Rafael Nadal's announcement on Friday that he will miss the ATP World Tour Finals because of appendicitis ended a difficult year for the Spaniard during which he has endured injury, illness and worrying defeats.
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic had made it near impossible for their peers to live, and thrive, amongst them. But the coming generation, which hasn't been as scarred by defeat at the hands of the Big 3, may make tennis unpredictable again.
Top seed Rafael Nadal beat American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-6(6), 6-3 to win the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event and build up momentum heading into the Australian Open.
Carlos Alcaraz announced himself in Madrid when he played with a sore ankle but still dispatched three top five players -- Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev -- en route to his second Masters title, just days after his 19th birthday.
The sixth-seed Russian beat unseeded German Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-1 to win his second title of the year.
'I still feel my body is serving me, is listening to me well. That's the key I think when you get to 35-plus.'
Medvedev will be glad to play the role of dream wrecker once again.
Djokovic missed the Australian Open after being deported for not having been vaccinated against COVID-19 and will not be allowed to compete at the US Open
Americans Bob and Mike Bryan beat Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 7-6, 6-3 on Sunday to win the doubles title at the ATP World Tour Finals and regain the end-of-season number one ranking.
The 32-year-old, five-times a winner of the singles at the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up event, delighted a large evening centre court crowd with some fluent shot-making as he and Spanish veteran Lopez beat top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6(5), 6-3.
After an Olympic stumble Novak Djokovic will get a second bite at history in the Big Apple with a calendar year Grand Slam there for the taking at the US Open.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic made a sticky return to action before recovering from losing the opening four games to beat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff at the Qatar Open on Monday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
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.
Rafael Nadal will skip the Miami Open that begins later this month in a bid to recover from a back injury in time for the clay court swing
David Ferrer has backed fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal to bounce back to winnings ways, saying the latter will surely be a major contender in all the grand slams next year provided he remains injury-free.
Alexander Zverev snatched the Laver Cup for Team Europe as he beat Canada's Milos Raonic in the final rubber of a thrilling three days of action in Geneva's Palexpo Arena on Sunday.
The five top contenders for the men's title at the Australian Open, which starts on Monday.
The German picked up two ATP titles in Cologne and also made the final of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris in an encouraging close to the season.
World number one Rafael Nadal won a battle of attrition against fellow left-hander Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 7-6(4), 6-4 to seal Spain's spot in the final eight of the inaugural ATP Cup in Perth on Wednesday. Meanwhile his long-time rival, world number two Novak Djokovic, had an easier outing in Brisbane, strolling past Chile's Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-3 to stay undefeated in the new year.
Nick Kyrgios continued his impressive run of form ahead of this month's Australian Open by powering the host nation to the mixed-team Hopman Cup title against Ukraine in Perth on Saturday.
Rafael Nadal is in contention for the 'World Sportsman of the Year' award alongside six-time Formula 1 World champion Lewis Hamilton, six-time World MotoGP champion Marc Mrquez and six-time FIFA World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic remained at the top of the rankings chart
Nadal has won the Australian and the French Open back-to-back and has the chance to become the first man to win all four majors in the same year
Novak Djokovic kicked off his season in style with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Canadian talent Denis Shapovalov on his favourite Rod Laver Arena court on Tuesday before returning to lead Serbia to a doubles victory that sealed their ATP Cup opener 2-1.
Top seed Kei Nishikori is on track for a three-peat at the Memphis Open after a narrow semi-final victory on Saturday.
WTA chief promises 'strong reactions' to ban on Russian, Belarusian players
India's Rohan Bopanna and Romania's Florin Mergea won their second title of the season together.
Top seed Juan Martin del Potro beat Canada's Milos Raonic in the battle of big-servers on Sunday to bag the Japan Open title and boost his chances of qualifying for the end-of-season ATP World Tour finals in London.
'Everybody knows that they could wait a little bit, no? It was an unfortunate decision.'
Novak Djokovic said he would do whatever was required to play at the Australian Open but hoped the government could also be accommodating.
Roger Federer made a comfortable start to his quest for a 100th title, despatching Fabio Fognini in straight sets to ease into the quarter-finals at the Paris Masters on Thursday.
French Open champion Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next week's Queen's Club grasscourt tournament, saying he needs more time to recover after winning his 11th Roland Garros title.
At one stage Yuki was a break up, serving for the opening set but lost his serve and eventually the set. After drawing parity, Yuki twice lost his serve to fall behind 0-3 in the decisive set and never recovered.
Walking out of the outside courts at the Balewadi stadium, his gait was assuring as he uttered, "no more singles for me".
Djokovic has won the last three editions of Wimbledon in 2018, 2019 and last year
Leander Paes said he is currently busy working on a biopic to portray the father-son duo's legacy on the big screen.
U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu has no idea if she would be fit to play at Wimbledon, the 19-year-old said after a "freak injury"
Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas showed no signs of fatigue following Friday's marathon battle as he eased past German Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final on Saturday.
