When Stefanos Tsitsipas made that prediction in 2021, he believed Djokovic was the last giant standing and that his generation was next. Then a 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz blew that idea apart. In 2022, he beat Nadal, Djokovic, and Zverev in consecutive matches in Madrid, and suddenly the future Tsitsipas had pictured for himself did not look like his anymore.

“What happened, Stefanos? How wrong you were. Because two extraordinary players came along: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner,” said Batata Clerc, reminding Tsitsipas that his prediction of the future of tennis was completely wrong.

At the time, though, it was not a wild prediction. Federer was nearing the end, Nadal was missing more tournaments, and Djokovic was the last giant still dominating.

“There is currently only one big player: Novak Djokovic. He’s still the best in the world. But Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and I are right behind him. We can become the next Big Three. I firmly believe in it,” Stefanos said in 2021.

Tsitsipas, Medvedev and Zverev were already beating the best and reaching Grand Slam finals. The keys to men’s tennis looked theirs to take, and so did the reason to believe it.

Tsitsipas had already beaten Federer at the Australian Open, won the 2019 ATP Finals and pushed Djokovic to five sets in the 2021 French Open final after taking a two-set lead.

Zverev had reached the 2020 US Open final, won Olympic gold in Tokyo and had already beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Medvedev had gone even further, reaching multiple major finals before stopping Djokovic in the 2021 US Open final.

By November that year, Medvedev, Zverev and Tsitsipas were ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in the world, directly behind Djokovic. For Tsitsipas, this was not some fantasy. His generation looked like the one waiting to take over.

The script started flipping almost immediately.

While Tsitsipas was talking about the next Big Three, an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz was already breaking through. He beat Tsitsipas at the 2021 US Open, reached the quarterfinals and finished the year as the Next Gen ATP Finals champion.

A year later, that rise exploded. Alcaraz won Rio and Miami, took Madrid and by September had won the US Open and become the youngest World No. 1 in ATP history.

Jannik Sinner took a little longer, but by the second half of 2023, he was coming fast. He won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto, added Beijing and Vienna, beat Djokovic at the ATP Finals and again in the Davis Cup, then helped Italy win the title. He closed the season by winning 20 of his final 22 matches.

In 2024, Sinner took the next step. He beat Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, came back from two sets down against Medvedev to win his first Grand Slam, and by June became World No. 1.

In barely three years, the future Tsitsipas had pictured for himself, Medvedev and Zverev had been taken over by Alcaraz and Sinner. By the end of 2025, it was no longer about potential. Alcaraz had six Grand Slams and Sinner had four, turning the post-Big Three era into their battle at the top.

Djokovic stayed in that conversation longer than anyone else, winning his 24th major at the 2023 US Open. But as his Grand Slam run slowed, the gap behind Alcaraz and Sinner became harder to ignore.

That is where 2026 makes Tsitsipas’ old prediction sting even more. Zverev has finally broken through at a Grand Slam, while Ben Shelton is forcing himself into the conversation after beating Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the US Open quarterfinals.

Tsitsipas, Medvedev and Zverev became elite players. They just never became the Big Three Tsitsipas thought they would.

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Big Three Dream Keeps Falling Apart

And Tsitsipas’ own results make that old Big Three prediction harder to defend. He has never won a Grand Slam, losing the 2021 French Open final to Djokovic after leading by two sets and then falling to him again in the 2023 Australian Open final. Even more telling, his record against Top 10 players stood at 35-55 entering 2026. By the end of 2024, he had also finished outside the Top 10 for the first time since 2018.

The latest reminder came in New York. Tsitsipas had finally started finding his game again, beating Arthur Fils, Lloyd Harris and Jiri Lehecka to reach the fourth round. Then Ben Shelton shut the door.

Shelton won 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and controlled the match from the start. He broke early, kept Tsitsipas pinned behind the baseline and repeatedly attacked the Greek’s one-handed backhand with his lefty forehand. Tsitsipas never found a way out.

The numbers made it worse. Shelton fired 11 aces, won 83% of his first-serve points and did not face a single break point. He took the opening set 6-2, barely let Tsitsipas into the second, then closed the third 6-4 for his first straight-sets win of the tournament.

For Tsitsipas, it was another reminder of how far that old prediction has drifted. He once thought he would help define the next Big Three. Now younger players like Shelton are pushing past him while Alcaraz and Sinner own the top of the sport.