JustTennis

Spain’s history spans thousands of years, shaped by key eras. From the 1st Century BC when the Romans conquered the Peninsula naming it Hispania and leaving a legacy of law, language, and infrastructure to the beginning of the Moorish Rule in 711 AD, to the Empire and Golden Age of the Catholic Monarch Ferdinand and Queen Isabella since 1492, to one of the most developed and modern nations in the world, governed by a stable democracy now.

It was in the beginning of the ‘Golden Age” that Spanish explorers like Christopher Columbus sailed across the seas to different part of this planet earth to find wealth, land and power. Since then, Spain has produced world-renowned artists, athletes, actors like painter Pablo Picasso, tennis super-star Rafa Nadal and actor Antonio Banderas.

The latest to arrive as a gift to the tennis world from that historical country is the “New Rafa”, Rafael Jodar. The teenager has already created history by becoming the quickest player to crack into the Top 20 in ATP Rankings from his Tour Debut Match at AO early this year👍

What is surprising more than anything else in this under-25 players’ list are the names of Ben Shelton, Holger Rune, Jakub Mensik and Arthur Fils too coming ahead of the youngest No.1 in history Carlos Alcaraz and the current World No.1 Jannik Sinner. The American Learner Tien comes 8th here.

Rune had a career-high ATP ranking at No.4 on August 21, 2023 and Fils was at No.14 on April 14, 2025. It was sad that Rune and Fils suffered some severe injuries, and missed to play in many tournaments after that. Fils is back into playing matches. Rune played his last match at Stockholm Open in September last year.

All of them are younger to Jannik and TERRIFIC tennis players. Shelton is only 7 months elder to Carlos, and Rune is of the same age as that of Alcaraz. Others are younger even to the Spaniard. Hope, Holger and Arthur will be back to Top 20 in the near future.

Then, there is the Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca who is No.27 in Live ATP Rankings. Whoever said tennis is going to be ruled by Sinner and Alcaraz in the next five-ten years maybe proven wrong very soon.!

At this moment, the “New Rafa” looks to be brightest prospect among them. He is No.15 in Live ATP Rankings. One deep run in one of the two Masters events at Canada or Cincinnati Opens, and at the US Open can take him into the Top 10 before the 2026 year-end.

Jodar is cool, composed, and very matured for his age👌There are no DRAMATICS on courts from him unlike his two senior countrymen - one who does a “Spanish bull-leaping” during the toss at the net before every match, and run like a "hare" to the service line from there. The other one goes for extravagant physical shot making to please the crowd watching in the stadium and on television, only to get injured often.

Jodar is only 19-year-old now, four years younger to Alcaraz. If he can reach the Top 20 in ATP rankings faster than Carlos, he can very well be there for more than 66 weeks as ATP No.1 when he turns 23, the present age of Carlitos.!

VAMOS Jodar👏👏

From a set down, what a come-back win that was in Washington for the latest Spanish teenage tennis sensation Rafael Jodar to reach the Championship match of an ATP 500 level tournament for the first time in his career❤️💪

HUGE Congratulations and Good Luck to Jodar👏👏

Relative Competitiveness in Men’s Tennis during the five years 2004-2008 & 2019-2023

1.Roger Federer was the No.1 player in the world for 237 consecutive weeks from February 02, 2004 to August 17, 2008. Andy Roddick was ATP No.1 for 4 weeks from January 01 to February 01, 2004. There was no threat for Roger’s position till Rafa Nadal displaced him the following day on August 18. Rafa remained as No.1 for 18 weeks till December 31 in 2008 and beyond. Federer won 12 Majors there.

1.Novak Djokovic was the No.1 in ATP rankings for 191 weeks during 2019-2023, Daniil Medvedev for 16 weeks and Carlos Alcaraz for 36 weeks. Djokovic won 10 Majors in that period.

2. Only 8 of the 12 Slam titles (67%) won by Roger were against players seeded between 1-to-8. Two of them were ranked outside the Top 50 - Marat Safin (No.86) at AO 2004 and Marcos Baghdatis (No.55) at AO 2006. 9 of the 10 Majors (90%) won by Djokovic during 2019-2023 was against players seeded among the Top 8 - Only 1 (One) player in Nick Kyrgios (No.40) at Wimbledon 2023 was ranked outside that.

3. During 2004-2008, among the players who were ranked No.1 in ATP rankings at one point of time or other in their careers, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi were all in that position only before Federer became No.1 in 2004. Agassi was well past his best at age 35 when the Swiss defeated the American to win the 2005 US Open. Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray were all very, very young in this period, and making their effort to become All Time Greats in the future.

4. As to the age differences among the BIG 3. While Roger is 5 years and 9 months older, Rafa is only 11 months elder to Novak. But, all of them won their last Majors at the same age of 36 - Federer the AO 2018, Nadal the FO 2022 and Novak the US Open 2023. What a COINCIDENCE, right.?!?

5. ATP Rankings. The Swiss was among the Top 3 in ATP rankings till February 24, 2020 and was in the Top 10 till October 04, 2021. Nadal was among the Top 3 till August 09, 2021 and, then again from July 11, 2022 to January 30, 2023.! Finally, the Spaniard was out of the Top 10 in ATP rankings only by March 20th of that year.

There shouldn’t be any two opinions about the high level of tennis played by Rafa and Roger even in the year 2019 when they lost to Novak at AO and Wimbledon respectively. They were just NOT good enough to beat him.!

Also, the level of tennis played by Medvedev and Alcaraz during 2019-2023 period must be considered as at much higher levels than that of Roddick, and a 17-22-year-old Nadal respectively during 2004-2008.

The TRUTH is Djokovic won his last 10 Slam titles at the age of 32-36 against much tougher opponents, than what Roger had to face in his prime age 22-27 to win his 12 Slams. Those who has a ‘little bit’ of tennis knowledge should know that👍

Many of the so-called Tennis “experts” are also EXPERTS in twisting FACTS, and to create a ‘false’ narrative they want for whatever reasons😂

BRAVO Nole👏👍

The three-time Champion Novak Djokovic will return to play in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati since he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in a memorable title match in the year 2023.

Djokovic was playing against a red-hot Alcaraz who had just won the Wimbledon Championship match against him a month earlier to that in July. That was the first ever title at the All England Club in London for the youngest No.1 in tennis history, and only the second Slam title of his career after the 2022 US Open win.

2023 Wimbledon Finals went for 4 hours and 42 Minutes and was finished when Carlos won the deciding fifth set 6-4. Alcaraz was No.1 and Djokovic was No.2 in ATP rankings that time.

The young Spaniard was in top form and everybody expected Carlos to win Cincinnati Open too. But the ever-green Serbian had other ideas, and shocked the tennis world when they played against each other in the finals.!

Novak at 36 made 16 years younger Carlos run for his money for 3 hours and 49 minutes to finally come out as a TRULY deserving Champion. That match is still recorded as the longest best-of-three-sets ATP Masters 1000 Final in history👏👏

Hope Djokovic, three years older this year, will get a few matches at least under his belt in Cincinnati before the US Open starts on 31 August.

Best Wishes and Good Luck to Novak🌹🙏

The current World No.2 and the 2026 French Open Champion Alexander Zverev has recently named the toughest opponent he has ever faced as none other than the 24-time Slam winner Novak Djokovic👌

The German has put the legendary Serbian ahead of the “King of Grass” Roger Federer, the “King of Clay” Rafa Nadal, the youngest No.1 in Men’s tennis history Carlos Alcaraz, and the current World No.1 Jannik Sinner.

This latest revelation from the German must be a mighty blow to the original fans of Roger and Rafa, who have converted themselves as the FEDALCARASINNER bandwagon in the last two-three years. They must have wished to hear the names from him of their new “heroes” Alcaraz OR Sinner the minimum, instead of Novak.!

But then, Zverev is not one of those “arm-chair” tennis experts and critics on social media😂 He has played many times against each one of them from the other side of the net in BIG tournaments in BIG matches on BIG points. He knows what he is talking about his BIGGEST rivals💪

Well said Sascha, and thanks for being so honest and frank❤️🙏

Wrist or foot injury. It will not be an issue for Carlos Alcaraz, as he will go all out in chasing money - that too in petro-dollars equaling 1.50 million US$ just as appearance fees in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the Six Kings Slam tournament in the coming month of October.

That’s not peanuts even for the rich young Spaniard.! It can be used to make the second installment of advance payment by him as he had signed a contract to commission a fully customized 88-foot Catamaran valued in excess of US$ 10 million which will be delivered soon for him to float around on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea👍

Good Luck to Carlos👏👏

Glad to know that at least one of the former World No.1 players in Men’s tennis, Andy Murray, has been outspoken about his dis-interest in the game ‘PICKLEBALL”👍

It’s a sport for the tennis ‘oldies’ now like John McErnore. Not worth its salt even for using the word “ball” attached to it.!

In the village where I grew up in Kerala, India, we the kids aged between 5-10 years used to play something like this non-challenging sport just to spend some time in the evening after our primary school hours.!

We used to make a court of the size about 15/10 ft on both sides, by drawing lines on the sandy mud using a stone. The court space used to be chosen between two coconut trees, and a coir rope was tied in the middle to both the trunks at about 3’ in height.

The bats or the racquets were made from the coconut leaf stems, the structural stalk connecting its fronds to the tree trunk. It was less than 2 ft in length. The base (wider) part of it was used to hit the primitive coconuts about two inches in diameter, which was supposed to be the ball. We always used the dried stems so that its weight is manageable for us at that age.

The game was played in a very friendly manner, jelling well with the beautiful and peaceful environment of the village we lived. We were playing our hearts-out even in Monsoon rains🥰 All the equipment used for it was made of ‘organic’ materials, that too from a single coconut tree which grows abundantly even in the house-hold properties in our state of Kerala in India, unlike the synthetic ones that are used in Pickleball in the 21st century.

There used to be no points in the game. But the kids who hit it inside the lines as winners on the opposite side of the rope used to celebrate with a shout of “C’mon!”, like many tennis players do now. If the tiny coconut went outside the lines, most of the kids expressed their disappointment by saying just “OMG!”. But there were NEVER any name calling, or shouting at others using bad words by any of them.

Yes, Pickleball is becoming a BIG hit in the US one understands. But then, that’s not surprising as most of the Americans have ‘inborn’ qualities to enjoy cheap and quick entertainment even during hard times. One has to admire them for having that exceptional skill👍😂

There we go👏👏

Roger Federer won his last Slam title, the AO 2018, playing in the finals against the No.6 Seed Marin Cilic. Just because the Swiss was not able to win any more Major since then, all other players in the tennis circuit suddenly seemed to be very ‘weak’ to the fans of Federer. It’s nothing but NONSENSE.

One of the names they always bring up as a ‘weak’ player is Stefanos Tsitsipas against whom Novak Djokovic had won two Slam titles, the FO 2021 & the AO 2023. The reason they attribute to consider Stefanos as a weak opponent is that he had never won a Slam title in his career.

The Greek was a FANTASTIC player until about 2-3 years back, winning 4 BIG titles. One of them was the season-ending ATP Finals in 2019. That’s an event second only to Slam and above Masters 1000 Series in Men’s tennis. Incidentally, Rafa Nadal was NEVER able to give his customary ‘bite’ to that trophy in his career that spanned for more than 20 years.!

What is more, Roger trails 0-1, and Nadal is tied with the Greek in their H-to-H Grand Slam matches. Tsitsipas was seeded much lower at No.14 during AO 2019. He defeated the No.3 Seed Federer in R16, but lost in the semifinals to Rafa, the No.2 Seed. The Spaniard was the No.2 Seed again when he lost to the Greek, Seeded No.5, in their Quarter-Final encounter at AO 2021.

Djokovic on the other hand, has a clean white-wash 3-0 lead in Majors, including two Championship match wins over Tsitsipas when they met. Novak was the No.1 Seed when he won against the No.5 Seed Stefanos in the Final at FO 2021. The Greek was even seeded higher at No.3 to the No.4 Seed in the title match when the Serbian won his 22nd Slam, the AO 2023.

Quite a lot of Roger and Rafa fans on social media platforms jump into the comment boxes there, whenever an article highlighting the achievements of Djokovic appears on tennis sites.

It's true that Federer and Nadal are two All Time Greats in tennis sport👍But, why should their hard-core fans be so desperate to “cherry-pick” some numbers to prove that the Swiss and the Spaniard are better players than the Serbian.? By doing that this way to protect their "idols", they are only wasting their time and energy unnecessarily😪

What Djokovic had already accomplished in his career are well too high in all measures than what what Roger and Rafa could. Those fans who think otherwise better live with it, rather than losing their sleep over it😂

Roger Federer was in his prime health, and playing tennis at his peak level when he was between 21 and 27 years of age. However, it was against relatively weaker opponents compared to what Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic had to face when they were of his corresponding age since 2008.

This post from a tennis site on FB showing Roger has the record of winning most ATP tour-level titles in a single season is their effort, wherever possible, to make the tennis fans falsely believe that the Swiss was a step ahead of the Spaniard and the Serbian.!

When those numbers are put to analyzing a little deeper to find the names of the players and their ATP rankings when Federer won those 12 titles against them in the year 2006, one can find it was NOT a BIG deal after all, compared to the 11 titles won by Djokovic in 2015. In fact, it pales in comparison.

Roger was only 24-25 years-old in the year 2006. 8 of his 12 titles were the BIG ones, and the rest were either at the level of ATP 500 or ATP 250. Of the BIG titles - 3 were in Majors, 4 in Masters and the other, the season-ending ATP Finals.

He won the AO against Marcos Bagdhatis, ranked No.54, the Wimbledon against the No.2 Seed Nadal and the US Open against the No.10 Seed Andy Roddick, who had won only a Single Major in his career. Other titles he won were against Gael Monfils (7), two each against James Blake (14 & 8) and Fernado Gonzales (10 & 7), Ivan Ljubicic (6), Thomas Berdych (15), Rihard Gasquet (51) and Tim Henman (55).

In 2005, Nadal was only 18-19-years-old. One can understand his rather low ATP points earned that year. But, winning 11 titles in 2005 was a STUPENDOUS effort from the young Spaniard then👍Even the youngest No.1 in history, Carlos Alcaraz could win only 5 titles in 2022 when he was that age of Nadal in 2005.!

But, what about the performance of Djokovic winning 11 titles in the year 2015 when he was 27-28 years-old.? It was OUTSTANDING, AWESOME & INCREDIBLE 👌😮💪

3 of them were Slams, 6 of them were ATP Masters 1000 and one was in the ATP Finals. 10 of 11 were in BIG tournaments - 4 against Federer, 3 against Andy Murray, and 1 (One) against Nadal who formed the BIG 4 with Novak. They were all No.1 in ATP rankings and multiple Slam Champions in their career. Roger and Rafa were seeded No.2 or No.3 when Djokovic played against them. Andy was seeded within No.4 in two of the 3 times when Novak faced him👏👏

ATP Ranking points are the most IMPORATANT measure in assessing the success of any player in any year as it is the by-product of winning titles. Slam Championship is rewarded with the maximum points - 2,000, followed by Masters with 1000. Winning the ATP Finals, including the three Round-Robin league matches, carry 1,500 points.

That’s why, though Federer won 12 titles in 2006, his year-end ranking points was 15,495. Though Nadal won 11 titles in 2005, he could garner only 8,700 points (both adjusted to the new redistribution system for ranking points brought-in by ATP since 2009), and Nadal had to end that year ranked as No.2 in the world. On the other hand, Djokovic earned 16,585 points to end the year as ranked #1 in 2015.

The maximum number of titles won by Rafa and Roger in these two years 2005 & 2006 are only one of the CLASSIC examples exposing how weak his opponents were in general when the Swiss Maestro reigned the tennis world for 237 consecutive weeks as No.1 from February 02, 2004 to August 17, 2008.!

Fans of Roger have to admit that, whether they like it or not. That’s the TRUTH👍🙏There’s NO escape from it.!

Two weeks after the completion of the 2026 Wimbledon Championship, the 39-years-old Novak Djokovic has climbed up two positions to No.5 in PIF ATP Rankings for the week starting July 27👍

Daniil Medvedev has risen to No.7, Alex DeMinaur and Ben Shelton have gone down to No.6 & No.8 respectively. All other players have retained their ATP rankings among the Top 10 as it existed on July 13, after the third Slam event of the year 2026 at the All-England Club in London.