On Saturday, the young guns showed no signs of breaking the stranglehold of the three men who collectively own 50 Grand Slam titles and also split the season's first three majors.
Images from Tuesday's action at the Australian Open.
Nadal becomes just the fourth man to achieve 1,000 singles victories in the Open Era, behind Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068).
Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza bowed out of the Cincinnati Masters after losing their quarter-final and semi-final matches with their respective partners in the men's and women's doubles.
Yet the warrior-like instincts kicked in and we were all reminded that Nadal, as long as he is standing, remains a physical and psychological force of nature on a tennis court.
Rafael Nadal will become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles if he defeats the Russian in Melbourne.
Federer was leading 4-3 when Zverev stopped mid-rally after a ball slipped from a ball boys' hand and into his line of vision.
He has three titles to his name this season, including winning a third Masters 1000 in Madrid, and on Saturday he will become the first German for 15 years to contest a semi-final match at the season-ending ATP Finals.
Halep withdraws from Western & Southern Open with injury.
Serena Williams, hoping to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, will start her campaign against fellow American Kristie Ahn.
The Serbian second seed will now play Austrian Dominic Thiem, who shocked seven times winner Rafa Nadal on Friday but has lost his previous four encounters with Djokovic, in the evening semi-final.
Images from Day 1 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
Federer, Djokovic headline Day 2 at Flushing Meadows
Jelena Jankovic teamed up with men's world number one Djokovic at his tennis complex in Serbia's capital and beat the duo of Serbia's Davis Cup captain Nenad Zimonjic and 19-year-old prospect Olga Danilovic 7-6 in a mixed doubles contest.
Dominic Thiem staged a stunning comeback to win 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(6) in a nerve-jangling battle of wills and will now head to the French Open with renewed confidence.
was on a 21-match unbeaten run before the season came to a halt in early March, winning the ATP Cup with Serbia, an eighth Australian Open title and a fifth Dubai Tennis Championships crown.
Djokovic's challenger will be a 22-year-old who is bidding to become the first Greek to win a singles major.
Holder Stefanos Tsitsipas moved into the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals with a 7-5 7-6(1) victory over Laslo Djere
Medvedev squandered a two-set lead against Nadal in their previous meeting in the Melbourne final in January, allowing the Spaniard to clinch his 21st Grand Slam title.
David Ferrer toppled Philipp Kohlschreiber in a thrilling five-hour marathon decider as Spain roared back from 2-1 down in their Davis Cup tie against Germany to reach the semi-finals on Sunday.
German fourth seed Alexander Zverev beat Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(4) 6-2 on Friday to set up a Miami Open final showdown against big-serving American John Isner, who earlier overwhelmed Juan Martin del Potro.
Federer's pullout from Cincinnati hands number one spot to the Spaniard
Raducanu retired from the match because of 'difficulty breathing'.
Alexander Zverev is a potential superstar who bears comparison not only with his fellow German Boris Becker but also the great American singer Bob Dylan.
Defeat by Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals on Saturday left Roger Federer stuck on 99 career titles, but despite missing out on his century the Swiss said he was happy with his season.
The professional tennis circuit, which requires players to jet around the world, was forced into shutdown in early March as countries went into lockdown and closed their borders to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Nadal enters his title defence after a stellar season on his favourite surface.
Let battle commence, says Djokovic ahead of Nadal showdown
Djokovic received a lot of heat from the tennis community and fans alike after testing positive.
Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric tested positive for COVID-19 while participating in Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour exhibition tournament
Coric's positive test follows that of Grigor Dimitrov, who said on Sunday he had contracted the novel coronavirus.
The tournaments involve eight players each, divided into two pools of four on a round-robin basis. Sets have been slashed to best-of-seven games.
But for the first time, that golden trio will be having an anxious glance over their shoulders. The past week in London has revealed a new fearlessness in the generation of 20 somethings expected to fill the void when they call it a day.
The two standout performers will meet after 21-year-old Greek debutant Tsitsipas eclipsed six-times champion Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 and Austrian Thiem dispatched defending champion Alexander Zverev 7-5, 6-3.
Rafael Nadal will be aiming to win a record-extending 13th French Open when the re-scheduled claycourt event starts at the end of September.
Nadal has a habit of truly coming into his own at Roland Garros, as his 100-2 win-loss record testifies.
The top seed was broken in the second game of the second-round match by the big-serving German but, after going 3-1 behind, the 37-year-old hit back to win five successive games in 13 minutes and take the first set.
Sharapova was granted a wildcard entry to the last Grand Slam of the season but received a tough first-round draw in the shape of Romanian Halep.
American teenage sensation Coco Gauff became the youngest player to win a WTA title in 15 years as she beat former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the Linz Open final on Sunday.
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