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So he says.
My first response: Don't tell us, show us. Talk is cheap...I want to see you go out there and kick some a$$!
My second response: After Roger he's probably my favorite player, so I'm hoping he's right. I went into the article more skeptical - thus the first response - but finished it feeling cautiously optimistic. He sounds like he's matured.
Grigor turns 25 in May - so he's no spring chicken anymore, but could be a late-bloomer and have 5+ years ahead of him of peak level. What might we see? Well, the best-case scenario is that he's the best of a group of players that gradually erodes the reign of the Big Four, a transitional phase between the Big Four era and the next generation of elites (presumably born in years 1996-98 or so).
I'm thinking we're going to see something akin to the late 90s to early 00s, with Rafa playing the part of Sampras and Novak playing Agassi. Between 1998 and 2003, a span of six years, 11 different players held the title of #1 at different points. You also had 15 different players winning Slams, with Agassi (5) and Sampras (4) still leading the way, but also Hewitt (2) and Kuerten (2) winning multiples.
When might this era start? Well I would align 1999 with 2015 - that was Agassi's greatest year, and the same with Novak. But in terms of the reign of the Big Four eroding, as a group they're not as dominant as they were in 2012; since the we've seen all except Novak have sub-par years, but they've managed to maintain their reign with relative ease - except for a few Slams over the last three years. I think what we'll see in 2016 is a kind of "swan song" of the Big Four. They may not lose a Slam, but the next group will improve and the compeition will become tighter. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Masters or two won by someone else (possibly Grigor?). The tidal shift will become more evident in 2017 with 2018-2020 or so being an "anything goes" situation until we start seeing a smaller group of young guys taking the lead.
Anyhow, I think Grigor has a chance to be a major player over the next few years, in the 2016 - 2020 period. I think the ship has sailed on him being a true great, but that he still has a chance to win a Slam or two and several Masters trophies and be considered, in hindsight, the best of his 1989-93 generation. Right now he's still behind Nishikori and Raonic, but I think 2016 might be the year that shifts - or at least he surpasses Milos and starts catching up to Kei.
My first response: Don't tell us, show us. Talk is cheap...I want to see you go out there and kick some a$$!
My second response: After Roger he's probably my favorite player, so I'm hoping he's right. I went into the article more skeptical - thus the first response - but finished it feeling cautiously optimistic. He sounds like he's matured.
Grigor turns 25 in May - so he's no spring chicken anymore, but could be a late-bloomer and have 5+ years ahead of him of peak level. What might we see? Well, the best-case scenario is that he's the best of a group of players that gradually erodes the reign of the Big Four, a transitional phase between the Big Four era and the next generation of elites (presumably born in years 1996-98 or so).
I'm thinking we're going to see something akin to the late 90s to early 00s, with Rafa playing the part of Sampras and Novak playing Agassi. Between 1998 and 2003, a span of six years, 11 different players held the title of #1 at different points. You also had 15 different players winning Slams, with Agassi (5) and Sampras (4) still leading the way, but also Hewitt (2) and Kuerten (2) winning multiples.
When might this era start? Well I would align 1999 with 2015 - that was Agassi's greatest year, and the same with Novak. But in terms of the reign of the Big Four eroding, as a group they're not as dominant as they were in 2012; since the we've seen all except Novak have sub-par years, but they've managed to maintain their reign with relative ease - except for a few Slams over the last three years. I think what we'll see in 2016 is a kind of "swan song" of the Big Four. They may not lose a Slam, but the next group will improve and the compeition will become tighter. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Masters or two won by someone else (possibly Grigor?). The tidal shift will become more evident in 2017 with 2018-2020 or so being an "anything goes" situation until we start seeing a smaller group of young guys taking the lead.
Anyhow, I think Grigor has a chance to be a major player over the next few years, in the 2016 - 2020 period. I think the ship has sailed on him being a true great, but that he still has a chance to win a Slam or two and several Masters trophies and be considered, in hindsight, the best of his 1989-93 generation. Right now he's still behind Nishikori and Raonic, but I think 2016 might be the year that shifts - or at least he surpasses Milos and starts catching up to Kei.
uzzled 
