Argentine Juan Monaco does not see the United States returning to dominance any time soon in men’s tennis.
At a press conference for an exhibition in Singapore, the 28-year-old said that the Europeans will continue to rule the sport. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Switzerland’s Roger Federer, Britain’s Andy Murray and Spain’s Rafael Nadal have combined to win every Grand Slam save for three since Federer won his first major at 2003 Wimbledon.
“It’s going to be tough for any of them to become the world No. 1; it’s still going to be Europe for many years,” the 12th ranked Monaco said. “Novak and Murray are both 25, while Rafael Nadal is just 26. Even when Roger (31) retires, the trio is still young enough to dominate. Then there are younger players such as Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who have it in them to be the leaders in the future.”
Since the ATP began ranking players in 1973, the United States has had six No. 1’s: Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.