The Year is January 1, 2030...

[El Dude]

...What are we looking back on, from now (May, 2023), until then? That's about six and a half seasons. On January 1, 2030, Rafa will be 43 years old, Novak 42...both presumably long gone (Rafa sailing with a couple of young 'uns and Novak establishing a Bosnian Pyramid cult).

The two babies, Alcaraz and Rune, will be 26 and will likely have had their best years - similarly with (then) 28 year old Jannik Sinner and 29 year old Felix Auger Aliassime. Next Genners like Daniil Medvedev (33) and Alex Zverev (32) may be nearing the end.

So what happened? How were the 27 Slams doled out? Who won the most, second most, etc? Who was #1 and for how many years/weeks? Who is the oldest guy that is still relevant? Any changes to the sport? New trends or rules tweaks? Has grass been eradicated? Has carpet returned? Is Indian Wells a Slam? Has Bjorn Borg un-retired with his wooden racquet?

Be fearless! Be bold!

I'll post my fearless predictions in the replies.

 

[Moxie]

Definitely Alcaraz to be a top dog, Rune probably, too. I like Sinner in the mix, and I'm going to add a player-to-be-named-later, because the youngsters seem to be doing better than the ones on offer. But I think it will be a time of upheaval, like the 90s-early 00s. At least in the MS1000s and lower.

By 2030, the Lost Gen, etc will all be gone, too. There will be more than one player-to-be-named later that we will care about. I think Medvedev will have won 2 more Majors. I think at least one US player will have won the US open by 2030. I'll predict that Tsitsipas will sneak one Major, but Zverev never will. And Thiem, sadly, will never have won another one.

Rules/Standards: Automatic line calling will be the norm. (That's not even bold.) I have to hope they will have abandoned coaching from the stands, but I wouldn't bet the house on that. Most likely we're stuck with it. I think there's a chance we got to best of 3 in the early rounds of men's Majors. If that happens, I can only hope that we got to a universal Bo5 for women and men, at least from QFs.

There will still be grass. Carpet is not coming back. The YEC will have moved out of Torino, likely to someplace like Dubai, as will the Next Gen tournament. Oh, and they do say the women will get a Next Gen tournament, so, also, not a brave pick.

What do ya think?

 

[Nadalfan2013]

Definitely Alcaraz to be a top dog, Rune probably, too. I like Sinner in the mix, and I'm going to add a player-to-be-named-later, because the youngsters seem to be doing better than the ones on offer. But I think it will be a time of upheaval, like the 90s-early 00s. At least in the MS1000s and lower.

By 2030, the Lost Gen, etc will all be gone, too. There will be more than one player-to-be-named later that we will care about. I think Medvedev will have won 2 more Majors. I think at least one US player will have won the US open by 2030. I'll predict that Tsitsipas will sneak one Major, but Zverev never will. And Thiem, sadly, will never have won another one.

Rules/Standards: Automatic line calling will be the norm. (That's not even bold.) I have to hope they will have abandoned coaching from the stands, but I wouldn't bet the house on that. Most likely we're stuck with it. I think there's a chance we got to best of 3 in the early rounds of men's Majors. If that happens, I can only hope that we got to a universal Bo5 for women and men, at least from QFs.

There will still be grass. Carpet is not coming back. The YEC will have moved out of Torino, likely to someplace like Dubai, as will the Next Gen tournament. Oh, and they do say the women will get a Next Gen tournament, so, also, not a brave pick.

What do ya think?

 

[don_fabio]

Players:

Alcaraz has over 10 slams and is doing everything to overcome big3. He still trains like a maniac. Rune occasionally beats him when he paints all the lines and when he doesn't tweet between games. Sinner plays the best on grass of all three. A new kid appeared in the top 10, he is from Mozambique. His fitness coach is Maria Mutola. Zverev still blames others for his failures, and he doesn't know how to throw a second serve into the court. Tsitsipas has decided to become a philosopher and is a guest on Greek TV shows, of course accompanied by his father, who regularly interrupts him. Children of Big4 also play tennis and realize that they are not even close to their fathers. Djokovic is still eating bird food and getting thinner. Nadal trains the new youngsters in his camp and kills them with his forehand. Federer still regrets that he flattened his backhand quite late and wakes up dreaming of 40:15, but then he realizes that he has millions and that he doesn't really care. Toni Nadal quit with the FAA and trains Alcaraz's younger brother. The rivalry between the Alcaraz brothers is boring. Medvedev is still bitching about slow surfaces, but easily makes it to the semis.

Rules:

Pink and fluorescent green are worn at Wimbledon. Some idiots are thinking of changing the dimensions of the tennis court. There is no more silence while a point is being played, everyone is shouting in the audience all the time. Player and coach communicate via Neuralink. AI replaced the umpire. Kyrgios argues with him and tells him that both he and whoever designed it are retarded. Everything has become BO3, because no one has the patience to watch the same thing for more than 2 hours. We all talk about the good old days, because everything has gone to hell.

 

[Jelenafan]

There will emerge a great Asian player, probably from China or India to challenge Holger & Carlitos for tennis supremacy. Rune/Alcaraz will have a heated rivalry with 10 Slam wins each and by then Rune will have a restraining order against Patrick Mouratoglou in the end to their acrimonious coach/player split.

Sadly, Severe Major drought for American ATP tennis continues, as no American will have won a Slam since 2003 for a stretch of 27 years and counting. (However in 2031 a 6’-6” American prodigy will arise with the speed of a gazelle and the power of a howitzer to usher in a new golden age of American tennis.)

Donald Young will be playing challengers and lamenting the lack of wildcards offered to him to enter the main draw of tourneys.

With automatic line calling fully entrenched on even clay tournaments, an AI will be installed as “chair” for select tournaments, negating human abuse of officials.

One more Major will be added, most likely in Asia. The ATP will increase the number of Masters tournaments to at least 12, and players will lament the overcrowded tennis season which will have only a two week break, said break will be jam-packed with player exhibitions and “special” events.

Laver Cup tickets will increase to $1000 for nose bleed seats for the privilege of watching Federer toss out the ball to start the tournament.

The ATP will have eliminate let calls on serves and there will be a pickle ball mini tourneys at select ATP events.

Italians fans will be banned for a year from attending the Rome Masters due to excessive unruly noise and behavior.


At least two Majors will have 4 or more roofed stadiums, and all 4 will have BO3 for the first 3 three rounds.

Goran Ivanisevich will publish his tell all memoir “My life in Hell: the Djokovic years”

Stefano Tsitspas will publish his tell all memoir “My life in Hell: My father as my coach years”

Boris Becker will be sued for missed child support/alimony payments by Wife #5 and counting.

Chatrier Stadium at Roland Garros will be renamed Rafa Nadal Stadium, as will the Main Stadium at the Madrid Masters.

Nick Kyrgios will succesfully replace John McEnroe in televised tennis commentary to signal the end of civilization as we know it.

 

[don_fabio]

One more Major will be added, most likely in Asia.

Kidding aside, but this actually sounds like it could come true. They force those records in modern sports like it's the only thing that matters. The fifth slam fits into the whole story, if the new generation cannot reach the numbers of the big three we could see a "little push" with a 5th slam and there are also geopolitical/economic reasons.