Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are clearly ahead of the rest of the men's singles field, but Marion Bartoli believes both can be caught.
Alcaraz denied Djokovic a fifth straight Wimbledon title last weekend with a stunning five-set victory at SW19, to secure the 20-year-old Spaniard a second grand slam title.
As a pair, Alcaraz and Djokovic have now won the last five grand slams stretching back to last year's Wimbledon, and Bartoli feels they are far ahead of the chasing pack.
The former Wimbledon champion however suggests that gap could motivate others to work on their own game in order to catch up.
"Very much, when you look at the first three grand slams [of 2023], it's clear that there is Novak, Carlos and the rest and there is quite a gap between those two and the rest," she told Stats Perform.
"That's quite obvious with the results. That said, I think that's going to push them to sort of catch back just like Novak did with Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal].
"With [them] having more Grand Slams than him and wanting to be part of the conversation, that just pushed him to elevate his level.
"I think it's going to be the case on the ATP. I don't think the guys are going to look at Carlos and Novak saying 'Oh my god, they're just untouchable, and we're going to lose to them'.
"I think they're going to really try hard. Especially I can see [Holger] Rune, I can see [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, I can see [Daniil] Medvedev, all those and [Jannik] Sinner, being very eager and very hungry to just go and chase.
"I'm sure they can actually push them to work harder on their game to come up with something even better. So I don't see it as a runaway completely and there is no opposition.
"I think maybe it's going to take a little bit of time before they reach that level, but I just don't think it's going to be that easy in a way for Novak and Carlos to just win everything without having a say from the other players."
Bartoli, who won at SW19 in 2013 before retiring in 2018, believes Alcaraz has taken the best qualities of the 'Big Three' of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer and feels he is one of those spearheading a new era in tennis.
"In the eras before, when you look at Pete Sampras, and all those players, it was one way to play and then if you would take that play away it was a lot more difficult for them," she explained.
"If you take Alcaraz for me, what is very interesting is he has almost the best of Novak, Roger and Rafa combined and that is new. I think it's very much sort of total tennis, when you feel there is just not one department that maybe is lacking a little bit.
"There is a lot of players from this or sort of the past generation that are not that complete, who are really going to suffer against those new kids like Alcaraz, Rune and Sinner who are coming in and just having nothing you feel that they could really do better.
"In that sense, I think that's going to be the new sort of tennis we will see for the next 10 to 20 years."
Ricciardo ready to experience the world of motorsport amid F1 exit rumours
Daniel Ricciardo revealed his desire to experience the world of motorsport as his 13-year Formula One career hangs in the balance ahead of the 2025 season.
Ricciardo, who has raced for five different teams in F1, is yet to find out whether he will race for RB next year.
The Australian and team-mate Yuki Tsunoda were considered the favourites to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull until the Mexican signed a new two-year deal.
Red Bull is a team Ricciardo knows well, of course.
Ricciardo has won eight F1 races during his career, seven of which came with the Austrian-based team before his move to Renault in 2019.
Across his 257 race entries, the 35-year-old has also claimed 1,329 points and 32 podiums, but Ricciardo has been unable to get close to the top three in recent times.
The Australian has not stood on the podium since his last victory at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021, picking up just 55 points over the last three seasons for an RB team who have struggled to emerge from the midfield places in a competitive grid.
Ricciardo finds himself 14th in the drivers' championship this term, with his best finish coming at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, where he finished eighth.
With time potentially running out on his F1 career heading into the final seven races of the 2024 season, Ricciardo kept his options open as to what may come next.
“I mean there's things I would like to try and experience," Ricciardo said in an interview with Tourism Western Australia ahead of the release of his new film 'Drive the Dream 2.0'.
"I don't know, let's say on a competitive level, I grew up a fan of NASCAR. I'd like to drive a NASCAR. I'd love to drive around Daytona, for example.
"But would I like to compete? Yes and no, but I also know that, it's not what I grew up doing, and I'll probably get smoked so like, I don't know if I need that!
"I would love to experience it. I love motorbikes. I love MotoGP. I would love to try a MotoGP bike, but I would be very, very slow and probably horrendous. Just like, all in my own time.
"And actually Bathurst, if it's, obviously okay, it's the V8 that does the race there, but you know there's the 12 hour and stuff, so maybe that's one I could compete in.
"If a V8 team said 'hey, do you want to do a few laps around Bathurst, no pressure, just to experience it', then I'll definitely take that up."
Canada dump Great Britain out of Davis Cup as Shapovalov, Auger Aliassime win
Canada beat Great Britain to ensure their progress to the Davis Cup Final 8 on Sunday, with Denis Shapovalov beating Dan Evans and Felix Auger Aliassime overcoming Jack Draper.
Canada needed just one point from their final group-stage tie, and Shapovalov did the honours at the first time of asking by beating Evans 6-0 7-5.
Shapovalov won 100% of first-serve points as he dominated an opening set that lasted just 27 minutes, and though Evans came back into the encounter in the second set, a break in the final game sealed the deal for Shapovalov.
With Canada's progress secured, Auger Aliassime then added some gloss by overcoming US Open semi-finalist Draper 7-6 (10-8) 7-5 in a fiercely contested affair.
British pair Neal Skupski and Henry Patten beat Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in the doubles, but it was of little consequence with their elimination already certain.
Argentina joined Canada in qualifying from Group D with a sweep of Finland, while Italy finished top of Group A in Bologna, thanks to the efforts of Flavio Cobolli.
He beat Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3 as the Netherlands were forced to settle for second, after Matteo Berrettini had put the defending champions in the driving seat with a 3-6 6-4 6-4 win against Botic van de Zandschulp.
World number one Jannik Sinner was present to support Berrettini, embracing him after he capped his fightback by converting match point.
Australia and Spain had already sealed qualification from Group B prior to Sunday's matches, while the United States and Germany had clinched their progress from Group C.
The Davis Cup Final 8 will take place in Malaga between November 19 and November 24, with Italy hoping to become the first team to defend the title since the Czech Republic in 2013.
'Not my goal at all' - Djokovic not committing to ATP Finals appearance
Novak Djokovic "can't say" if he will compete in the upcoming ATP Finals in November as he becomes more selective about which tournaments he participates in.
The Serbian has struggled with injuries and a lack of form in 2024, and he will finish a calendar year without a grand slam title for the first time since 2017.
His last major triumph came at the US Open last year, but he failed to defend his crown, suffering a shock early exit to Alexei Popyrin in the third round at Flushing Meadows.
Djokovic is just one grand slam trophy away from becoming the outright record holder, currently sitting level with Margaret Court on 24 titles.
He reached the Wimbledon final in July, only to lose out to Carlos Alcaraz, though he did win his first Olympic gold in Paris by beating the Spaniard the following month.
The 37-year-old is currently representing Serbia at the Davis Cup and stressed that he will be prioritising certain tournaments over others.
"Torino is not my goal at all, to be honest, I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings etc," he told Serbian reporters after beating Greece's Ioannis Xilas on Saturday.
"As far as I am concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play other tournaments this year or in the future, I can't say right now.
"My main priorities are playing for the national team and slams, everything else is less important.
"Weeks like these represent another motivation, they inspire me to keep going, they awake those butterflies in my belly.
"I thought that I would never have to seek motivation anywhere, it all used to come naturally – automatically – but that has not been the case in the last few years.
"In order to prolong my career, I need to enjoy, I need to choose wisely tournaments I am going to play."
Following the Davis Cup, Djokovic will play in an exhibition tournament in Sofia and in the ATP 1000 event in Shanghai at the start of October.
"After that [Shanghai], I am going to see what I am going to do," Djokovic added.
"Usually in my career I used to have my schedule ready six months in advance, but nowadays, that's not the case. Now it's more spontaneous.
"Firstly, I need to physically, emotionally and mentally rest in order to even start thinking what I want to do next, in what way, how much and where."
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