The ATP Finals are about to begin in Turin, Italy. The top 8 players in the world are getting ready to face each other. However, Alexander Zverev is missing the presence of the Big 3. This is the first time in 23 years that the ATP Finals will go ahead without any of the famed Big 3 being a part of it. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic grabbed all the attention in the year-ending championship for a long, long time, but with two of them having already announced their retirement and Djokovic being a bit picky about the tournaments he wants to play, this year’s ATP Finals seem a bit strange.

During the pre-tournament press conference, when one of the reporters asked Alexander Zverev, “Does it feel strange not having any of those guys here? Not having Novak here. And do you feel now the most experienced guy in the room?” the German responded,“I think I’ve played the finals most. I feel old!”

“I think it’s strange to not see Novak here. Just because of all the success he had. For me, he is still one of the best players in the world. I mean, he qualified for this event, right? He just chose not to play it,” Zverev further added.

However, it’s not just Djokovic alone that Zverev is missing. He talked about his time playing against Nadal and Federer as well. “But yeah first few times I played, Novak Rafa and Roger were always the highlights of the tournament. They were always the people everybody expected to win and expected to go far,” the World No. 2 remarked.

Last year, Novak Djokovic claimed the ATP Finals title, defeating Jannik Sinner. Although this season hasn’t been great for Djokovic, the Serb has still proved his mettle, claiming the elusive Olympic Gold. However, he has decided not to show up in Turin because of an ‘ongoing injury.’

At the year-end tournament, for the first time, none of the Big 3 would mark their presence, even though Djokovic qualified for the event. Since the Olympics, his knee (after a speedy 20-day recovery) has probably started to trouble him again.

Talking about Zverev’s record in the ATP Finals, when he won the tournament for the first time in 2018, he had to beat two of the Big 3 to lift the title. He defeated Federer in the semifinals and Djokovic in the finals. No one could lift the year-ending title without beating either or all of the Big 3 over the last two decades.”You had to beat those guys to have a chance at the title. It does feel different!”– remarked Zverev.

However, even in the absence of the Big 3, it may not be a lot different for the German ace. He will still have to deal with the challenges from the younger generation featuring Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

In Big 3’s absence, Sinner and Alcaraz stand tall in Alexander Zverev’s way to the title

Zverev has another challenge to overcome this season. And he is going to great lengths to defeat the incumbent World No.1, and the World No.3, Sinner and Alcaraz. Zverev has transformed his training regime to fit in extra hours, just to get better and catch up with Sinner and Alcaraz. During a press conference at the Paris Masters, the German opened up about his motivation for the extra work he had been putting in.

He said, “For me, it’s about improving a few things. I feel like, you know, Jannik and Carlos, you know, they are doing a few things better than me at the moment, I want to improve not for tomorrow, not for today or, you know, because of the matches I played here. I want to generally improve for next year as well.” Rightly so, this season, he was ousted by Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open final.

It’s astounding, as Alexander Zverev is not just eyeing the season-end title, but he is also planning for the next year’s tournaments already. It would be thrilling to see Zverev go against the two top youngsters in Turin. He would back himself to go all the way this season in the absence of the Big 3, but will that be easy with Sinner and Alcaraz standing in his way? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.