Sports
ATP Tour Finals without the ‘Big Three’ brings hope and frustration to tennis’ sandwich generation
TURIN, Italy — This is what they have been waiting for.
Some really good tennis players have congregated here in northern Italy for the ATP Tour Finals, the most exclusive men’s tournament in the sport. Only the best eight players available receive an invitation.
Novak Djokovic, the greatest player of his era, and maybe any era, isn’t here. He’s 37, a combination of injured and exhausted, and trying to save himself for next year’s Grand Slams.
For the generation of players born in the middle and late 1990s, Djokovic’s absence represents a void they have dreamed of for most of their careers. For the first time since 2001, no member of the sport’s Big Three (Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal) is in the field for this event.
It is a harbinger that will before too long spread to the rest of the tennis calendar, removing the top layer of the sandwich that for years squeezed all those hot shots born in the years leading up to the 21st century out of Grand Slams and Masters 1000s. When Djokovic won the 2023 U.S. Open, he racked up the Big Three’s 66th title in 79 majors. They played each other so often in finals and semifinals that players born in the 1990s barely got the chance to lose in the late stages of tournaments, let alone imagine winning them.
“I think the mental coping that I was doing was, well, every time I was in the quarters I played Djokovic,” said Taylor Fritz, 27, at this year’s U.S. Open. Fritz would reach his first Grand Slam semifinal there, then his first final. He lost to Jannik Sinner, who, along with Carlos Alcaraz, is the avatar of how Djokovic and Nadal (who is retiring this month, at age 38, after the Davis Cup) have stuck around just long enough to complete their wreckage of the sandwich generation’s tennis lives.
Just when they thought the Big Three were going to stop hogging all the oxygen, a 19-year-old from Murcia and a 21-year-old from the Dolomites stepped onto Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2022 and played five sets of computer-game tennis that left the 1990s group breathless once more. In the two years since that quarterfinal, Alcaraz and Sinner have won six majors between them and both spent time as world No. 1, a position the latter currently occupies.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have become used to holding trophies (Lintao Zhang / Getty Images)
Djokovic won the other majors. The sandwich squeezed once more.
“Those guys are I guess younger, but they have done better than, let’s say, the ’90s kids, whatever you or I want to call them,” Casper Ruud, 25, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, said in a news conference on Monday. Ruud lost to Alcaraz in the final of that fateful 2022 U.S. Open; Nadal and Djokovic annihilated him at Roland Garros in successive years.
“They have been, this year, almost in a league of their own.”
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This isn’t how tennis usually goes.
There was an interregnum between the Pete Sampras/Andre Agassi dominance of the 1990s and the emergence of Federer, and then Nadal and Djokovic. There was time for the Patrick Rafters and Marat Safins and Carlos Moyas and Juan Carlos Ferreros to get a slice of the limelight. Later, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka fought their way to major titles; Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic grabbed opportunities when they came.
There is unlikely to be another interregnum for some time, but there are slivers of that kind of light. Ruud registered his first win over Alcaraz in five attempts on Monday here, taking advantage of an under-the-weather opponent playing in his worst environment — indoors, on a fast court. After, he acknowledged that Alcaraz’s error-strewn match contributed mightily to his success as he tries to play more aggressively to rise to the heights that the Spaniard and Sinner have taken tennis.
“It’s not the nature of my game,” Ruud said. “I’m hesitating a little bit when I need to be too aggressive. But I’m trying.”
“Try again. Fail again. Fail better,” Samuel Beckett famously wrote.
That’s about what tennis has become for Ruud’s generation, which also includes Fritz, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and Andrey Rublev, all of whom are here in Turin.
Andrey Rublev is among the group of players trying to step out of the shadow of the Big Three (Marco Bertorello / AFP via Getty Images)
Some appear to be managing the process better than others.
Medvedev, the most successful member of the group, is in the midst of an intense struggle to find motivation. Mentally and physically exhausted, he has reached the end of his strings. “Every practice is a struggle, every match is a struggle,” the six-time Grand Slam finalist and 2021 U.S. Open champion said in a news conference on Sunday, after losing to Fritz in straight sets.
Not so long ago, Medvedev was blowing even Sinner away, racking up six straight wins with his beguiling defense and serve. Since then, a shoulder issue, changes in balls, and the Italian’s development have knocked him back. Alcaraz’s ability to dominate the front of the court has negated the deep return strategy that Medvedev used to put so many opponents out of joint.
Medvedev, 28, is a former world No. 1. Zverev, 27, is the current world No. 2 and has won this tournament twice, but he says he knows that he holds that position on the ATP computer alone.
Being at the top of their sport can make them feel like also-rans. Tennis will do that to you.
Zverev took on another leading member of the sandwich generation on Monday night in Rublev, who is 28 and is always teetering on the edge of another unpleasant incident of self-flagellation. He has bloodied himself multiple times in the past year. Like salt being rubbed into wounds, the match was delayed by about 20 minutes while the ATP awarded Sinner the trophy for finishing the year as the world No. 1.
There probably was no good time for the ceremony to happen. This Tour Finals is basically a sandwich generation convention. It was going to be awkward no matter what.
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Like Ruud and Fritz, Zverev has embraced the challenge of trying to match Alcaraz and Sinner, if not every week or every season, but at least during a single two-week stretch of seven matches when he can win a so-far elusive Grand Slam. He is an Olympic gold medalist but has said all the other tournaments he has won will ultimately mean nothing unless he ticks off one of the four majors.
To that end, Zverev has effectively let go of any results he might achieve this fall. Last month, he practised for an hour every day after his matches as he rolled to the title in the year’s last important big tournament, the Paris Masters.
He said he was happy with the outcome. He’d rather win than not. Who wouldn’t? But he remains focused almost singularly on improvement, and if that meant taking to the court in Paris on weary legs, so be it. The 2025 Australian Open was a little more than two months away then and is closer now; Zverev wants to be playing the kind of tennis the game demands by then.
Alexander Zverev remains in search of an elusive Grand Slam (Marco Bertorello / AFP via Getty Images)
Like Ruud, he believes he has to play more aggressively to have a chance to stay on the court with Sinner and Alcaraz.
“When they get an easy ball, when they’re in an attacking position, 90 percent of the time the point is over, whether it’s a winner or an unforced error,” he said. “That’s how hard they hit the ball, that’s how aggressive they are. I think in that aspect, I can improve. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
After the Sinner show, he did it very well yesterday against Rublev to win 6-4, 6-4, pushing into the court and practically throwing his racket at the ball nearly every time he got the chance to put away a point, even sometimes when the chances weren’t there.
None of this is to suggest that all hope is lost and that Sinner and Alcaraz will win everything important for a decade. That just doesn’t happen. As Ruud noted on Monday after his win, “They’re also human. I mean, they will lose matches, just not that many during a year.”
Sinner may yet be stopped by off-court forces greater than any player. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is seeking a ban of one or two years in its appeal of his doping case, which it submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in September.
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Earlier this year, Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol, an anabolic steroid. Three tribunals convened by the tennis anti-doping authorities accepted his explanation that the substance inadvertently ended up in his system after his physiotherapist used it to treat a cut on his own finger, then gave Sinner a massage. WADA, too, accepts this explanation but believes he should bear some responsibility for the actions of his support team.
Until then, the players will have to keep trying to figure out how to topple him and Alcaraz on the tennis court.
Today (Tuesday), it’s Fritz’s turn, as he and Sinner will duel in a rematch of September’s U.S. Open final, in which Sinner won by doing what Fritz does, but doing it a bit better — and by tweaking his return position when his opponent gathered some momentum.
Fritz hasn’t been hanging around the top 10 since the late 20-teens, like his European peers. He’s only recently become a serious threat with a ticking clock, trying to max out his potential before it’s too late.
(Top photo: Nicolo Campo / LightRocket via Getty Images)
It might be time to write a folk song about the demise of City Section basketball using the music of Peter, Paul and Mary and the new title, “Where Have All the Players Gone?”
The talent level clearly has hit rock bottom only a year after Alijah Arenas was a McDonald’s All-American at Chatsworth High and Tajh Ariza led Westchester to the City Section Open Division title. Because their parents went to City Section schools, Arenas and Ariza stuck it out. Then Arenas graduated early to join USC and Ariza left for St. John Bosco, then prep school.
Westchester is where Ed Azzam won 15 City titles in 42 seasons until his retirement in 2021. Crenshaw is where Willie West won 16 City titles and eight state titles. Taft is where Derrick Taylor won four City titles and coached future NBA players Jordan Farmar, Larry Drew II and AJ Johnson. Fairfax is where Harvey Kitani coached for 35 years, won four City titles and two state titles and earned most of his nearly 1,000 victories. He was followed by Steve Baik and Reggie Morris Jr., each of whom won City championships before leaving.
None of the City schools once considered among the best in Southern California are even close to resembling their glory days, and they aren’t alone. The City Section has lost most of its talent, and it was truly Hall of Fame talent: Marques Johnson and John Williams at Crenshaw; Gail Goodrich at Sun Valley Poly; Willie Naulls at San Pedro; Dwayne Polee at Manual Arts; Gilbert Arenas at Grant; Trevor Ariza at Westchester; Chris Mills at Fairfax. There were decades of success.
There’s no one person to blame. You can’t even place the downfall solely on the Los Angeles Unified School District, whose high schools compete in the City Section.
But LAUSD has done nothing to reverse the trend and didn’t help matters by opening so many new schools in such rapid fashion that longtime legacy schools lost their luster amid declining student enrollment. Things became even more disruptive by the rise of charter schools and private schools taking away top athletes. Adding to that, the loss of veteran coaches frustrated by bureaucracy issues and rules that force programs to secure permits and pay to use their own gyms in the offseason helped further the exodus.
Westchester is 2-8 this season and an example of where City Section basketball stands. Two top players from last season — Gary Ferguson and Jordan Ballard — are now at St. Bernard. Westchester doesn’t even have a roster posted on MaxPreps. King/Drew won its first City Open Division title in 2024 under coach Lloyd Webster. This season Webster sent his senior son, Josahn, to Rolling Hills Prep to play for Kitani. King/Drew is 4-10.
Charter schools Birmingham, Palisades and Granada Hills have separated themselves in virtually all City Section sports including basketball. They have no enrollment boundaries as long as there’s a seat for a student. Palisades lost so many students after the wildfire last year that transfers have been big additions for its teams this school year. Online courses are being offered to help students enroll and compete in sports at charter schools.
The old powers from the inner city — Crenshaw, Dorsey, Jefferson, Locke and Fremont — experienced big changes in demographics. Many coaches are walk-ons and not teachers. The legacy schools have to compete with charter schools View Park Prep, Triumph, Animo Watts, Animo Robinson, WISH Academy and USC-MAE. When young players are discovered and developed, rarely will they stay when one of the private schools or AAU coaches searching for talent spots them in the offseason.
So what’s left? Not much.
Palisades, Washington Prep and Cleveland look like the three top teams this season. All three added transfers to help buck the downward trend. And yet their records are 3-10, 8-8 and 7-6, respectively, against mostly Southern Section teams.
Maybe this can be a fluke one-year plunge to the bottom and the climb back up can begin, aided by coaches who recognize their job is to teach lessons in basketball, life and college preparation. Parents need a reason to send their kids to a City Section school. It’s up to LAUSD and principals to help change the trajectory by finding coaches with integrity, passion and willingness to embrace the underdog role.
There are plenty in the system doing their best. It’s time to start hearing and answering their pleas for help.
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The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
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Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
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When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.
It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.
Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.
Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.
Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.
Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.
Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.
Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.
Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.
St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.
Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.
Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.
Girls basketball
Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.
Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.
Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).
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