Generation of players sandwiched between superstars never got to shine

PARIS – The “sandwich generation” of men’s tennis increasingly looks like a group of lost boys.

They are the players born in the 1990s who were projected for big things but suffered a double misfortune of circumstance. The first was that they entered the sport when it was in the vice-like grip of the Big Three: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Those three scooped up titles for longer than anybody expected, and no sooner had their collective powers waned than Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner arrived, seemingly fully formed, to steal away the promises that were made to the children of the ’90s.

In the first week of the French Open, their diminishing hopes of staying among the truly elite have dwindled further.

Daniil Medvedev, 29 years old and the only one still active to win a Grand Slam, lost to the world No. 81, Cameron Norrie. Casper Ruud, 26, was beaten in four sets by world No. 41, Nuno Borges. Stefanos Tsitsipas, also 26, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, was beaten by Matteo Gigante, the 23-year-old Italian No. 167 who has never been inside the world’s top 100.

In the second week of action, the world No. 3, Alexander Zverev, 28, and the 15th-ranked Andrey Rublev, 27, remain, but neither is in great form. Zverev is through to the quarter-finals after Tallon Griekspoor retired injured in the second set on June 2. However, Rublev will have to beat Sinner for a last-eight spot in a match that started after press time.

Twilight has fallen in Paris on a cohort of tennis players whose window of opportunity has less slammed shut than never truly opened.

Only two men born in the 1990s have won a Grand Slam: Medvedev and Dominic Thiem, who retired in 2024 and attributed his relatively early exit from the sport to the demands of keeping up with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray.

This sandwich generation arrived in the mid 2010s, when the ATP Tour was in need of a crop of young players to offer a future for a sport that had become more relevant than it had been for some years, thanks to the Big Three’s rivalries.

Zverev, Tsitsipas, Medvedev and Matteo Berrettini, the Italian who had to miss this French Open with an injury, were chief among them. Ruud and Rublev were never quite anticipated in the same way, but Ruud’s three Grand Slam finals – one defeat by Alcaraz, one by Nadal and one by Djokovic – before turning 25 changed opinions.

All of them have had great results along the way, with Medvedev spending 16 weeks at No. 1 as well as winning the 2021 US Open. All of them have won ATP Masters 1000 titles, and all except one have reached a Grand Slam final. But, Zverev aside, all feel further away from winning one than ever.

The Big Three won 66 Grand Slams among them; Alcaraz and Sinner have shared the last five Majors. Medvedev’s 16 weeks at world No. 1 pale in comparison to a combined 1,034 for the Big Three, Alcaraz and Sinner – 947 among Federer, Nadal and Djokovic; 36 for Alcaraz and 51 and counting for Sinner. NYTIMES