Australian Open: The lost generation – from kings in waiting to princes out of favour

Credit where it is due, Monfils is putting together a phenomenal run which seemed unfathomable a few months ago, reaching the US Open final and repeating the feat at the ATP Finals. He is now one to watch in an open quarter of the draw.

However, as an appraisal is made of Fritz’s early exit – on the heels of his run to reaching finals at the US Open and ATP Finals last year – there must be a review of his status as a serious contender too. For, consistency at lower-rated events may afford a higher ranking, but the solid-serving American’s baseline game has lacked the serious improvement required for him to take the big step at the biggest tennis tournaments in the world. And the same can be said for the rest of his cohort: men’s tennis’s lost generation.

As the first week of the Australian Open winds down, Fritz is joined by Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev on the flight home. Each of them – including Alexander Zverev, who has proved to be more consistent over five sets and pulled away from his peers but still lacks a Major trophy – were a part of the early ATP push as the ‘Next Gen’ to the vaunted previous generation that ate up dozens of Slams.

None of them have lived up to the billing.

🤯@Gael_Monfils electrifies MCA and #AO2025, eliminating no.4 seed Taylor Fritz.@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/atTcDY8tBQ

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2025

Now in their mid-20s, the five of them have won one Major title combined – Medvedev’s 2021 US Open triumph – and have lost nine Grand Slam finals. Their status as kings-in-waiting has been demoted to princes out-of-favour.

The required technical, mental and tactical development to be ready to win at this Majors was sidestepped by a generation, not only of the listed names but others too, that was merely waiting for the old guard to decline, failing to address the glaring weaknesses in their game. Nothing makes this more evident than the rise of new youth.

Not just Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz but newer names too. Rublev was defeated in the first round by 18-year-old Joao Fonseca, making his Grand Slam debut. The Brazilian’s first-strike big-hitting game made him a big sensation in the opening week, even though he lost in the second round.

Last year’s finalist Medvedev survived the first round over five sets before falling in five to the American Learner Tien. The way his draw has opened up, Tien, 19, is well placed to go deep into the tournament. Despite different attributes, he plays a style that is similar to his peers. Neither very tall nor bulky, it is his foot speed that allows him to reach the ball marginally quicker than others, and then unload big groundstrokes on shots where others would merely focus on getting the same balls in.

“Power has taken over now. (Earlier) I didn’t have to exceed the most extreme version of myself. It was still physical, but it was not as big as it is now,,” Tsitsipas was quoted as saying by The Athletic after his first-round defeat to the 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen, in words that resemble an on-the-decline veteran as opposed to a 26-year-old that should be coming into his peak after promising early years.

Instead of merely waiting for their turn, Alcaraz and Sinner ushered in a new style. It relies on pace that is not all muscle, but also tactical. Neutral balls are hardly ever put in play in their matches, they instead used their athleticism to keep hitting big and generate their own pace. Their fellow young brigade are now moulding their games around that style.

Juxtapose this to the development of the generation above them. They took advantage of their strengths to build strong groundstrokes, serves and counterpunching abilities. But never did enough to rid themselves of tentativeness and develop new tactical ideas – merely building their games around the style perfected Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, waiting for them to make way. They stayed in their elders’ shadow, and are now being upstaged by their juniors.

At the Australian Open, this lost generation has a final hope in Zverev. The German may be the second seed and in firm control of his matches so far, but how many would back him to go far enough to beat two of Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic to lift the trophy? And now supposed to be playing the best tennis of their careers, how many would back his fellow Next Gen-ers to return to the sport’s elite before fans move on from them entirely?