Are the First Years of the 'Next4' Anything Like the Big4?
We are likely to look back at the end of the 2019 season as the start of a generational breakthrough in men’s tennis. With four of the most impressive 23-and-unders on tour—Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, and Matteo Berrettini—reaching the semifinals and taking out 2 of the Big 4 on their way there, it is feeling like we are on the brink of a ‘Big 4’ takeover by the ‘Next 4’. What can the early career trajectories of the Big 4 tell us about which if any of these young stars might follow their footsteps?