– Suresh Subrahmanyan is a Bengaluru-based former advertising professional

Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose that counts,’ probably lost. Martina Navratilova.

We had the Big Three. We now have the Big Two and a half. I am, of course, talking tennis. Federer and Nadal hung up their rackets recently, at different times, amidst much emotional, tear-jerking fanfare. The third of that triptych, Djokovic, is still in the mix but only just. At nearly 39, he is good enough to reach the semi-final stage at all the four Grand Slams, but unable to breach the dynamic, young Alcaraz-Sinner wall. That makes the Super Serb the half along with the ‘Sinacraz’ duo, who now bestride the tennis world with virtually no rivals in sight. It won’t be long before Novak bids adieu and joins his illustrious mates Roger and Rafa in their luxurious Senior Citizens enclave. The Joker is playing his cards close to his chest, refusing to contemplate retirement and promising to turn up for the Slams, but it’s clear that while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weakening.

The mind-boggling achievements of the Big Three have been well-documented and I don’t intend to detail the 66 Grand Slam titles the trio have garnered over the past couple of decades. A golden era in which the likes of Murray and Wawrinka, great players in their own right, played the occasional spoiler role. As walk-on parts, they made their their entrances and exits. As the inevitable decline of these warriors became evident, tennis buffs turned to the likes of Medvedev, Thiem, Zverev and Tsitsipas to take over the reins. Thiem opted out prematurely due to injury problems, while the other three, still active on the circuit, have flattered to deceive. And before you could say double fault, two precociously talented aces, barely out of their teens, shattered everybody else’s dreams with their incandescent brilliance.

I am of course, talking about the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and the Italian Jannik Sinner. These two have shared the available eight Grand Slam titles equally between them in 2024 and 2025. Need I say more?

Alcaraz, with his boyish, toothy grin and extraordinary wizardry is bringing back the genius X factor to world tennis after the exit of Federer, who has long been acclaimed as tennis royalty. He even has a permanent seat in the Royal Box at Wimbledon these days! At his best, Federer on court was a ballet dancer, pirouetting and gliding around the courts without breaking sweat. When the great Swiss maestro was doing his stuff on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, you could almost hear the Swan Lake overture playing in the background. Is that Nureyev? Is that Baryshnikov? No, it’s Federer. Whence comes such another, the fans cried when Roger called it a day.

We did not have to wait long. Alcaraz is here, with knobs on, and all is well. The young Spaniard is Federer plus his compatriot Nadal multiplied manifold. Alcaraz is all that those two greats were plus a burst of speed, strength, athleticism and dexterity. A generational talent. And he is just 22! However, it takes two, sometimes three, to tango. Federer and Nadal were a beloved twosome. Nobody wanted a third. Djokovic was an unwelcome interloper but the great Serb upended and put paid to the dominance of the other two by sheer force of spirit and sweat. Finally earning the somewhat reluctant admiration of the fans. A modern-day anti-hero.

Today, we are back to the era of the commanding twosome. Enter stage left, Italian Jannik Sinner, a deceptively shy, redhead. What Sinner lacks in instinctive flair his rival Alcaraz possesses in spades. Sinner makes up with his amazing agility, the metronomic consistency and power of his ground strokes, not to mention a smooth and silky service motion. He may not provide the frequent out-of-the-blue magic moment that Alcaraz can dazzle us with, but Sinner is proving to be the ideal foil to this Spanish matador. Understated, soft-spoken and quietly determined, he goes about his business without fuss. And he is 24. Two contrasting styles, with years ahead of them, Alcaraz and Sinner have, for the moment, firmly shut the door on any other aspirant to major triumphs in tennis.

Which leaves the tennis world with the existential dilemma – should Djokovic retire instanter? His die-hard fans argue that many young players today would give anything to be in all the Slam semi-finals (and one final), win an Olympic Gold Medal and be a constant threat to the top players as Novak has been. So why should he not keep playing? The contrarian view is simply this. You have done enough, bagged a record-breaking 24 Slams and finally won the love and affection of the sporting world. Time now to bow out gracefully.