The landscape of the ATP Tour has changed dramatically over the past five years, as legends retired and youngsters rose to the top.
In 2020, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal shared the first two Grand Slams of the year, before Wimbledon was called off.
At the US Open, Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev to win what many assumed would be the first of many Grand Slam titles for the Austrian.
Five years on, Nadal and Thiem have both retired from tennis, and Djokovic hasn’t won a major since the 2023 season.
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The past seven Slams have all been won by the young duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, players who were ranked well outside the top ten back in 2020.
As tennis continues to evolve, one ATP Tour star has highlighted the changes he’s noticed in the sport recently.
Chris Eubanks says the serving speeds on the ATP Tour in 2025 are ‘not normal’
Appearing as a guest on the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick’, US tennis star Chris Eubanks shared his thoughts on the changes in tennis.
“When I talk to a lot of players who have also been through this same timing, they are like the game has shifted massively in the last two to three years. Something happened,” he said.
“I know a lot of players have talked about the balls post covid. But I think something is happening in the tennis side, which we are seeing, what you would expect, the product of watching Novak [Djokovic], Rafa [Nadal], and Roger [Federer]. These players who were super complete.
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“These juniors are now developing into good college players and then good pros. The Carlos’s [Alcaraz], [Jannik] Sinner, [Flavio] Cobolli had a great run and is a guy who plays very similarly.
“Ripping on both wings, sliding on both legs, it seems to be the way the game is going.
“The days are gone where you had a safe place to go on court now. You used to be able to find an area and just say, if I can just find that spot, I am okay, I can breathe for a second to try and attack a different way. Now it seems if you leave one hanging on either side, forehand or backhand, it’s gone.”
Eubanks couldn’t believe the serving speeds some of his rivals were producing at Wimbledon.
“Cobolli was serving 135mph, Carlos was serving 134mph, Grigor [Dimitrov] was serving 143s,” he said.
“I am sitting here going, when did this start? This is not normal?
“We are living in the midst of it, and I definitely think over the last two or three years the game has started to change with these guys who have grown up seeing very complete players and developing their games.
“They are practicing sliding earlier on both legs, that’s a thing I am seeing 17-year-olds at academies doing.
“They are training these skills so when they get older and they get more comfortable with it, it just produces really complete players and really complete tennis.”
As the next generation of stars continues to impress, the chances for players like Eubanks to win big titles on tour are dwindling.
Age breakdown of ATP title winners in 2025
In 2025, just five players have won multiple tour-level titles, and four of the five were under the age of 25.
5. Carlos Alcaraz (22)2. Jannik Sinner (23)2. Flavio Cobolli (23)2. Felix Auger-Aliassime (24)2. Taylor Fritz (27)
Players within that age group have largely outshone their more experienced rivals in 2025.
Age group2025 titlesPlayers36+2Novak Djokovic (1), Gael Monfils (1)30-35––25-2912Taylor Fritz (2), Miomir Kecmanovic (1), Casper Ruud (1), Alexander Bublik (1), Andrey Rublev (1), Denis Shapovalov (1), Stefanos Tsitsipas (1), Alexander Zverev (1), Tallon Griekspoor (1), Alexandre Muller (1), Ugo Humbert (1)20-2418Carlos Alcaraz (5), Jannik Sinner (2), Flavio Cobolli (2), Felix Auger-Aliassime (2), Jack Draper (1), Sebastian Baez (1), Tomas Machac (1), Holger Rune (1), Jenson Brooksby (1), Luciano Darderi (1), Jiri Lehecka (1)16-192Jakub Mensik (1), Joao Fonseca (1)2025 ATP Title winners by age
20-24 year-olds have won six more titles in total than 25-29 year-olds so far this year, with the latter age group widely considered to be the ‘peak’ age for a professional tennis player.
The fact that just two titles have been won by players over the age of 30 in 2025 further highlights the point that the younger stars have changed the game.
It remains to be seen whether that will stay the same throughout the remainder of the season, but it will certainly be something to look out for.