When that 5-hour-29-minute French Open marathon battle ended three months ago, one thing became clear. A new era is upon us, and it won’t – for the first time in years – feature the Big Three. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner wooed the world with their masterclass at Court Philippe-Chatrier in their maiden face-off in a slam final. They were just getting started. After the Wimbledon and US Open clashes, the Spaniard and the Italian have cemented their status as the next two undisputed tennis stars. Does that mean the last-standing ‘Big 3’ member and 24-time slam king Novak Djokovic’s unmatched reign is approaching twilight?

Ahead of the eighth edition of the Laver Cup, taking place in San Francisco, 20-time slam winner and legend Roger Federer made his point very clear about what the future holds, especially about the next generation of tennis stars. Lauding Sinner and Alcaraz, he began, “I think the French Open for me was a little bit that match, you know, that the game needed to really sort of move on as well from the post-Roger, Rafa, Serena time as well to truly embrace this rivalry and this incredible shot-making that Carlos and Jannik have right now.” But guess what? He refused to admit that there’s no place for an icon like Djokovic amidst the unbeatable supremacy of the Italian “machine” and the “Murcian Maverick”.

Making an honest confession about his former archrival, Federer said, “Novak is right there as well. I think he played four semis this year, you know all four majors, which is incredible.” Undoubtedly, that’s impressive given the fact that the Serbian is 38 now. Although Djokovic hasn’t won a single slam this season, the Swiss Maestro knows one can never rule him out completely.

This year, Djokovic became the oldest player ever to make it into the semis of all four slams in a season. Not to mention he holds the record for appearing in the most slam semifinals in history (53 out of 80 majors played).

Still, when it comes to how the journey is going for the Serbian on the tour, things are not looking good. Especially now that Alcaraz and Sinner have become nearly impossible to beat. Even for a GOAT like Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic’s honest admission about Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner

Barring the semifinal in Melbourne where he was forced to withdraw due to a hamstring injury against Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic has lost all the remaining semis to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner this season. In Paris and London, the Italian bested him in straight sets before the Spaniard beat him, in straight sets too, in New York.

It appears Djokovic has realized that he’s past his prime and the form that guaranteed a win no matter what. Against SinCaraz, hopes for him to succeed whatsoever are dwindling. Following his loss at the US Open, he simply admitted, “I can do only as much as I can do. Yeah, it will be very difficult for me in the future to overcome the hurdle of Sinner, Alcaraz, in the best-of-five on the Grand Slams. I think I have a better chance best-of-three, but best-of-five, it’s tough.”

His latest setback even compelled sports commentator Catherine Whitaker to raise question marks about his career moving forward. “There’s so many layers to this, how it reflects on the rest of men’s tennis. You know, what is Djokovic supposed to do? Because you can’t walk away from a career when you’re reliably reaching Grand Slam semi-finals and you’re so clearly the third-best player in the world.”

She further added, “And yet, I totally understand why that’s not enough for him, not enough to get him out of bed every day and do what he has to do to his body, to get himself in this position. What a strange place he’s in.”

As far as his remaining season is concerned, Djokovic has taken a long break before stepping back on the court. He pulled out from the Davis Cup and also the Laver Cup. So, where does he intend to play next? “I’m planning to play the Athens tournament. That’s for sure. But other than that, it’s really still a question mark,” he revealed, as reported by Tennis Majors on September 6. The ATP 250 event in Athens, the Hellenic Championship, will take place in November. It’s the same month that the ATP Finals kick off. Perhaps, the Serbian is thinking of getting in form for the year-end finale and wrap up the season on a positive note with a deep run (or maybe a title, hopefully).