The tennis locker room is ever-evolving along with the Tour and the generation. The atmosphere of the room in 2026 is way different from what it was in the 90s. Tommy Paul feels that players in the 90s had a different kind of ego, and some also didn’t hesitate to butt heads. But the situation today is anything but the same.

“I feel like the locker room nowadays, it’s not like it was in the 90s,” he told ATPTour.com. “I feel like in the 90s, there were a lot of people butting heads and — I don’t want to say bigger egos, but there were different egos.”

“I feel like now, people know that we’re all traveling to the same tournaments together year round. Nobody really wants beef in the locker room. I think everyone respects each other and what we do.”

A reason why Paul may have said this is that the 90s are considered one of the most competitive eras in men’s tennis. Legends like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, and more were directly competing for honors. The likes of Stephen Edberg, Boris Becker, and Goran Ivanisevic were also in the fray.

Rivalries between Edberg and Becker, Agassi and Sampras, and Agassi and Courier were the highlight of this era. With several players competing for trophies, it’s not surprising to know that some of them had beef with each other.

Most famously, Agassi took shots at Sampras in his autobiography, “Open”. The book was released in 2010, and it was here that Agassi described Sampras as “dull” and a person lacking inspiration. Though the two maintained a professional relationship on the court, they were as different in nature as they could be.

“I envy Pete’s dullness,” wrote Agassi. “I wish I could emulate his spectacular lack of inspiration, and his peculiar lack of need for inspiration. We could not be more different, Pete and I.”

In comparison, the men’s tennis scene today isn’t as competitive as it used to be in the 90s. For context, only three players have won Grand Slam titles since the start of 2024. This includes Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Alexander Zverev. The titles have mostly alternated between Alcaraz and Sinner, with both of them winning five each.

This has led to a lack of competitive rivalry on the ATP circuit, with only a handful of players able to compete for big honors. The atmosphere in the locker rooms also appears to be cool, as no reports of fights or altercations have come out recently.

But while the competitiveness on the ATP circuit may have deteriorated in the last few years, the 2026 season has turned out to be a little different. Zverev clinched his maiden major title at the French Open, and now there is a strong possibility that a new champion will emerge at the US Open as well. This is because the two most dominant players of this era are not confirmed to compete in the tournament.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s US Open participation in doubt

Notably, both Sinner and Alcaraz have not played a single tournament so far in the hard-court season. Both have withdrawn from competitions like the National Bank Open and Cincinnati Masters. This is because they are not physically fit to compete on the Tour as of now.

Sinner had recently announced that he won’t play in Cincinnati because of a right knee issue. Though he has been working closely with his medical team since the grass swing, the injury will still take more time to heal. Sinner did have a closed-door training session in Turin earlier this week and also underwent tests at JMedical. It remains to be seen if he will manage to recover in time for the Grand Slam.

On the other hand, Alcaraz has been sidelined due to a wrist injury since April. He sustained the injury at the Barcelona Open and hasn’t been able to recover ever since. He has been pushing for a return, but his body isn’t just allowing him to compete. The Spaniard has already missed two majors due to the setback. Will he miss his third consecutive Grand Slam of the season for the first time ever? We will have to wait and see.