"The Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era as well as Serena & Venus Williams, that was for me the most wonderful era in tennis" - Tennis commentator

Tennis commentator and author Chris Bowers recently proclaimed the era that Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and the Williams sisters monopolized as "the most wonderful era in tennis".

The turn of the 2000s saw Venus and Serena Williams dominate women's tennis as they picked up 10 of the 16 Grand Slams between the 1999 US Open and the 2003 Wimbledon.

Roger Federer took on the mantle of dominating the game once the Williams sisters' form dropped off, winning his first 15 Major titles by the time the decade ended.

Soon afterwards, the Swiss maestro was joined at the top of the game by his younger rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, both of whom started outgunning him once they hit their physical primes in the 2010s.

The Djokovic- Nadal duo's dominance stretched well into the 2020s decade; either the Spaniard or the Serb won 15 of the 18 Majors between the 2018 French Open and the 2022 US Open, with their duopoly only coming to a stop because of the latter's hip injury in 2023.

The Serb has been alone at representing the past greats over the last year, which saw him take home three of the four Grand Slam tournaments and break his own record for the oldest year-end World No. 1. However, with his latest loss to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semifinals, many fans feel that a change of guard is finally upon us.

As it stands, Serena Williams and Roger Federer have already retired from pro tennis. Rafael Nadal and Venus Williams, meanwhile, will also likely retire after this year, meaning Novak Djokovic is set to be the last all-time great standing among the aforementioned quintet.

In that context, commentator Chris Bowers recently appeared on the latest episode of the 'Tennis Channel Inside-In' podcast and gave his thoughts on the best years that the game experienced.

Bowers insisted that the period between 2005 and 2022 was "the most wonderful era in tennis".

"Well, I think, we're just at the end of glory days. Best years in tennis was about [from] 2005 to 2021-22?" Bowers said (at 41:00). "The Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, era as well as Serena, Venus Williams... that was for me the most wonderful era in tennis."

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"Rod Laver and Ilie Nastase would struggle in today's tennis" - Chris Bowers on why last century's legends don't compare to Novak Djokovic & Co.

Rod Laver watches Novak Djokovic's quarterfinal at the 2024 Australian Open

During the podcast, Bowers also played down the quality of 19th-century legends like Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Ilie Nastase.

Bowers believes that their playing styles and athleticism wouldn't survive the high standard set by the top players that have played on the ATP Tour in the last few years.

"An old saying says, 'Champions would've been champions in any era.' I don't think that's necessarily the case in tennis. The likes of [Rod] Laver and [Ilie] Nastase, I think would struggle in today's tennis," Bowers said (at 41:30). "Simply because they play such touch and delicacy and strategy, Rosewall I think, would be absolutely pummelled in today's tennis."

"Now, okay, you can say Rosewall would play with different racquets, he might've had different coaching, would've been taught the two-handed backhand given that he was ambidextrous, that might've been a terrific shot, if he would've had," the commentator added (at 41:56). "But, I don't think someone who grew up to be 5'7" would've been able to hang with today's champions."