The 2017 US Open offered the opportunity for next generation stars to break through and win a first Grand Slam title.

It hasn’t happened yet and 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer predicts a true changing of the Grand Slam guard is still a couple of years away.

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The Wimbledon winner doesn’t believe 2018 will provide a wide-open race for major titles—if injured Grand Slam champions Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray all return healthy.

“I think it's going to be very interesting,” Federer said after outlasting Mikhail Youzhny in a five-set US Open second-round win. “Changing of the guard is going to come at some stage. Could very well be next year. But I still predict it's going to take a few more.”

Federer said while 2018 may appear wide open, former champions could well come back revitalized as both he and rival Rafael Nadal did in 2017.

“Well, I'm not sure if it's going to be wide open just because we don't know how a lot of those top guys are going to come back,” Federer said. “A lot of those guys are not playing here this week. How are they going to come back at the beginning of next year?

“I think it might look like it's open, but it might not be the case just because they might be super refreshed and ready to go. A lot of training, all these things.”

The USTA courted some controversy by not elevating Federer, who has won two of the three Grand Slam titles this season, to the number two seed.

Instead, the US Open followed the ATP rankings and seeded world No. 2 Andy Murray as the second seed. Murray withdrew a day after the draw.

That prevented the prospect of a first-ever Federer vs. Nadal US Open final.

The Australian Open champion suggested Tennis Australia will face a similar situation in January.

With Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka all likely to be ranked outside of the Top 4 when the 2018 Australian Open begins, will Tennis Australia also follow the ATP rankings or elevate the trio of major champions in its seedings?

“What I think is going to be interesting is that their ranking is going to be all over the place,” Federer said. “We're going to see some interesting draws, to say the least. We had a little bit with me and Rafa down in Australia. But now we're talking probably about a bigger group.

"That's going to go down maybe all the way to Murray, as well, depending if he's going to be playing at all for the rest of the season. Got a lot of points to defend. If that's the case, he might drop further down outside of the top four, then things are going to look real weird.”

Photo credit: Wimbledon Facebook