Federer announced that he would again skip the entire clay-court season. Djokovic has a clear lead in the head-to-head record between the two legends of tennis, with Federer winning just 16 times. Many young players who rise up the ranks nowadays point to either of . As 2013 came to a close, Federer's fall in the rankings prompted many sources to debate whether the dominance of the Big Four had ended. Naomi Osaka on the court with a baby bump: Andre Agassi her new coach? Lleyton Hewitt has a solid record against the Fab 3. Federer won his first Grand Slam title in 2003, Nadal in 2005, and Djokovic in 2008. I never expected to win a Grand Slam. So for me I think that's respectful. ", "Nadal, Djokovic and Federer built a golden era of men's tennis", "John McEnroe on tennis' golden era and best of all time", "Simply the best: The golden era of men's tennis", "Adjusted for inflation, the ATP's current elite are the best paid ever", "Djokovic Snatches Monumental Victory from Federer", "Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in US Open semis", "French Open: Roger Federer ends Novak Djokovic run to reach final", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Three_(tennis)&oldid=1141902301, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from June 2022, Articles with dead external links from July 2020, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2022, Articles containing potentially dated statements from February 2023, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2016, Articles containing potentially dated statements from January 2023, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from June 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 13:01. 1 over the inactive Murray. [136], In February 2022, Medvedev became the world No. Monfils beat Federer for a fourth time at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2015. They made me realise what I had to do to improve. Never expect to be that far in my career. The former World No. [49] Pete Sampras described it as "one of the best achievements in all of sport. Despite his struggles with form throughout the second half of the year, Djokovic still ended 2016 as world number two. In 2012, when asked about his Davis Cup comments, Federer . The Cypriot, who was a 2006 Australian Open semifinalist, prevailed over Nadal in the quarterfinals of the 2010 ATP Masters in Cincinnati. Five of those wins have come in Masters 1000 tournaments (four finals) and one in a Grand Slam (2012 US Open). He became the first British man to win the English Grand Slam singles title sinceFred Perryin1936, ending a 77-year drought. When the conditions have been like they have been, you need to focus so hard on almost every shot because the ball is very hard to control.. Jon Wertheim. He also joined Nadal in ownership of double digit titles at a single major. Following his victory, he decided not to play in Cincinnati once again. At the US Open, Djokovic reached the final but was defeated once again by Stan Wawrinka in a Grand Slam singles final. With a combined total of 149 matches played, the Big Three have played many notable matches against each other. At the US Open, Federer pulled out of the tournament due to his need for further knee surgery, while Nadal also withdrew due to a nagging foot injury. At the 2018 US Open, both Djokovic and Nadal made the semifinals, where Nadal retired against Juan Martn del Potro after being two sets down due to a knee injury he sustained during the tournament. Djokovic successfully defended his title by defeating Kyrgios in four sets in the final to win his 21st major title, thereby passing Federer and placing him one behind Nadal. Daniil Medvedevtriumphed overNovak Djokovicin the 2021 US Open final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to win the mens singles tennis title. [39] Nadal continued to dominate in most of the early season. 1 for the fifth time, despite not reaching the semifinals of ATP Finals. 1 ranking, all since 2012, saw him listed more comfortably alongside the other three members during the mid-2010s. 1 in the semifinals of the 2020 edition. [143] Federer has delivered the most bagels against the other two with four, while receiving only one.[144]. The Frenchman has got six wins against Federer and Djokovic, and four against Nadal. He won titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna and Paris. Murray ended the year with two Masters titles for the fourth consecutive year, and five titles in total.[54]. Creator: Juan Manuel Serrano Arce Copyright: 2022 Getty Images, Juan Martin del Potro (17 wins against the Fab 3). He also became the only man in the Open Era besides Federer and Rod Laver to reach all four major finals in the same year. Djokovic defeated Federer in five sets to claim his second Wimbledon title,[93] a result that left Djokovic, Nadal and Federer occupying the top three places in the rankings. Nadal only dropped one set en route to his fifth US Open final, where he met Daniil Medvedev. 1 ranking for the entirety of the period. 4, his lowest ranking since October 2009 and his first time outside the top two of the rankings since March 2011. [157], Since 2010, when the Big Four increasingly began to dominate the tour as a group, many articles and reports have concentrated mainly on the members of the Big Four and their chances in upcoming tournaments, with smaller sections devoted to all other players. Blake beat Federer once in 11 outings, in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the 2019 Australian Open, Federer was upset in the fourth round by 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas in a tight four-setter. Nadal then withdrew from their round-of-32 clash in Auckland the following year to hand Hrbaty his third win against the Spaniard. [citation needed]. The early 2000s were seen as a time of transition in tennis, with older champions retiring and a few players breaking through at the very top of the game. Nadal was a happy camper at Roland Garros 2014. 1 in straight sets. Hrbaty failed to get past Djokovic when the two squared off in a Davis Cup World Group tie in 2008 which is the only encounter the two have been part of. The 20-time Grand Slam winner went on to win a couple more times before losing in straight sets at the 2002 Dubai Open. These things happen rarely, but it has happened to Federer few times. They have been the most successful mens singles players for the last two decades. He is one of the most feared opponents, as he can dominate any superstar on a good day. So, the question he is probably itching to learn the answer to himself is: how does Thiems record against the big three stack up against others who have chased them? He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, but lost to unseeded Marco Cecchinato. While many have prevailed. [166][167], Even initially, some tennis commentators, including Murray himself,[168] spoke of a "Big Three" or "Trivalry",[169] due to Murray's lesser achievements than those three players. Andy Murray is surely the 4th best player of this generation. The Argentinian defeated the five-time defending championRoger Federerin the final, 36, 76(75), 46, 76(74), 62 to win the mens singles tennis title. Match after match I was playing better., MANORCO PVT LTD 2022 | All Rights Reserved. Blake, who is also a best-selling author, went on to lose to Novak Djokovic in the bronze-medal match of the Beijing Olympics. A lot of the tennis stars such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Pete Sampras among the others have held the number 1 rank. In February 2000 Marc Rosset defeated 18 year old Roger in the . Overall, Djokovic's 2015 season was one of the greatest in the history of the game, with him winning 11 titles (the most since Federer won 12 in 2006) including, for the second time, three majors. Despite being down two sets to love in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Djokovic rallied to win the title in five sets. Amongst the three of them they have played 149 matches against each other, 49 of which were at Grand Slam events. In the Wimbledon final, Murray beat Raonic in straight sets to win his second Wimbledon title, and third major title overall. It was the Swiss firstmajortitle and with this win, he became the first man outside theBig Fourto win a major sinceJuan Martn del Potrowon the2009 US Open. In the highly anticipated final, Federer triumphed over Nadal in five sets, winning his 18th Grand Slam title and his first since Wimbledon 2012. We have to consider that a player like Stan Wawrinka, who won three Slams, has won only 12 matches against the Big Three (three against Federer, three against Nadal and six against Djokovic). There is a theme here, right? [61][62] Nadal returned for the clay-court season, winning five events before becoming the only man to win a major eight times by taking the French Open, defeating Djokovic in an epic semifinal clash en route. The trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are commonly referred to as The Big Three. But the Italian went on to lose their 14 other meetings. Nadal has 22 major victories, Djokovic 21 and Federer 20 the last coming at the Australian Open in 2018 at the age of 36. Federer won his final title at age 36, Nadal won his most recent title at 36, and Djokovic at 35. see also ITF team competitions: Olympics, Davis Cup, Hopman Cup and Following an early loss at Shanghai, Nadal announced that he would skip the remainder of the 2016 season to recover fully from the wrist injury that troubled him earlier in the year. Murray dominated the rest of the year. 2005 was Nadal's breakthrough year, in which he won 24 consecutive matches on clay, including his first French Open title, beating Federer in the semifinals,[22] and he finished the year as the world No. 1 in true Big-4 style", "New Big 5: Is Marin ili the real deal? 3. Djokovic lost in the final to Daniil Medvedev, preventing him from winning a record 21 majors and achieving a Grand Slam, which would have been the first in men's tennis since Rod Laver in 1969. At the Grand Slam tournaments, the trio are the all-time title leaders; Nadal and Djokovic have each won a record 22 majors, and Federer 20. [95] The US Open 2014 saw the Big Four's collective grip on the major titles slip still further, however, as Kei Nishikori and Marin ili beat Djokovic and Federer in the semifinals respectively to contest the first Slam final featuring none of the Big Four since the 2005 Australian Open, and the first time since 2003 that multiple first-time Grand Slam tournament winners have been crowned in a single season. Its tough to remember a player robbed of as much talent by injury as the Argentinian, who lost his forehand to wrist injuries before he could even really get his career started. All four have reached a career-high ranking of world No. But if you mean has anybody beaten all three of them in the same tournament, then the answer is no. The Czech superstar was a Wimbledon finalist and was ranked no.4 during his peak. Since 2006, only six players have defeated the Big Three to win a Grand Slam title. Nadal won his eleventh title in Monte Carlo, then claimed an 11th Barcelona title, winning both without dropping a set. Despite withdrawing from the event due to injury, Nadal ended the year ranked as the world No. Thiem is the only player on the list who has his best days ahead of him, and his record against Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal really underlines what a serious talent he is. What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? The Spaniard claimed his 14th Major crown . The former World No. For long, far behind his rivalry with Nadal, Federer's rivalry with Djokovic gained momentum after 2014. In the previous year he lost the US Open final to he Scotsman. Rihanna Disappoints Serena Williams With Her Super Bowl 2023 Half Time Performance, Coco Gauff Made a Shocking Prediction About Rihannas Super Bowl PerformanceWhichCameTrue, Rafael Nadal Does Not Believe He Will Be Able to Beat Novak Djokovicin2023, Serena Williams Nationality and Religion: What Is Serena WilliamsFaith, Serena Williams Weight Transformation: Tennis Legend Shows off IncredibleNewLook. No one else took the world number one spot from them. He defeatedNole, 46, 64, 63, 64 to win the mens singles tennis and it was Wawrinkas secondmajortitle. [65][66] Murray defeated Djokovic in the final, becoming the first Briton to win the men's singles title in 77 years. 3,[31] holding the ranking for the entirety of 2008. Federer was unable to compete due to a persistent knee injury while Nadal returned to compete, after a lengthy six-month injury hiatus and a positive COVID-19 result. Rafael Nadal won his first ATP Tour match aged 15 in April 2002,[20] and he defeated Federer in their first meeting at the 2004 Miami Open.[21]. The win brought Nadal to 18 major titles, just two behind Federer's record of 20. Nadal returned in Montreal where he defended his title. Camila Giorgi is out of this world! Defeating the Big 3 of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer is what most players on the ATP tour have aspired to do over the last decade and a half. Each player has occupied the top position at the end of the year at least five times, with Djokovic holding the ATP record with seven. The tournament further signalled the decline of the Big Four's dominance. 1 for an ATP record 378 weeks (as of 27February2023[update]), Federer for 310 weeks, and Nadal for 209 weeks. Nadal made the final at all eight clay-court tournaments he played, winning six; he also made the semifinals at all eight of his hard-court tournaments, winning four titles. British tennis player Andy Murray, Daniil Medvedev, Stan Wawrinka. [46] At the start of the year, Federer continued his dominance as the world No. Nevertheless, there are still a handful of players who have defeated the Big 3 on their surface of choice. Stan said, Its just my career. Federer finished the season having reached all four major finals for the third time in his career following 2006 and 2007. For Nadal, it was his lowest end-of-year ranking since 2004, while Federer's fall in the rankings meant that November 2016 marked his first time outside the top ten since October 2002. Following his back surgery at the end of 2013, Murray struggled to return to form in the first half of the year, reaching only two semifinals and losing to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the quarterfinals while attempting to defend his Wimbledon title, a defeat which saw him fall to No. Whereas Djokovic has 21 titles, winning the most recent at the 2022 Wimbledon Open. To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended. [43] At the US Open, Murray was upset in the fourth round by Marin ili, while Djokovic reached his first Grand Slam semifinal of the season, losing in straight sets to Federer. Del Potro said, It was so difficult to keep trying to fight. He returned to the tour at Indian Wells and struggled much with form, failing to reach the quarterfinals of any of his first five tournaments after surgery. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal bias underlines Novak Djokovic not being rewarded with the GOAT status, according to a veteran tennis player. 2. They did not break it but emerged ahead of the rest of the tour. 1s in singles . The trio, affectionately nicknamed the 'Big-3' for their stellar exploits in the game, are the. One of the three finished the season as the year-end No. Interestingly, the 37-year-old is only a Wimbledon title away from completing the career slam. Nonetheless, FedererNadal remained the lead rivalry, as the pair met in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. [9][153][154][155][156], I think the top four, they are better. Federer is the player defeated more times by Murray, del Potro and Tsonga: 24 defeats, while Djokovic has 21 defeats and Nadal has 17 defeats. [149] Djokovic subsequently won the 2022 Wimbledon and the 2023 Australian Open, surpassing Federer and tying Nadal at 22 Grand Slam titles. Following Murray's strong end to 2014 and reaching the final of the 2015 Australian Open, he moved into the top four in the ATP rankings for the first time in over a year, meaning that the Big Four held the top four places in the rankings for the first time since early 2013, slowing the idea of the regression of the quartet. However, there are a few players who have a winning record against him. Novak Djokovic again faced defeat at the hands of Andy Murray at a Grand Slam final in 2013 when he lost the Wimbledon Open. James Blake won his first three matches against the Spaniard before losing the next four. Had he been playing in another era, he may well have dominated tennis for a while. [90] This, and Nadal's loss to Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round, his third consecutive early-round loss at Wimbledon, led former players and experts, including Jimmy Connors, to express the opinion that the "aura" around the Big Four had faded. 1. Taking nothing from Australia, Hewitt did have a bit of an upper hand against the young Federer and Nadal. In 2016, Djokovic collected his sixth Australian Open title in a straight-sets victory over Murray. 1 and remained there until July 2012, when he was overtaken by Federer, who reclaimed the top spot for the first time in two years. However, Wawrinka has reached seven fewer Grand Slam singles finals, has won 13 fewer Masters titles than Murray, and has peaked at only number 3 in the world rankings. Following the win, Djokovic emerged as a clear world No. It was his thirdGrand Slamtitle. 1 ranking in November 2016 and keep it to finish the year at the top position further helped arguments about him belonging in a "Big Four". During the 2010 season, the Big Four began to dominate the tour as a group for the first time. Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have been dominating the game for about two decades and their influence has become unparalleled. Nadal went on to win the tournament, defeating Dominic Thiem in the final to claim a record-extending 11th French Open title and his 17th major overall. For other uses, see. At the 2008 Australian Open, Djokovic defeated Federer in the semifinals, reaching his first Australian Open final and ending Federer's streak of ten consecutive major finals. [80] Murray and Federer fell to sixth and eighth in the rankings respectively,[81] and after the tournament, several players expressed the opinion that they were now capable of challenging the Big Four. Speaking of players who had the hitting power but have been cruelly curtailed by injury, welcome to the party Juan Martin! Federer's presence at Laver Cup 2023 is particularly noteworthy, given his longstanding relationship with the event as a co-founder but also a player. Holding the advantage at 27-23 in over 50 battles, the six-time year-end World No. In the end-of-year rankings, Djokovic, Federer and Nadal held the top three spots, with Murray in sixth. They are the reason I am where I am today. Meanwhile, Murray continued to rise in the rankings, reaching his first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon, losing to Nadal. 1 Novak Djokovic is the answer. In the 5-hour 24-minute final, he defeated Daniil Medvedev, after coming back from a two-set deficit, to win his record-breaking 21st major and establish a new all-time record for the most men's majors singles titles. Players to beat Federer on grass, Nadal on clay and Djokovic on hard: August 5 2012: Andy Murray wins his first big title at London Olympic Games beating Roger Federer in the final in Wimbledon 6-2 6-1 6-4 . At 2019. Additionally, they collectively own the 10 biggest single season payouts ranging from $13.06 million to $21.15 million.