Remember when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi began to fade slowly in the early 2000s, and everyone wondered: Who would be the next big thing in men’s tennis? Then we saw the rise of the ‘Big 3‘—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic in the sport, debuting between 1998 and 2003. Now, Federer and Nadal have retired, and it’s now all up to the Serb to carry forward the legacy from their era, battling some of the brightest prospects of the game. But is the future of the sport in safe hands? “The game always creates superstars and creates great stories, and so for me, I never worried about the game,” said Roger Federer. And recently, we saw the rise of two promising lads at the ‘Sunshine Doubles‘.

Jack Draper recently became the fifth British player to lift a Masters 1000 title. Shortly after that, the Czech 19-year-old Jakub Menšík became the lowest-ranked man (54) to win the Miami Open. Mensik also became the second teenager outside the Top 20 to win a Masters 1000 event after Michael Chang in 1990. So, there is no shortage of rising stars in the sport. On the Served podcast, Andy Roddick asked renowned tennis expert Jon Wertheim to share his thoughts on the era of tennis after the ‘Big 3’.

In response, Wertheim drew an interesting comparison with the American dark comedy-drama anthology web series, The White Lotus. The series follows the exploits of the guests and staff during a week spent at a luxury global resort hotel chain. The eighth episode of the third season, which was filmed on a set in Thailand, is all set to get released on April 6. Before that, there had been a lot of buzz around it. Highlighting his craze for the series, Wertheim drew an analogy to define the era of tennis after the ‘Big 3.’

He said, “Do you guys watch White Lotus? It’s a great show…why am I bringing that up, because the first two season you had this star Jennifer Coolidge (as Tany McQuoid) that sort of carried the show, and she was who everyone tuned in for and everyone talked about and now she’s not in season 3. Well, what we have instead, we have this variety of storylines and different people find you know…Some love the Parker Posey character (as Victoria Ratliff) and others are really taken by you know the woman from Hawaii.“

Drawing parallels to the sport of Tennis, he added, “Everyone has a, and that’s kind of my tortured analogy to tennis right now. There are no obvious storylines. There’s no obvious player for the record, I think. We are so accustomed to these three unrivaled pillars that are not just of excellent but of consistent excellence, where we could just, you know, lock that they would be…you bought tickets to the semis of a major and you knew you were going to see some combination probably all three of Roger, Rafa and Novak. That’s not the case anymore.”

So, according to Jon Wertheim, the rapid rise of these youngsters in the last couple of years has made things slight unpredictable. Furthermore, just a few days ago, a former Top 20, Catherine Tanvier, named Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the one’ s that’d “hold the fort for a long time.” Alcaraz is now just 21 years old, and already has four Grand Slam titles. Sinner (23), on the other hand, has three. Are they the only answer to the burning question: Who after the ‘Big 3’?

Well, according to Mats Wilander, both Sinner and Alcaraz are following in the “footsteps of the ‘Big 3’ in terms of level.“ Interestingly, in November 2023, Novak Djokovic even named three players whom he felt could force him out of tennis. Who were they? “Carlos, Jannik, and Holger are the big three. The next big three, if you want to call them. They are going to carry this sport.” Even American legend, Andre Agassi, had a similar pick. But how impressive have been the rise of two other big names in the scene recently, though?

The Big 3’s sole torch bearer lavishes praise on the teenager

Last year, after losing out to Jannik Sinner in a hard-fought battle at the US Open, Jack Draper said, “I just need to keep on learning, keep on growing, keep on having situations where I came unstuck. I’m breaking new barriers down the whole time of what I think is possible.” This year, at the Indian Wells, Jack Draper not all broke the barriers that came his way but also secured his maiden ATP 1000 Masters title and moved up to number 7 in the ATP singles rankings. 

Shortly after that empathic triumph in the final against Holger Rune, he said, “I want to be a top player, I want to keep improving, but I kind of work hard and see what comes because my dream is doing what I’m doing. To play on the big stages against the best players in the world, to have the opportunities I have. Winning these big tournaments is an added bonus.“

And talking about playing against the best, just like Draper, the 19-year-old Jakub Mensik had a dream of competing against the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz to test his levels against the best. Although he hasn’t yet had the chance to face either of them, his recent win over the sole member of the ‘Big 3’ in the final of the 2025 Miami Open has now put him in the limelight. Novak Djokovic heaped praise on Mensik after the match, saying, “He’s one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest.“ Novak. Djokovic said he knew that “He’s (Mensik) going to be one of the top players in the world. So I’m super glad that he’s using the potential that he has because he’s got the complete game.“

Even tennis legend Mats Wilander was seen sharing a few words about Mensik after his heroics in Miami. Wilander said, “He’s going to be one of the top five favorites to win majors going forward, maybe not this year already, but he might be a dark horse where he has a chance to beat anybody on any surface at any time.” Who among these youngsters do you think has the real potential to follow in the footsteps of the ‘Big 3′? Share your thoughts in the comment box.