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No one thinks it&rsquo;s time to write off Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal &mdash; or even Roger Federer &mdash; just yet. Well, they shouldn&rsquo;t, anyway. 
				Still, the season-ending ATP Finals set the stage for an intriguing 2021 in men&rsquo;s tennis with the emergence of Daniil Medvedev and the continued excellence of Dominic Thiem, a pair of 20-somethings who look ready to continue their climbs to the sport&rsquo;s apex.
				They&rsquo;re part of a group of up-and-coming men that also includes Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, all of whom are showing signs they&rsquo;re for real and ready to take the next steps. It gives everyone fodder for thought until action resumes in Australia in January, if the coronavirus pandemic allows.
				&ldquo;We proved that we can play with the legends, that we can also beat them, that we can also win the biggest tournaments,&rdquo; said Thiem, whose title at the U.S. Open in September gave him his first Grand Slam trophy.
				&ldquo;The next few years, the Big Three still will play for every big title, but I guess there&rsquo;s still going to be a time when those guys will retire &mdash; I don&rsquo;t know, in three, four, five years,&rdquo; Thiem said. &ldquo;And then, I guess, we will be the favorites for all the big titles. For tennis, some exciting times are coming ahead.&rdquo;
				He said this Sunday night in London after losing to Medvedev 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 at the ATP Finals in the last tour match of the year.
				They reached the championship match with stirring three-set semifinal victories that felt a bit portentous: No. 3 Thiem knocked off No. 1 Djokovic, and No. 4 Medvedev eliminated No. 2 Nadal.
				&ldquo;An amazing accomplishment for a new generation,&rdquo; Medvedev called it.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s super for tennis. We are starting to &#8230; (make) our marks,&rdquo; said Medvedev, who also beat Djokovic in the round-robin portion of the tournament and became the first man in the 50-year history of the ATP Finals to defeat each of the players ranked 1-3 at the event.
				Austria&rsquo;s Thiem, 27, has appeared in four Grand Slam finals &mdash; losing twice to Nadal at the French Open, once to Djokovic at the Australian Open &mdash; and is now a two-time finalist at the ATP Finals (Tsitsipas beat him in 2019). Thiem&rsquo;s powerful baseline game is terrific, but he needs to add some variety and mid-match adaptability.
				Russia&rsquo;s Medvedev, 24, was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 U.S. Open and lost to Thiem in the semifinals there this year. His ability to think his way through a match might be unrivaled &mdash; he shifted tactics to transform his matches against Nadal and Thiem in London &mdash; and his hard-court success is undeniable, but to really reach the upper echelon and stay there, he&rsquo;ll want to improve on clay (0-4 at the French Open) and grass (never past the third round at Wimbledon).
				Greece&rsquo;s Tsitsipas, Germany&rsquo;s Zverev (who recently denied allegations of domestic violence made by a former girlfriend) and Russia&rsquo;s Rublev are all under 24 and ranked in the Top 10.
				None has won a major, although Zverev came quite close, holding a two-set lead before allowing Thiem to come back in the U.S. Open final.
				It would be foolhardy to believe Djokovic, 33, and Nadal, 34, can&rsquo;t add to their Grand Slam totals; even Federer, 39, should not be discounted after missing most of the year following two operations on his right knee.
				They&rsquo;ve combined to win 53 of the last 62 major championships and 57 in all: 20 apiece for Federer and Nadal, 17 for Djokovic.
				And in 2020, they won two of three (Wimbledon was canceled because of the COVID-19 outbreak).
				But after years of domination, they might finally have some worthy competition.
				&ldquo;Roger, Rafa, (Novak), and also Andy (Murray) &mdash; they did so much for the sport. They brought so many people to tennis. So many new fans to tennis. &#8230; There&rsquo;s going to be a time when they&rsquo;re not around anymore,&rdquo; Thiem said. &ldquo;Then it&rsquo;s going to be so important to keep all the tennis fans, to keep them with this great sport. And I think that&rsquo;s our challenge.&rdquo;

Analysis: Medvedev, Thiem get tennis set for intriguing 2021