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'It will happen': Serena's coach makes bold call on tennis legends

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·2-min read
Serena Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, claims we will see a major breakthrough of the NextGen and they will usurp the likes of Roger Federer (pictured right) and Novak Djokovic (pictured left) soon. (Getty Images)
Serena Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, claims we will see a major breakthrough of the NextGen and they will usurp the likes of Roger Federer (pictured right) and Novak Djokovic (pictured left) soon. (Getty Images)

Serena Williams’ coach believes the NextGen aren’t far away from usurping Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and acknowledges how hard it has been for the younger generation.

Patrick Mouratoglou was asked about when a player younger would make a breakthrough and usurp the ‘Big Three’ on any of the surfaces.

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While he remained doubtful Nadal would give up his reign on the red clay anytime soon, he did think we could see a new champion at the upcoming US Open.

“At Roland Garros, it will be difficult, I heard that there’s a Spanish guy [Nadal] who’s gonna play again,” he said on UBI Tennis.

“Probably, like every year we start Roland Garros and we know who’s gonna win. And just don’t know against whom,” he told UBI Tennis.

But with Nadal appearing to prioritise Roland Garros over the US Open, Federer sitting out the remainder of the 2020 season and Djokovic yet to decide what tournaments he will play, Mouratoglou said we could see a new winner sooner than we think.

“On the US Open it will depend if Rafa and Roger are nor going to play, and I don’t know about Novak, he was unclear about it. If they don’t play, we will certainly have a new winner,” he added.

Serena Williams (pictured right) walking with her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou (pictured left), before practice.
Serena Williams (pictured right) with her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou (pictured left), before practice. (REUTERS/Hannah McKay)

“Well, I mean you know it can happen, some guys are getting closer and closer.”

The NextGen made big steps recently with Dominic Thiem reaching the 2019 French Open and Australian 2020 Open finals and Russian Daniil Medvedev reaching the 2019 US Open Final.

Federer admits retirement is getting closer

The 38-year-old stands as one of the greats of modern tennis, as one of just two players in the sport’s history to have won more than 100 ATP events.

In an interview with German outlet Zeit, Federer said he was hopeful to play in front of a packed stadium at least once more.

“In principle, I was only concerned with my health, but now I miss the feeling of playing in a full stadium,” Federer said.

“Retirement is getting closer and I will miss tennis so much.

“It would be easier for me to retire now, but I wanna give myself a chance to keep enjoying my time on the court.”