Best-of-3 not unfair for Djokovic in slams. SAYS JOURNALIST

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been dominating the tour together since 2004. While the new generation failed so far to challenge their supremacy, there are some theories around on how to make things more difficult for them.

There is an ongoing discussion about changing the format of the match on the men’s side in slams as the classic best-of-5 sometimes seems to be too long. Tiebreaks at the decider have been introduced, but for many that is not enough as the new generations struggle to stay glued to the screen for too long. One of the discussions entails changing the men’s format using a best-of-3 framework. While this would make things faster, it would deprive the audience of epic matches and it would be tricker for the strongest players to keep their dominance.

During a recent talk between Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, Noah Rubin and controversial journalist Ben Rothenberg, the Frenchwoman expressed her disagreement about a short format for a slam. Marion said that a top player may just go out at the hands of a big server (huge a not very spectacular breed) 7-6 7-6 and fans might be deprived of champions in the later stages of a major.

Would best-of-3 harm Novak Djokovic

Ben Rothenberg disagreed with the Frenchwoman saying that more champions are required right now and he seems to welcome the challenge for the Big3 and especially for Novak Djokovic that has de facto dominated the last decade.

“I’m all for anything that tilts tennis in the direction of having some new champions, that puts Novak Djokovic and the rest of the Big 3 more under fire. It’s not unfair for Novak Djokovic; it just makes it tougher,” said Rothenberg.

Novak Djokovic in 2020

Currently ranked no.1, Djokovic played his last match on the 29^th of February when he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the final in Dubai to win his 79^th career title.

This season Djokovic has a 18-0 win-loss record. The Serbian clinched 2 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open and in Dubai.

Rafael Nadal in 2020

Currently ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 29^th of February when he overcame Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-2 in the final in Acapulco to win his 85^th career title.

At the moment, this season Nadal has a 13-3 win-loss record. The Spaniard conquered 1 title in Acapulco.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played each other 55 times. The head to head is 29-26 for Djokovic. The last time that they played, Novak Djokovic won 6-2 7-6⁴ in the final in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney (ATP Cup) on the 12^th of January 2020.

Roger Federer in 2020

Ranked world no.4, the Swiss played his last match on the 30^th of January when he capitulated to Novak Djokovic 7-6¹ 6-4 6-3 in the semifinal of the Australian Open.

Roger Federer’s most significant result of the current year was reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open.