For the first time
in over six years – since the 2011 Monte Carlo Masters – Rafael Nadal and Roger
Federer will be the two top-seeds (in that order) at the 2017 Rogers Cup, in
Montreal. A lot has had changed in these half-a-dozen years. Players have since
retired and there has been the cascade of two back-to-back generational shifts.
And yet, with Nadal and Federer still going strong, it does seem as though a
few things have remained the same.
But, have they
really?
Novak Djokovic’s
decision to shut shop for the rest of the 2017 season, followed days later by
Andy Murray opting out of the Montreal Masters meant that the entire existence
of the Big Four was once again in
disarray. Nadal and Federer then taking over as the top-seeds was a bracing
continuity. Not only in terms of retaining the core significance of the
nomenclature, but also in terms of extending the theme of their dual domination
for the season up to now.
Of the five ATP
Masters tournaments that have been played this year, Nadal and Federer have split
success in two of the four Masters tourneys. The Swiss pocketed the Indian
Wells-Miami double for the third time in his career, while the Spaniard rampaged
on the dirt of Monte Carlo and Madrid. These triumphs, in turn, also spoke
about the way they had seemingly turned back time to the days when men’s tennis
was mostly bracketed around them.
Inspiring these
results have then been about the clout these two have continued to wield over
the game. But, the outcome of the last ATP Masters event, in Rome, is just as
relevant in this context. And, this relevance comes by way of the aberration
that the Rome Masters has been in the otherwise predictable nature of the
season’s tennis calendar.
For one, it was
the only event where Nadal’s impeccable shacklehold of his most preferred
surface slackened. Secondly, it was the only tournament where a youngster
convincingly prevailed over the more experienced and the (slightly) favoured
contender in Djokovic.
Dominic Thiem’s
upset over Nadal in straight sets in the Rome Masters’ quarter-final meant that
regardless of his show of dominance on the surface, the days of the Mallorcan
running through the clay season undefeated were bygone. This, coupled with Alexander
Zverev’s one-sided win over Djokovic in the final, lent credence to the fact
that despite their frequent on-court patchiness, the youngsters had the potential
to push their game through in the bigger tournaments.
It’s therefore not
surprising to see Thiem and Zverev take their place as the third and fourth
seeds in Montreal this week. Much like Nadal and Federer, they, too, have
benefited from the spate of withdrawals that have preceded the event. Thiem and
Zverev’s presence right on their heels is also indicative. That not only has
time flitted away, but it has also brought men’s tennis to a unique crossroads.
Where in the reunion with the past, there’s also an equally enforcing
reconnecting with its foreseeable future.
