Men's Tennis Approaching Golden Era

NEW YORK -- So we didn't get it. It's not happening. No Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final at the U.S. Open.

Does that ruin things? Probably in some ways. But you'd better get used to it, because it's about to start getting harder and harder for these guys to play each other in a major final.

Federer made it Sunday, beating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-5. But on Monday he'll play Juan Martin del Potro, who crushed Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

"It's very difficult for me to speak at this moment," del Potro said. "I'm very close to my dream, to win this tournament. If I win, (or) if I lose, I think this is the best moment of my life."

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Sounds like a guy who didn't expect to be here, who has never been to a major final before. True. But a guy Federer will pound, who we'll never hear from again?

No. Del Potro is just 20, and is going to be a star, maybe by Monday afternoon. Pick Federer, but expect a great match.

If you're watching. Just a prediction, but this will get horrible TV ratings, partly from the match having to come on a Monday afternoon, 4 p.m. (ET), and partly because no one outside of tennis fans has a clue who del Potro is.

Federer and Nadal, and maybe Andy Roddick, too, have hogged everything.

The funny thing is that if it takes Federer vs. Nadal for tennis to get its big attention, then the game should be cursing any reason we might not get that matchup.

That reason? Men's tennis is now moving into the greatest era in the sport's history.

Not one star, not two. We might have a whole bunch.

We like to romanticize about the past, about our own eras. Think of the early 1980s, even with Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

I'm sorry, but if you watch the old matches on The Tennis Channel, or during Open rain delays, you might notice that most of those guys would have no chance against these guys.

No. Chance.

Today's players are not only hitting hard from the power of the racquets, but also are much stronger, much more athletic, much more physical.


Del Potro is 6-foot-6, and moves like a basketball player. In the 1980s, that was considered too tall for tennis. But the game is now moving into an era of pure athletes.

On top of that, these top seven players – Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, del Potro, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, have separated themselves from the rest of the game. In a tournament in Canada this summer, the top eight ranked players reached the quarterfinals for the first time in the Open era.

So Djokovic said recently that maybe he came along in the wrong era. And when I asked del Potro about that last week, he said this:

"Yeah, my feeling is I have very good players from me to the No. 1," he said. "For sure, Roger, Rafa, Murray, they are two or three steps more than me. I'm working hard every day to be like them.

"But if I play for many years in this level, then they're going to retire and I'm going to be much better, so..."

A few days later, he cleared Rafa.

Federer is still the hurdle, and has not let these guys into the circle.

A few weeks ago in Cincinnati, I asked him about whether he feels that more players are ready to win majors, and he immediately defended his turf.

"Yeah, but they have been around for a while now," he said. "They announced themselves since a few years. I mean, del Potro, I played him the first time three, four years ago. Tsonga has been injured a lot, but he's also not a teenager anymore.

"These guys are all in their 20s now. It's nice to see them all break through, like Murray and Djokovic and Rafa. But they're not 19 anymore, so we're sort of already waiting for the next generation."

If you didn't hear it, that was a challenge. But the only hitch in Federer's legacy, in the argument over whether he's the best ever, is that he didn't build those numbers against the best competition.

Nadal gave him a champion to measure himself against. But in the past few years, Nadal has had the better of the rivalry.

And I think if Federer can keep this up now, with this new generation, then there will be no argument.

Djokovic broke through to win a major, beating Tsonga in the Australian Open final last year. But on Sunday, he admitted to having a mental block with Federer.

"There are many more years to come," Djokovic said. "Winning a grand slam (a major) and winning against most of the top players gives me enough hope and enough reason to believe I can be No. 1.

"Definitely, del Potro is showing his best tennis in the last couple months. He's moving extremely well for his height, and is an all-around player. He has a good chance against Roger if he plays his best. Del Potro, Murray, Roddick, these guys are in the group to win grand slams."

Roddick won one several years ago and was No. 1 before Federer came on. And while Roddick is playing his best tennis now, he has trouble staying in the top five. How's that for a sign of the improvement of the top of the men's game?

Federer embarrassed del Potro in Australia in January, then won closer in Madrid, then nearly lost to him at the French.

Del Potro's serve has improved 100 percent from this time last year, he said. And it's true. The knock on him is that he's not fit enough, can't last long matches.

I think it's more a matter of strength. And his first serve might be going 25 mph faster now than it was just last year, showing the strength is coming.

"You could feel he was improving every month," Federer said. "He knows what to do on the tennis court now, whereas in the beginning, he's so tall, maybe he wasn't sure what he had to do."

On Sunday, del Potro had Nadal figured out, for sure. It's one more hurdle today for the next generation to crash the party.

Unless Federer can hold it back another day.

Email me at gregcouch09@aol.com