It's probably the three players that will carry this sport in the future but also in the present because they are right at the top of the game, all of them.
Djokovic has lost to all of them before and likely will a few more times before he retires. It will be fascinating to observe how well he deals with them as they mature and become even better and for how long he will stay competitive. One thing that he shares with them is the hunger for success.
Of course, it's expected for young players to be hungry, to be motivated, and to constantly look for ways to improve, get stronger, faster, better, so they can beat the players, best players in the world, and clinch some, yeah, biggest trophies in the game.