Big Three in Men's Tennis Still Adding To Their Legacies

Image courtesy of rainycat's Flickr page - Federer: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28225297@N02/2646405198/in/photolist-52Rw4Q-p8Qke2-pNeLZo-p8MKnE-fzF6Q7-dYw2XY-SvonJ3-pN9NF8-oge4WN-6YEX2f-8Y3Z7B-oi1vsT-21HsED-21HpeZ-21MPiS-21MNsJ-21HrV4-fzF6HS-5WT5AT-pNbVjo-3eaJ9S-fzF6Cq-boLJRd-q3tTQb-pNibFc-ayd9P9-WAkczv-aydaeb-7wRh3X-oYxvJ3-q5HgUu-pNibBe-i9xmA-q3tT3Q-dj1Krc-5WXjyo-5WXjFY-akEtDk-akHp2S-6YAY1e-fEwXe7-3d7da-i9xmz-ayatJV-dYqjhx-8gLAZs-ayayK6-8gHnc6-aydcLS-ayarye

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Photo courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr Page - Rafael Nadal: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/5756335239

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Photo courtesy of Marianne Bevis's Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mariannebevis/5972100998/in/photolist-a6JzyA-csctLm-cscsEm-csctrw-csct17-f4CWUn-nWz24z-a6Jzhy-a6JzGq-a6JyPu-a6FHJc-9ZEUDd-ohz8qG-ox2Nmj-bPFs5a-5uzT4n-a6FHgX-f52W2j-2KSf8f-f4MHoM-cJrFYL-cJrGqo-f4MDDe-a3t6Ga-cscu3h-f4MESB-f4MJya-bALMj9-a3vX3q-bALMws-a3t6Sv-bPFshK-cJrFKY-nnjmG7-a3t6yv-cJrGd9-vUQeNJ-f4MCVT-cJrFxj-a3vXjs-np5my3-nnjiL7-npmV3n-npmS96-nr8qnZ-bPFr3t-bPFqaF-bPFsDg-f52X2j-bALPWo

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With his Australian Open tennis championship win this weekend, Novak Djokovic finally eclipsed Pete Sampras to become the third most decorated man in terms of Grand Slam championships and success. Now it is official: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Djokovic are the three most decorated men in the Grand Slam era. Djokovic's win assures that the domination of the "big three" men's players continues well into 2019, even though all of them are now well into their thirties. Djokovic is 31, Nadal is 32, and Federer is 37, respectively. 

Still, these three men have completely dominated the last nine Grand Slams on the men's side. Federer and Nadal took turns, almost literally, winning each of the first six Grand Slams during that period. Federer won the big showdown between him and Nadal at the Australian Open final in 2017. Nadal then won the French Open. Federer won Wimbledon in 2017, then Nadal took the U.S. Open to close out 2017 as the number one ranked man in tennis. Federer won the Australian again to start off 2018, and Nadal then won the French Open again. But Djokovic, now recovered from a nagging injury, took the Wimbledon title, and followed that up by winning the U.S. Open, erasing any lingering doubts about his recovery, or any suggestions (not that I heard anyone hinting at such a suggestion) that the Wimbledon title was some kind of a fluke or one-time thing.

And now, Djokovic and Nadal were battling in the Australian Open Men's final, assuring the continued dominance - at least for the time being - of the "Big Three." The number one ranked player, Djokovic, won, defeating world number two Nadal. It should be noted that Federer is still ranked at number three. And again, keep in mind, that all three men are well into their thirties. Federer is 37, so he will be pushing 40 fairly soon.

Before 2017, Federer already had won more Grand Slam titles than any other man in history, and Nadal was tied with Sampras for second on that list, with 14. Now, Federer has won 20 Grand Slam titles, which is still more than any other man in history. Nadal stands alone (at least for now) with 17 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic, with the recent runs at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open, now has 15 Grand Slam titles to his name, and broke the tie with Sampras for third on the all-time list on the men's side with 14 overall Grand Slam titles. So, these three men have managed to win more Grand Slam titles than any other men in history, and they did it, somewhat paradoxically, while competing against one another. It could probably be argued that they brought out the best in one another. Perhaps it could not have been otherwise.

I think an argument can be made that the three best men's tennis players in history are all playing at the same time, right now. Each of them has achieved things that the other two have not, are allow them to stand on their own. Federer has won more career Grand Slams than the other two, and has also spent more time as the number one ranked man than anyone else in history. He also had one of the most amazing years of any man in history in 2005, compiling an 81-4 record overall. Federer also was the oldest man to ever hold the number one ranking earlier this year. Nadal has dominated one surface, clay, more completely than any man has dominated any surface. He also stands alone among the three as the only one to have won the career Golden Slam (the four Grand Slam titles, as well as an Olympic Gold Medal in single's tennis play). Nadal is the oldest man to ever have finished a year as the number one ranked man, and seems on the verge of clinching a second straight year atop the rankings. Djokovic has a winning record against both of the other two men (at least for now). He enjoyed one of the most dominant years that any man has ever had in 2011, with Sampras suggesting it was the finest year that he had ever seen, and Nadal saying that he had never seen anyone play quite on that level before. Djokovic also managed to hold all four Grand Slams at once, when he won the 2015 Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles, and then followed that up by winning the 2016 Australian and French Open titles. 

Combined, these three men have dominated the sport for an incredibly long time, and with a historical level of thoroughness. Think about this: since Federer first broke through with his first ever Grand Slam title in 2003, these three men have won the vast majority of Grand Slam titles during that time. They have won a combined 52 Grand Slams, while all the rest of the men's field during that same time period won a total of 11 Grand Slam titles since then. With a brief period of time when the number one ranking went to Andy Murray (who has traditionally been seen as the other player in the class of the "Big Four"), either Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic has been the number one ranked man since early in 2004. Federer finished as the number one ranked man from 2004-2007, and then ended 2009 as number one. Nadal finished number one in 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2017. And Djokovic has ended number one in 2011-2012, as well as 2014-2015, and achieved the year end number one ranking last year, as well. Other than Murray, no other man has managed to reach the number one ranking during this time, which now basically spans a decade and a half.

Think about that. A decade and a half of dominance. By three men in particular.

Simply unreal! And they are all class acts, or at least all seem to be. I think it is a privilege as a tennis fan to be able to witness this era. We should enjoy it while we still have it. 

I have said this before, but will say it again: I believe that it is a privilege as a tennis fan to be able to witness this era, with three of the greatest tennis champions of all time competing against one another. Most likely, we will not see anything quite like this again. Already, Andy Murray has effectively dropped out of the race for greatness, announcing that he will be retiring this year. Meanwhile, Federer finally looks like age might be catching up with him just a bit.

Yet, we still have Nadal and Djokovic, and they are both clearly on top of their games. Two of the greatest champs in tennis history squaring off on Sunday. We should enjoy it while we still have it. 

One chart shows how much the Big 3 have dominated men's tennis over the last 15 years Cork Gaines and Shayanne Gal, September 10, 2018:

https://www.businessinsider.com/big-3-dominate-mens-tennis-federer-djokovic-nadal-2018-9