Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and the twilight of the Next Gen titans

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At his pre-tournament press conference at Roland Garros, Stefanos Tsitsipas issued some comments that could easily be taken as a death knell for his generation, while pondering the state of his own game.

Tsitsipas, twice a Grand Slam runner-up and now ranked 17 spots below his career high of No. 3, told reporters, “I feel like the lineup right now is much more difficult than it was back then (2021, when he was a finalist at Roland Garros). Players are so much more mature. Shots have changed. Players have second forehands in this very moment. They're playing with two forehands almost. I have to adapt my game.”

Later in the conversation, Tsitsipas allowed that when he studies tape of those lost major finals, his big takeaway has nothing to do with tactics, strategy or fitness. He’s just left feeling that, comparatively, tennis has grown a lot more “intense” with the ascendancy of the dominant top two, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

“Also,” he added, “There are a bunch of guys now (presumably, youngsters like Jacob Mensik, Joao Fonseca) that are following in their footsteps and showing the same type of potential.”

It’s telling that some commentators have hung the label “Sandwich Generation” on Tsitsipas and his generational peers—Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev—who emerged from under the ATP’s innovative and surprisingly durable “Next Gen” branding umbrella. These players, rapidly approaching their theoretical use-by dates, increasingly appear stuck like a piece of lunch meat between two forces: the Big Three, who dominated tennis when the Next Gen campaign was launched, and a ferocious new wave led by Sinner and Alcaraz.

Tsitsipas’ generation was originally promoted as the heirs apparent to Federer, Nadal, Djokovic et al. But who knew that the Big Three, with help from Andy Murray, would enjoy such otherworldly success? More importantly, who could have predicted their longevity, and how long the group would keep the upcoming talent from feeding at the Grand Slam trough—or how swiftly two new exceptional talents would emerge?

This Sandwich Generation has enjoyed plenty of success in general, but it has produced only one Grand Slam singles champion, Medvedev. It has also given us an Olympic singles gold medalist, which to some is the equal of a Grand Slam championship. But Zverev, the man who claimed that gold, knows it just isn’t the same thing.

Zverev, who has struggled to add to his resume this year despite the three-month absence of Sinner, made one of the most spectacular debuts in ATP history in 2017. Just 20 years old, he won two Masters 1000 titles and skipped the inaugural Next Gen Finals exhibition because he also qualified for the eight-man, main-tour ATP Finals.

The German may yet win a major title, perhaps as soon as next week. But for now, he remains the most accomplished player never to win a major, and he knows exactly whom to thank for that.

“I wish I would not have had the three greatest players of all time for the first ten years of my career,” Zverev said as he opened his campaign in Paris last week. “I think I would have won maybe one or two Slams by now, and probably a few more tournaments. But at the same time, it was a privilege playing them. I enjoyed every moment of it.”

For his part, Medvedev exhibited a mild form of denial in his most recent meeting with the press. Outside the Top 10 now, the 29-year-old former No. 1 would only concede that Sinner and Alcaraz “play a bit better than everyone else on the tour right now.” But he doesn’t detect any generational shift, or the kind of quantum leap described by Tsitsipas.

“It’s tough to say exactly about the level,” said Medvedev, who lost his Roland Garros opener to Cameron Norrie in five sets. “Everyone is playing strong. Everyone wants to win. It's always tough. I do think it was the same all the time.”

The news delivered by Tsitsipas seemed grim, but we’re in an era that has demolished the conventional wisdom about career longevity. The task of facing a Sinner or Alcaraz seems daunting, but it may not be as difficult as simply keeping the faith that they can be beaten, or continuing to believe that a Grand Slam title is still within reach. That’s the challenge now.

Tsitsipas posted a convincing win in his first match in Paris this year, and he moves on to play 167th-ranked Matteo Gigante in a desirable second-rounder.

“I have to consider certain things moving forwards because it's (tennis) growing a lot in intensity, and physically it has never been in a position like the way it is now,” Tsitsipas said. “I see constant evolution and constant growth of the sport in terms of how the players are evolving and how much better they're getting.”

Bring them on, two forehands and all.