Generation of players sandwiched between superstars never got to shine

PARIS – The “sandwich generation” of men’s tennis increasingly looks like a group of lost boys.

They are the players born in the 1990s who were projected for big things but suffered a double misfortune of circumstance. The first was that they entered the sport when it was in the viselike grip of the Big Three: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Those three scooped up titles for longer than anybody expected, and no sooner had their collective powers waned than Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner arrived, seemingly fully formed, to steal away the promises that were made to the children of the ’90s.

In the first week of the French Open, their diminishing hopes of staying among the truly elite have dwindled further.

Daniil Medvedev, 29 years old and the only one still active to win a Grand Slam, lost to the world No. 81, Cameron Norrie. Casper Ruud, 26, was beaten in four sets by world No. 41, Nuno Borges. Stefanos Tsitsipas, also 26, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, was beaten by Matteo Gigante, the 23-year-old Italian No. 167 who has never been inside the world’s top 100.

In the second week of action, the world No. 3, Alexander Zverev, 28, and the 15th-ranked Andrey Rublev, 27, remain, but neither is in great form. Zverev is through to the quarter-finals after Tallon Griekspoor retired injured in the second set on June 2. However, Rublev will have to beat Sinner for a last-eight spot in a match that started after press time.

Twilight has fallen in Paris on a cohort of tennis players whose window of opportunity has less slammed shut than never truly opened.

Only two men born in the 1990s have won a Grand Slam: Medvedev and Dominic Thiem, who retired in 2024 and attributed his