The remarkable tennis history hidden in plain sight

The big three might have snatched up the last nine grand slams and it might yet be 10 in a row if Rafael Nadal dominates Roland Garros again.

But there is now no doubt about it – hidden in plain sight, men's tennis has undergone a changing of the guard.

Fabio Fognini won the biggest title of his erratic career on Sunday with a 6-3 6-4 win over Dusan Lajovic in the Monte Carlo Masters final.

He knocked out the clay-court master Nadal in the semi-finals, while world No.1 Novak Djokovic fell to rising Russian star Daniil Medvedev in the quarters.

Much of the attention was on Fognini becoming the first Italian to win the event since Nicola Pietrangeli in 1968.

But in taking out his first Masters title, the 31-year-old highlighted the progression of the tour in recent years.

Since May 2017, eight of the 17 Masters 1000 tournaments have been won by first-time champions.

The 92 events before then had seen just eight players break through.

A 20-year-old Alexander Zverev kicked it all off at the Italian Open and he has since won two more – the Canadian Open a few months later and last year's Madrid Open.

Later in 2017 Grigor Dimitrov and Jack Sock won their maiden Masters titles in Cincinnati and Paris respectively.

The trend has continued since, with veterans Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner ending their long droughts before being joined by Karen Khachanov, Dominic Thiem and now Fognini.

Other young guns to reach finals in that period without taking home silverware are Nick Kyrgios, Filip Krajinovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Borna Coric.

While injuries have hit Nadal again in recent times and Federer remains on a reduced schedule, the big three have all suffered notable defeats at the Masters level in the period.

Djokovic has been beaten by Zverev, Thiem, Kyle Edmund, Tsitsipas and Khachanov.

Nadal has been conquered by Kyrgios, Krajinovic and Thiem, with the latter joining Thanasi Kokkinakis, Zverev and Coric in defeating Federer.

The proof is in the pudding that the legends can no longer dominate year-round.

The next step for the rest of the tour? Making it count when the entire world is watching – at the four grand slams – before the big three retire.

Fognini's 'home' away from home

The local lad from nearby San Remo, a 40-minute drive away along the Mediterranean coast and over the Italian border, made his breakthrough at the highest level so far in Monte Carlo.

Fognini's first Masters title will help him push closer to the top 10 when he climbs six places up to 12th in the rankings.

"I was born in San Remo, and I was practicing here when I was young. I know really well this tennis club," Fognini said.

"My friends and family are happy now, because I have my name on this tournament that it's something that when I was really young I was dreaming about."

After going out in the third round of the Australian Open, Fognini had won only one match and lost six times before this tournament.

Somehow, he's turned it all around — and it feels exhausting.

"It has been an incredible week, I will keep working. I started the season badly so this is unbelievable," Fognini said.

"Mentally I'm so tired but really, really happy because I won a big tournament that was always my goal in my career.

"We are talking about Masters series and the next one is a grand slam. So it is second in the line."

Fognini's career has seen many flashes of brilliance — his flicked, laser-beam forehands fly down the line at astonishing speed and his cross-court backhand is equally dangerous — but also many temper tantrums.

A player who has beaten Nadal three times on clay in his career, and beaten Nadal once at the US Open after trailing by two sets, must be doing something right.

But there have always been question marks hanging over Fognini, and finally winning a Masters may help shed some self-doubt.

"He definitely has the game for top 10," Lajovic said.

"We all know that tennis is not just tennis, it's mental most of the time. So it depends on him."

with AFP