Novak Djokovic is not fearful about the future of tennis, with Carlos Alcaraz there to lead the sport forward.
There was a lot of talk about the future of tennis once the Big Three are out of the picture. Roger Federer has already retired, leaving Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as the only active players. Nadal was missing for much of this year, so it's been essentially all on Djokovic.
The sport will move forward, but will its popularity take a hit? That's a very good question however the legends that carried the sport for two decades think things will be fine. Alcaraz emerged seemingly out of nowhere, but he's certainly good enough to lead the sport forward according to Djokovic.
I think tennis, definitely the future is looking good with Carlos leading that field. We had some thrilling encounters, this year particularly with the final at Wimbledon and also Roland Garros and Cincinnati - that was one of the best three-set matches I’ve ever played.
Djokovic and Alcaraz battled a few times already so the Serbian understands well how strong of a player the Spaniard is. After all, it was Alcaraz who snapped the 10-year winning run of Djokovic on the main court of Wimbledon. Considering how shaky his tennis looked on grass not long before that, that is a major achievement.
It also speaks to the cyclical nature of tennis and all sports. Just like Djokovic usurped the standing order when he broke out, so did Alcaraz when he did. While it's unlikely we'll ever get an era such as the Big Three era there will always be good players emerging and positioning themselves to lead the sport forward.
Right now, it's Alcaraz, but perhaps in 5 years, it will be his brother Jaime, who is apparently even more talented than Carlos.