Now that the calendar has flipped to December, the 2020 men\u2019s Australian Open is right around the corner. It promises to be a very exciting and contentious event because the younger generation of professional tennis players has made noticeable gains in October and November of 2019, setting the stage for battles between them and the Big 3 of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. Everyone who follows men\u2019s tennis is interested in seeing if the younger players can topple the Big 3 at a major tournament in 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To no one\u2019s surprise, Djokovic has opened as a +165 favorite to win the Aussie open. Can any of the youth finally triumph over age and experience? It has been a long time since this happened at a major tournament. However, not one active ATP player with a major title is younger than 31, which is one of the more remarkable statistics in tennis history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reality surrounding Djokovic is that while he did not win a large amount of tennis tournaments in 2019, he won the ones which counted a lot. He won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and in the Wimbledon final, he memorably won despite having two match points against him on Roger Federer\u2019s serve. He became the first man in 71 years to win the Wimbledon final after saving match points. He is still the man most people trust to win the biggest tournaments in men\u2019s tennis, winning two of the four majors in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some will say that Rafael Nadal is better and is in position to beat him in Australia but even though Rafa did have the best 2019 season of any player (more than Djokovic), Nadal has very rarely done well in Australia. Djokovic crushed him in the 2019 Australian Open men\u2019s final. Djokovic has won seven Australian Open titles and this is his best major tournament. He ought to remain the man to beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hunt for Djokovic reasonably includes these five players. Could we include a few others? Yes, but not to the same extent as these five. Nadal and Federer require no explanation. Stefanos Tsitsipas made the Australian Open semifinals last year and just won the 2019 season-ending ATP Finals in London. Daniil Medvedev lost steam in November at the very end of 2019, but before that, he went unconscious for two months, reaching the finals in six straight tournaments he played: Washington, D.C., then Montreal, Cincinnati, the U.S. Open, St. Petersburg, and Shanghai. Medvedev won Cincinnati, St. Pete, and Shanghai, with Cincy and Shanghai being Masters 1000 titles, the first two of Medvedev\u2019s career. He won more hard court matches than any other player in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominic Thiem very nearly won the ATP Finals, losing to Tsitsipas in a final-set tiebreaker. Thiem has noticeably improved on hardcourts and should be seeded No. 4 in the Australian Open. The importance of being seeded fourth is that Thiem won\u2019t play Federer until the final and won\u2019t play either Nadal or Djokovic until the semifinal round. That gives Thiem a chance of going deeper into the tournament than most. If Djokovic or Nadal suffer an upset loss, Thiem could sneak in and make the final, and even possibly win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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