"To win a major tournament, you always had to beat Federer in the quarterfinals, Nadal in the semifinals and Djokovic in the final; they ran into three aliens, simply" - Constant Lestienne

Constant Lestienne thinks that the domination of the 'Big 3' during his peak time on the tour was the reason why other players failed to make a dent in Grand Slams and Masters events.

Lestienne is a French tennis pro who primarily participates in the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Men's Circuit. The 30-year-old reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 105 and highest doubles ranking of World No. 343 when the new ATP Rankings were revealed on July 25.

Lestienne spoke to Puntodebreak in an interview prior to his round of 32 matchup against Spaniard Alberto Barroso-Campos in Segovia. The Frenchman mentioned during their conversation how the dominance of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had led to extended periods of futility for French tennis players.

"People don't realize how 'golden' this generation has been, how good all of them (Tsonga, Monfils, Simon, Gasque) have been," Lestienne said. "We had four or five players in the top-20, that is something that is not going to happen tomorrow. I know all of them and, in addition, they are fantastic people. They are great guys with incredible careers."

"Gillou (Simon) told me that, to win a Major tournament, you always had to beat Federer in the quarterfinals, Nadal in the semifinals and Djokovic in the final, to give you an example," Lestienne added. "Honestly… it's been a fantastic generation. There's nothing more to say. They ran into three aliens, simply."

"What happened to me in 2016 was very unfair" -

Constant Lestienne

Rothesay Open Nottingham - Day Four

Constant Lestienne also spoke about a gambling incident that he was part of in 2016. The Frenchman stated that after being suspended for seven months due to the controversy, he was more eager than ever to return to the courts.

"What happened to me in 2016 was very unfair," Lestienne said. "They made me an example for the rest of the boys. It's sad, I didn't do anything wrong. After that I had two very difficult years, my ranking completely plummeted."

"I didn't want my career to end because of something like that, when I was only 23 years old," he added. "I didn't want to have to explain in the future that my career had ended because of that when I was number 160 in the world."

In 2016, Constant Lestienne was found guilty of betting on 220 matches, for which he received a $10,000 fine in addition to a seven-month suspension. He placed bets on sporting events using internet accounts between February 2012 and June 2015, according to a TIU probe.

One of the wagers involved a match that Lestienne participated in.