Is the Lackluster 2014 ATP Finals an Indication of Life After the Big 4 Era?

The ATP World Tour Finals have been creating a buzz this week, but unfortunately, it's been for all of the wrong reasons. The matches taking place between the top eight tennis players in 2014 have been ridiculously, almost comically, lopsided.

The event has left fans and media members scratching their heads and wondering, "Is this the future of men's tennis? Is this what we're left with after the Big Four are past their prime?"

It might sound like these questions are overreactions, but it really has been a historically bad week at the O2 arena. Of the 11 round-robin matches that have been played so far, 10 have been in straight sets. In 17 of those sets, the losers haven't won more than three games. 

Here are just a few of the head-scratching score-lines: Stan Wawrinka d. Tomas Berdych 6-1, 6-1; Novak Djokovic d. Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-1; Roger Federer d. Andy Murray 6-0, 6-1.

As reported by Kamakshi Tandon of Tennis.com, the straight-forward matches have been a surprise to everyone:

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The men's field had looked more open than previous years, given the Grand Slam breakthroughs by Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, as well as Kei Nishikori reaching the final of the U.S. Open. However, Djokovic and Federer have dominated the tournament through the first few days.

'I think it's a big surprise for everybody,' said Wawrinka. 'For us also. It's so strange because this year everybody before the tournament was expecting some big matches because [there] was more surprise during all the year with me winning [a] Grand Slam, Cilic also; [Milos] Raonic, Nishikori being there. So everybody was expecting some big match[es].'

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While it's easy to look at this week and buy into a "The ATP is falling!" narrative, as always, it's necessary to dig a bit deeper to see what the real issue is.

First of all, let's look at the state of the Big Four, which has been more mirage than a force of nature this season.

Don't get me wrong, the players involved—Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and Murray—are far from done with tennis, so put away those obituaries. Djokovic and Federer are firmly atop the rankings at No. 1 and No. 2, Nadal's down year (minus his great clay season and run to the Australian Open final), can be attributed mainly to injury and Murray found his post-back surgery form late in the season.

It's not at all unfathomable that these guys will once again hold the top four rankings in 2015, and all of them are all still capable of winning Slams.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

However, this year we've seen significant breakthroughs, such as Wawrinka winning the Australian Open, Cilic winning the U.S. Open and Raonic, Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov growing into legitimate threats.

Unfortunately, we did not see that unpredictability translate into great WTF matches.

Let's start with the obvious reason why: Federer and Djokovic have been in top form. Djokovic, who clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time in his career on Friday, is on an unprecedented 30-match winning streak on indoor hard courts and is undefeated since his son was born last month. He is trying to win the WTFs for a third straight year.

Federer continues to defy logic by playing world-class tennis after his 33rd birthday. Seriously, the guy is just not normal.

But what's notable is the air of inevitability the other players seem to have when facing Djokovic and Federer, even Murray who has been a chief rival for both of them. Time and time again we've seen players, particularly Berdych and Cilic, come onto the court with little-to-no belief that they can win. After a season that saw some of the mystique of the Big Four dissipate, this attitude is a bit baffling.

Of course, there could be more to that as well. As Courtney Nguyen of SI.com suggests, it's a long season, and these guys are tired!

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The easy explanation is fatigue. It's the last tour-level tournament of a long and grueling season, and a majority of the field had to play hard through the fall in order to secure their spots in the tournament. Murray, Nishikori, Berdych and Raonic didn't qualify for the tournament until two weeks ago in Bercy. On a medium to slow paced indoor hard court, that lack of form has been magnified. Cilic comes into the tournament rusty after not playing a tournament for three weeks. 

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Likely, it's a combination of great play by Federer and Djokovic, a bad attitude by some of the other players and the physical and mental drain of 11 months of tennis.

However, it's also a marked indication of something that fans of the ATP have known for a while: The Big Four have an extra gear that has made this era of men's tennis one of the best in history. While other players have a lot of talent—talent that we finally know is good enough to win a Slam—it remains to be seen if they have the rare make-up for week in, week out greatness.

Though we still have the semis and the final to go, it's pretty clear that, from an entertainment stand-point, this will be one of the most disappointing WTFs ever. It could be a fluke, or it could be a reason to hit the panic button.

Mostly, though, it's just a reminder of how spoiled we've been with this era of men's tennis, and how nothing lasts forever.