Marion Bartoli says she feels "a sense of sadness" after Roger Federer announced his retirement from tennis, just weeks after Serena Williams' grand slam swansong.
Federer – a 20-time major champion – revealed on Thursday that he had made the "bittersweet decision" to end his glittering career, with next week's Laver Cup being his farewell tournament.
The announcement comes just over two weeks after Williams made her final slam appearance at the US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon champion Bartoli believes it represents "the end of an era" for the sport.
When asked for her reaction, Bartoli told Stats Perform: "A sense of sadness, obviously, because we lost in the space of two weeks Serena [Williams] and Roger Federer who are basically two of the biggest stars that ever played the game, and two of the greatest who have ever played the game.
"I sense it was the end of an era almost because they have been part of my journey. When I was playing, Roger was obviously at his peak winning a lot of things and then Serena as well and now coming to see both of them taking their retirement almost at the same time.
"I feel like that book is almost closed, and now we are moving to the new generation of players with Carlos Alcaraz and all of them, but Novak [Djokovic] and Rafa [Nadal] are still hanging on.
"A sense of sadness obviously, but then completely understand his decision from what he had to face in the past three years."
Bartoli, who was also runner-up at the All England Club in 2007, thinks there are many players capable of challenging for the major titles in years to come.
Although, she does not see any player dominating tennis in the same manner as the 'Big Three' in Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
"I think our Alcaraz will very much be in the mix, but I don't think we will see one player being at 20 grand slams in 15 or 20 years, I don't believe it," she said.
"I think those three have been more than even superhuman. They've brought tennis to a level of consistency that, and along with Serena as well, I don't think anyone will be able to replicate that.
"When you see Carlos, he had an amazing US Open, just an incredible achievement. But Novak was not there, Rafa was injured, Roger doesn't play anymore, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas lost in the first round, [Alexander] Zverev can't play.
"It's just a lot of circumstances, and he had to save two match points against [Jannik] Sinner. So I don't see him dominating tennis as Roger did, or Novak did or Rafa did for the next 20 years, I just don't see it.
"I think that the level between each other, it's very close. You don't see a major gap. So I think we'll have maybe Carlos winning one and then Sinner winning one, Zverev finally winning one and then Medvedev winning more.
"It's just going to keep rotating between maybe five or six names, but I don't think will be one name that keeps winning everything."
Swiatek seals Italian Open hat-trick after soaring past Sabalenka
Iga Swiatek stormed to her third Italian Open title following a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over Aryna Sabalenka.
The world number one took just under an hour-and-a-half to deny the world number two, and complete a hat-trick of triumphs in Rome.
The pair were contesting a second final in as many events, with Swiatek saving three championship points before eventually prevailing in the Madrid Open showpiece a fortnight ago.
However, it was one-way traffic this time around. The Pole converted two out of three break points as she controlled the opening set.
Sabalenka was the last player to deny Swiatek in a WTA final, that coming at last year's Madrid Open.
Although, the second seed was helpless as her opponent broke again in game seven of the second set, before wrapping up a fourth title of the season ahead of the French Open later this month.
Data debrief
Landing her third Italian Open title before turning 23, Swiatek is only the second player to achieve that feat after Gabriela Sabatini.
In fact, at 22 years and 352 days old, she is the youngest player to win 10 WTA 1000 titles since the introduction of the format in 2009.
The Pole also became the third player to triumph in Madrid and Rome during the same season, after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013).
Jarry defeats Paul to set up Zverev showdown in Italian Open final
Nicolas Jarry defeated Tommy Paul in three sets on Friday to set up a showdown with Alexander Zverev in the Italian Open final.
The men's world number 24 prevailed 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 in a little under three hours in Rome to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
Jarry earned the only break of serve in the eighth game of the opening set, but Paul - who dropped just one set in four matches en route to this stage - hit back in the second.
Birthday boy Paul lost serve to trail 4-2 at one stage, but he produced one of the shots of the tournament at the ideal moment and soon dragged it back to 4-4.
A gruelling set concluded with Paul taking the tie-break 7-3, but Jarry was unperturbed and won the deciding set with his fifth match point to see off Paul in a gruelling contest.
Data Debrief:
Jarry is the third male Chilean in the Open Era to reach the singles final of the Italian Open after Marcelo Rios (1997-98) and Fernando Gonzalez (2007).
The 28-year-old registered 13 aces against Paul to his opponent's seven and hit 35 winners to 19 in a deserved victory.
Zverev ends Tabilo's dream run to reach Italian Open final
Alexander Zverev fought back from the brink to reach the Italian Open final on Friday, overcoming Alejandro Tabilo by a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 scoreline in the last four.
Zverev was punished for a slow start as Tabilo took the opener within 32 minutes, but the German fought back in a one-hour, 15-minute slog of a second set.
The 2017 Italian Open champion put his foot down from 3-3 in the second-set tie-break, with Tabilo potentially feeling the effects of a fine run that included a last-32 upset of Novak Djokovic.
Zverev upped the intensity in the final set and won a huge 94 per cent of points behind his first serve as his opponent wilted, the third seed reaching the Rome final for a third time.
Data Debrief: Zverev draws level with Becker
Zverev will now face either Nicolas Jarry or Tommy Paul in Sunday's final, which will be his 11th at ATP 1000 Masters level.
That tally pulls him level with Boris Becker for most such finals by a German player since the format's 1990 introduction.
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