Serbia Open: Matteo Berrettini claims it is good for tennis that "it's not all Big 3", says "something's going to change" at Slams soon

Matteo Berrettini recently gave his thoughts on the possibility of the younger players taking over men's tennis in the near future. Berrettini claimed it is 'nice' that Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are not dominating all the events any more, and added that the Slams could soon witness a similar change.

Matteo Berrettini is currently preparing for the Serbia Open, where he is the highest-ranked player after Novak Djokovic. The 25-year-old has long been touted as one of the future stars in tennis, but so far he has been in the shadow of players like Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Matteo Berrettini took part in a media interaction on Monday, in the lead-up to his second-round match against Marco Cecchinato (Berrettini has a first-round bye). When asked for his thoughts about a couple of relatively young players - Hubert Hurkacz and Stefanos Tsitsipas - winning the last two Masters events, the Italian expressed joy at the fact that Big 3's dominance is restricted to the Slams now.

"I think It's a nice thing for tennis that it's not all the Big 3," Berrettini said. "Even though the Slams are still a little bit. But I think something's going to change even in the Slams."

Without taking names, Matteo Berrettini declared that the Next Gen takeover is inevitable, given the quality that some of the younger players possess.

"I think eventually it's going to happen (Next Gen taking over)," Matteo Berrettini added. "Not just because of the age, but because of the experience, because these guys you get are really good."

"It's something that helps me to get better" - Matteo Berrettini on younger players winning big tournaments

Matteo Berrettini claimed that the Next Gen's success inspires him

Matteo Berrettini turned pro in 2015, and has won three ATP titles since. Andrey Rublev, meanwhile, has eight titles, Stefanos Tsitsipas has six, and Alexander Zverev has 14.

In that context, Berrettini acknowledged that the success of players from his age group is a source of motivation for him. The Italian expressed hope that he will eventually reach the level of these players.

"For sure it's something that helps me to get better, to improve, to do the work like I want to, to get to the same level as these guys," Berrettini said.

According to Berrettini, the young players on tour right now are already at a 'really high level'. The World No. 10 also pointed out that since the competition in the Next Gen has increased, many of the players have gained invaluable experience.

"They proved already that they can play at a really high level and now there are more players, like I said, they are more experienced," the Italian concluded.

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