Tim Henman on brewing rivalries, the post-GOAT era and experimental tennis formats

Tennis has undergone a landscape change following the retirements of Roger Federer and Serena Williams, with Rafael Nadal set to be the next huge name to leave the scene.

Novak Djokovic has also found himself under increasing threat from a new generation of superstars following Grand Slam victories for Carlos Alcaraz and, most recently, Jannik Sinner.

Asked whether it's healthier for tennis to boast one or two generational talents or an increasingly wide-open field at the summit, Henman said: "It's a really good question because at the end of the day, I think you'll find we're never satisfied.

"When you had the dominance of Federer and Nadal and Djokovic, people would say. 'Oh, it's too predictable, we need other players to have a chance.'

"And then with the women's game, going back three or four years ago, people would say, 'Oh, it lacks identity, there's 25 women that could win Slams.' We had people coming from the outside like Sofia Kenin in Australia and it was very difficult to predict.

"What is always important within the sport is that we have rivalries. We've been blessed with those for generations. I'd like to see some of these rivalries build, whether that's with Djokovic and Alcaraz, Djokovic and Sinner, Sinner and Alcaraz.

"Or whether that's Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Świątek and Gauff, whoever it may be. I do think the game is in good shape right now."

Despite the increasingly competitive nature of Grand Slam tennis over the last couple of years, Henman still believes there's one outright man to beat. He said: "I still think Djokovic is the player to beat.

"By his own admission, he probably played one of his worst Grand Slam matches in the last 10 years in the Australian Open semis against Sinner. But, you know, he won three of the four slams last year, he won the tour-ending championships.

"There's similarities between the men's and the women's game right now. I'd say on the men's side, Djokovic, Alcaraz, Sinner and [Daniil] Medvedev have slightly separated themselves. Medvedev has been in six Slam finals and he's only won one but his effort in Australia was was phenomenal.

"On the women's side, you've got Swiatek, Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina."

But while new talents are emerging to challenge in both the ATP and WTA Tours, and while new rivalries are blossoming, the format of the sport remains largely unaltered despite the emergence of shorter formats in other sports such as The Hundred in cricket and the Shoot Out in snooker.

Henman has adopted an "if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it" approach to the major tournaments on the tennis calendar, but is prepared to experiment with fresh formats in future, whatever that may look like.

He said: "We should always be prepared to experiment. However, we need to experiment in the right forum.

"That's where something like the Next Gen has been a great opportunity to try different things. However, you know, at the top of the sport, certainly led by the Grand Slams, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

"The Masters 1000 tournaments, I think they are great products. I would be very reluctant to have to fiddle around with those but there's been some great additions in different sports and there can be in tennis for sure."

Sky Sports Tennis – the new home for tennis fans – launched on 11th February on Sky and NOW.

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