Tennis has been looking at a world where the ATP could be dominated by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner for the foreseeable future. While those players are certainly good enough to be generational elites, only having two historically fantastic players can lead to a glaring issue.
What if one gets injured, leaving one to fully dominate the field? That isn't good for the sport. This would be especially true if either Alcaraz or Sinner suffers a long-term drop in form, leaving the same problem that would happen if an injury were to occur.
One of the best things that made the 2010s great was that the sport had a trio (and sometimes a foursome) of elite players. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Radal Nadal, and, sometimes, Andy Murray each pushed the others. It wasn't only two of them.
Jakub Mensik could announce his arrival by winning the Qatar Open
Thankfully, one emerging player might be about ready to take his place alongside Sinner and Alcaraz to augment the new generation of great players. Jakub Mensik is only 20 years old, has long been buoyed by Djokovic, and might have announced his arrival at the Qatar Open with a stunning victory over Sinner in the quarterfinals in three sets.
The Italian, and No. 2-ranked player on the ATP tour, wasn't injured; he was simply beaten by the Czech, especially Mensik's serve. Sinner is one of the better returners, if not the best, on tour, and his struggles with what Mensik was dishing him were real.
The Czech landed 83 percent of his first serves in the first set, dipped a bit in the second set, then mostly regained form and won 88 percent of his first serves in the third set. Mensik wasn't broken in the first or third sets in winning the match 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3.
Jakub Mensik can take one further step toward stating his case as the future third of a Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and plus-one trio by defeating Alcaraz in the final, assuming both get there. Mensik has to beat another good young player, Arthur Fils, in the semifinals, and Alcaraz has to get by Andrey Rublev in the other.