Five players who could dominate the Grand Slams in 2021

With the 2021 Australian Open fast approaching, it’s the beginning of another year of Grand Slams in the tennis world. These are the tournaments every player wants to win, and the prize is having your name etched into the history books as one of the sport’s best players.

In terms of the men’s game, the big hitters in tennis are still going strong, and Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal both lead the way in the tennis betting ahead of Melbourne, with Roger Federer still ruled out as he recovers from injury and subsequent surgery. But there are other players who are slowly working their way onto the scene. Dominic Thiem finally landed his first Grand Slam title last year with victory at the U.S. Open, while Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev are also at the top of their respective games.

With an exciting year of tennis ahead, let’s assess the chances of each of these five players in regards to the 2021 Grand Slam events.

Novak Djokovic

Although he won last year’s Australian Open, 2020 was a bit of a turbulent year for Djokovic. Controversy over his conduct during the pandemic was followed by disqualification from the U.S. Open for striking a line judge with a stray ball, and a limp performance in the French Open final saw him surrender meekly to Nadal.

He’ll be on a mission to right a few wrongs this year, and to add to his haul of 17 Grand Slam titles. With Nadal currently on 20, the race is on to become the player with the most Grand Slam crowns.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal chose to sit out much of 2020, only returning for the clay season and the French Open, in which he unsurprisingly claimed his 13th Roland Garros title—a truly remarkable record. This year he’ll be focused on winning as many Grand Slam titles as possible. Nadal’s French Open win drew him level with Federer at 20 slams, and now the aim will be to outstrip the Swiss veteran and go into the lead. However, his record away from Roland Garros is not as good so it will be interesting to see whether he can summon a triumph at Wimbledon or one of the hard-court events.

Dominic Thiem

It was an emotional moment for Thiem when he dramatically defeated Zverev to win the 2020 U.S. Open. After all, the Austrian had lost three Grand Slam finals prior to reaching the Flushing Meadows showpiece. With the monkey off his back in terms of winning that elusive major title, Thiem might well play with a greater sense of freedom and more major titles may just await the 27-year-old.

Daniil Medvedev

One of men’s tennis’ rising stars is Medvedev. The Russian impressed last year with his performances, most notably at the Nitto ATP Finals in London—which he won by defeating Nadal and Thiem in the semifinals and final, respectively. The pressure is now on for Medvedev to win his first Grand Slam title, and it could prove that the 24-year-old represents tennis’ future beyond the careers of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.

Alexander Zverev

Zverev’s career seemed to have stalled somewhat, but in reaching the U.S. Open final and coming so close to winning the title the German proved that he has the quality to win slams in the future. Consistency is the challenge this season for the 23-year-old, and if he can find a bit of momentum in one of the major events, there’s no reason why we couldn’t see him become a Grand Slam champion in 2021.