Grigor Dimitrov claims Dominic Thiem's US Open win has ended Nadal-Federer-Djokovic era

Bulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov has joined the ranks of tennis players and fans who believe that change is coming for tennis. He is now among the many who have prophecised the end of the reign of the 'Big Three'. Grigor Dimitrov, 29, has full faith in his fellow young tennis players to lead the change of guard that men's tennis has been so wary of for almost the last two decades.

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Grigor Dimitrov's quick rise and fall

Dimitrov reached a career-high ATP ranking of No. 3 in 2017 and was once touted as the player who would break the domination of the Rafa-Joker-Federer trio. He has been a semi-finalist at all Grand Slams, save for the French Open. He last played at the Rome Masters where he lost the quarter-final to Canada's Denis Shapovalov. Before that, he only managed to reach the second round at the US Open, the Cincinnati Masters and the Australian Open. 

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Grigor Dimitrov: Thiem's US Open win the spark that will fan the fire

This year's US Open will be remembered for many things. It was the first, and probably the only Grand Slam to be held without spectators. It was also the first Grand Slam since 2016 that was won by someone other than Rafa, Federer or Djokovic.

It was the first time since 2004 that neither Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic had made a Grand Slam quarter-final. Since Roger Federer's maiden Grand Slam win at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, only seven other people have won any Grand Slam title besides the big three. These include Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro, Marin Cilic, Andy Roddick, Gaston Gaudio and Marat Safin. 

The latter three have since retired. The rest have been plagued with injuries for the last few years, hardly ever making a dent in the rankings. At a time like this, Dominic Thiem's US Open 2020 win comes as a ray of hope for many of the younger players on the tour. This is exactly the sentiment echoed by Grigor Dimitrov, who believes that Dominic Thiem could very well build on his achievement.

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The race for the French Open 2020

With Federer out of contention for the rest of the year and Rafel Nadal out of practice, there is some space for a new third to make the grade at the French Open. Who this will be, remains to be seen, but some of the favourite contenders are Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov and Gael Monfils among others. Grigor Dimitrov will start the French Open as the 19th seed.

While the youngsters try their hand at winning their first titles, veteran Rafael Nadal will be aiming for a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam and 13th French Open title. After missing out on the US Open title, 17-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic will also be charged up to try and seal his place as a legend of the game. Joker, fresh off his win at the Rome Masters will be seeded No.1. 

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Image Credits: Internazionali BNL Twitter, US Open Twitter & AP