Beyond the Big 3 of Indian banking

We are in a wonderful era of men's tennis after the fade-out of the Big 3. It is a different kind of Big 3 you would read about in this issue, where we at Amitabh Chaudhry's canny strategy of choosing which battles Axis Bank will fight

By Suveen Sinha Editor, Forbes India

Published: May 14, 2025 01:37:05 PM IST

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Andy Roddick, the former world number 1 in men’s tennis, said in his podcast that nobody should believe anything he says about Novak Djokovic because it is impossible for Roddick to predict what Djokovic would do.

For instance, when Djokovic pulled out midway through last year’s French Open, Roddick thought Novak would be out for a few weeks. But just over a full week after a procedure in his right knee, he was back in the gym doing lunges. He played Wimbledon and made the final, before winning the Olympic gold.

Djokovic, 38 this month, is having an indifferent year so far, with a few sobering results and the sole high point being the Miami Open final. But you never know which rabbit he will pull out of his hat at the French Open, which begins on May 25. The last man to beat him at Roland Garros was Rafael Nadal in 2022. Nadal, before retiring, had reduced the French Open predictions to, “who will lose the final against Rafa”.

Pete Sampras was the leading winner of Grand Slam titles till 2009 with 14, when Roger Federer overtook him. Nadal won 14 in Paris alone—as many as Sampras won across Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open (he never won the French).

Let that sink in.

Djokovic is now carrying the flickering torch for the Big 3 of Tennis amid a surging wave of exciting young talent in men’s tennis. Carlos Alcaraz, who turned 22 on May 5, was his mesmerizing self on court during his title run in Monte Carlo. Jack Draper, 23, has risen dramatically up the rankings to number five in the world, winning at Indian Wells—a tournament some call the Fifth Slam. Draper lost to Casper Ruud, 26, in the final at Madrid Open, handing the two-time finalist at Roland Garros his first ATP Masters 1000 title—the layer right below the Grand Slams.

The fourth Masters 1000 winner this year, Jakub Mensik, 19, won at Miami Open by defeating Djokovic with a serve that looked unbreakable. Arthur Fils, 20, who pushed Alcaraz to the limit in Monte Carlo, has a forehand that can outdo Alcaraz’s in speed—and that is saying something. Joao Fonseca, a teenager like Mensik, has a buzz around him and can upend the order. Or it could be Lorenzo Musetti, 23, who looks like a fashion model on court and has a one-handed backhand that is as prettier than anything designer labels have to offer.

Add to that the return of world number one Jannik Sinner, same age as Musetti, who has completed his suspension for failing a drug test (a harsh verdict if you ask this writer). We hope he will show the mental fortitude to carry on in the same vein he has since coming back from a two-set deficit in the final to win his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last year.

And that—writing this at the risk of invoking the wrath of the average garden-variety tennis tragic—means we are witnessing a wonderful era of men’s tennis after the fade-out of the Big 3. The upcoming French Open is more open than it has been in years.

It is a different kind of Big 3 you would read about in this magazine, where Salil Panchal looks at Amitabh Chaudhry’s canny strategy of choosing which battles Axis Bank will fight. Another battle for leadership brews in Manu Balachandran’s story on how IndiGo is taking the fight to Air India in international flying. And there is the weighty issue of Ozempic and Mounjaro that Naini Thaker tucks into.

Let us know what you think.

Suveen Sinha

Editor, Forbes India

Email: suveen.sinha@nw18.com

X ID: @suveensinha

(This story appears in the 14 May, 2025 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)