Enjoy the Big 3 while you can because we'll never see it again, says Alexander Zverev.
The Olympic gold-medal champion rides an 11-match winning streak into next week's US Open. Zverev, who held a two-set lead over Dominic Thiem in the 2020 US Open final before falling in a fifth-set tiebreaker, says he's ready for redemption in his return.
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"I've been two points away last year here. I wasn't far away in a way," Zverev told the media today. "I've always since then still have memories of that. I still have thoughts on that.
"I'm very happy to be back here, because now I can feel like I can go out on that court and I can prove myself, whether I got better since last year, what actually happened. I feel like I'm playing great tennis this year."
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is playing to complete the calendar Grand Slam, is the only Big 3 champion entered in the US Open field. Five-time US Open champion Roger Federer and 2019 champion Rafael Nadal both withdrew due to injury.
Zverev says while he envisions NextGen stars winning Slam titles, they won't match the Big 3 who who 20 majors apiece.
"I think the top three guys, I mean, they've been dominating for the past 15 or 20 years. We might never see that again," Zverev said. "Don't expect this group of guys to be the next Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. I don't think the four of us are going to win 20 Grand Slams in the next 15 years each. That's not how it's going to go.
"I think we're going to split them among us maybe. But the dominance those guys had is something you see once in a lifetime probably."
Zverev, like tennis fans all over the world, said he misses Federer and Nadal but knows in tennis nothing—even legendary champions—lasts forever.
"I've been asked this question now actually by a few TV stations, how does it feel not having Roger and Rafa here. We all miss them," Zverev said. "We all love them to play forever. At some point they will have to retire.
"I think the Cincinnati tournament, other tournaments this year, also showed that the competition and the rivalry that we have with the guys, the younger guys now, I think the top four or top five guys with Medvedev, Tsitsipas, myself, Rublev and Berrettini, we're having great battles, we're having very entertaining matches."
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