A retrospective by The Sportist

Men’s professional tennis is in the in-between right now. For the first time in 23 years, the ATP Finals took place without either Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic in the mix. Instead, we are left with the likes of Jannik “carrot boy” Sinner and Carlos “Carlitos” Alcaraz; a pair of wunderkinds with a lot to prove. I believe it folly to even attempt measuring them up to The Big Three; they are their own competitors, it would hardly be constructive.

A general rule of thumb in my book is to avoid directly comparing different generations of sporting disciplines because everything is in constant motion. The rules change, technology advances – this is only natural. However, it could be argued that tennis is a special case. For some reason or another, the same three people have largely dominated the men’s tennis scene for an unnaturally long period of time. The only reason their reign is ending soon is the simple fact that the human body can only do so much for so long. Tennis is an extremely physical sport – some matches lasting over 5 hours – but time seems to have finally caught up with them, and rest beckons these tennis titans to lay down their racquet arms and join the ranks of former professional tennis players.

As such, I feel that it would be interesting to look back at some of what The Big Three have managed to accomplish in their shared dominant era and pay tribute to something we might never witness again. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic: nearly two decades of men’s singles tennis has been shaped by the rivalries between them. No doubt they will eventually be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame, but for now, dear reader, a short trip back to the past is in order.

Let’s take a quick detour before we crunch the numbers. Here’s a crash course on the season’s format:

THE ATP TOUR

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body for men’s professional tennis. They handle the rankings, points, tournaments, all that jazz. A season of tennis (the ATP Tour) generally lasts for about a full calendar year, and spans over 60 tournaments on three different court surfaces (clay, grass, hard) around the globe – split into four levels. There’s the ATP 250s, 500s, and Masters 1000s (where the number denotes the number of points gained for winning the respective tournaments) but the statistical focus will be on the fourth and highest level, the Grand Slam, which awards 2000 points. I have elected to ignore the ATP Finals (tournament for the year-end top eight players) as a measure of accomplishment because, frankly, it isn’t worth mentioning. Take the Grand Slams as the essays/midterms worth 60% of your grade, and the other tournaments as weekly tutorial quizzes.

There are four Grand Slam tournaments, consisting of two weeks of play for each. To win the whole thing, you’ll have to win in a single-elimination, knockout bracket-style draw of 128 players, the aim being to advance to the final (about seven matches total). The first Grand Slam is the Australian Open (hard court), played in Melbourne at the beginning of the year. Following that is the French Open a.k.a. Roland Garros (clay court), in Paris, France. Next is Wimbledon (grass court), played in London, where until recently everyone had to wear full white kit (highly traditional). Finally, the US Open (hard court), in New York closes out the run for the year. We do not need to get into the nitty-gritty of how everything works, but the message I hope to convey is that winning a single Grand Slam is extremely difficult. The Big Three have won a combined total of 66, nearly evenly shared between them. They have warped what it means to have a good tennis career, creating unreal expectations for those who follow after and ridiculous comparisons to those who came before.

THE END IS NEAR

The end of this year marks the beginning of the latter third of the end of the reign of The Big Three in men’s tennis during the Open Era. Roger played his last professional match in 2022 – to a teary ensemble at the Laver Cup in London, United Kingdom. Rafa played his last match at the Davis Cup Finals in Málaga, Spain – representing his country one last time. Nole pulled out of the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy this year on account of an elbow injury – some might say an omen of his impending retirement as well.

There was a time when I believed all three would still be duking it out on the court by the time we reached net-zero carbon emissions, but alas, there is evidence to the contrary. Whether I like it or not, over 20 years of pure dominance is ending soon. Tennis players have grown up watching them, they were inspired to turn pro because of them, they have gotten smacked around by them, and several have been forced to bow out in deferential retirement courtesy of this unquestionable dominance. The “Lost Gen,” the “Old Next Gen,” and the “New Next Gen” all took turns getting walloped by a trio of old geezers at some point. In some other timeline, the likes of Milos Raonic, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Kei Nishikori might have had more titles to their names. Let us not forget the Scottish tragedy (comparatively) of Shakespearean calibre that was Sir Andy Murray’s career (the highs were high and the lows were low). For some reason Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are fading from the spotlight. Alcaraz and Sinner, the more promising pair, are sharing the Grand Slams for this year, two apiece. What these two have already accomplished at their ages is incredible. Generally speaking, everything the Big Three has done has to be looked at as separate from the rest of the Tour. 

Let me be real with you, all these other players mentioned and not are excellent in their own right, they just fell victim to unfortunate timing. But enough of that, let’s visit the main attraction.

WHO ARE THE BIG THREE?

After all that, allow me to present to you – in my most humble, heavily tennis-leaning professional armchair pundit opinion – the masterminds behind the greatest run of sporting dominance in the 21^st century. There may never be an era so definitive as that of the Big Three, and it is bittersweet to see it end. We are in the last legs of this truly incredible era, but we mourn not because we have lost what we love, but because we love what we have lost.

Quick disclaimer: these three have their fair share of controversies (some more than others), but I call them “great” based purely on their achievements in the sport, not necessarily as human beings.

The Gentleman

From the city on the Rhine: The King, The Swiss Maestro, also known as Roger Federer. Notable for having a tram named after him (The Federer Express) in Basel, Switzerland. Also, he is the first person to be pictured on Swiss stamps and coins while still living. This man single-handed backhandedly transformed tennis into a sport of grace and beauty, that glorious slice would bring anyone to tears. Being a retired professional, nowadays one can find him completing side quests like touring Switzerland by train with Trevor Noah and appearing in tourism ads with Anne Hathaway and Mads Mikkelsen. He is the oldest of The Three, and the first to retire. Well-known for his clinical game and “+10 Elegance-Up” effect when in the vicinity of strawberries and cream as well as freshly cut grass in south-west London (we don’t talk about Wimbledon 2019), Roger could always be counted on to play the most glorious of shots with finesse. The Swiss with his tailored image and immaculate one-handed backhand, Federer is the only player to win three different Grand Slam tournaments at least five times, with a total of 20 to his name.

The Unstoppable Force

From the island of Mallorca: Rafa, the raging bull, King of Clay, also known as Rafael Nadal Parera. One of his most distinguishable achievements: appearing in Shakira’s music video as a love interest for the song “Gypsy” in 2010. He also has a 3-metre-tall statue of himself that was erected on site at Roland Garros in 2021 despite still being an active player, because he was just that good (we don’t talk about Australian Open 2019). This man has left-handedly terrorised the clay courts for over two decades, establishing surface statistics that are quite frankly insulting to the rest of the tour. I would like to imagine his internal dialogue when facing a victim on Court Phillipe-Chatrier went something like: “Ah, you think clay is your ally? You merely adopted the red soil. I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn’t see the grass courts until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but slippery.” The Spaniard with his “Hola à todos” and slingshot of a debilitating topspin, Nadal holds the record for the most wins at a single Grand Slam event by any player in tennis history, with a total of 22 under his belt.

The Immovable Wall

From a pizzeria in Kopaonik: Nole, The Djoker, Bert Critchley, also known as Novak Djokovic. Well-known for having a species of beetle and aquatic snail named after him (Duvalius djokovici and Travunijana djokovici respectively) and appearing in Martin Solveig & Dragonette’s music video for the song “Hello” in 2010. Sure, his return game is unbelievably good, but the Djokosmash is his greatest weapon. The number of times he has come from a set or two down and methodically disassembled his opponents is uncomfortably high (we don’t talk about US Open 2021). In the shady corners of the tennis fandom, an apt summary regarding the way all of his matches go is, “First he takes your legs, then he takes your soul.” The Serb with his gymnastics and delightful backhand-down-the-line, Djokovic is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces, with a total of 24 and counting.

I searched diligently (about a minute or so) for a music video from 2010 that included Roger Federer to no avail – but that is beside the point. Since Wimbledon 2003, they have won nearly 80% of the Grand Slams held.

WHAT NOW?

Of the three, only one remains. The key to Djokovic’s success has been his longevity, his endurance beyond that of the other two. He has remained largely injury-free throughout his career and the results speak for themselves. At his age, Nadal and Federer were beginning to wane – past their prime – but Novak can still be seen steamrolling opponents nearly twenty years younger. This season, despite not winning a single title for the first time since 2006, he made deep runs into most majors, won the Olympic gold medal, and essentially completed tennis. Next year, I predict a comeback of epic proportions (at least that is the vibe I am getting from the esteemed delusional echo chambers of r/tennis). The age of the Big Three is not over yet, near the end as we may be, it would be wise not to forget.

There is a certain level of sad beauty to the way this chapter is closing. Roger Federer was the first to join and the first to leave. Rafael Nadal was his rival in the early days and then Novak Djokovic came on the scene. The dynamic ebb and flow between them has been a privilege to witness, and as the dust settles and their places in the Tennis Hall of Fame are solidified, I am left wondering whether I will ever be this invested in the sport again.

P.S. Djokovic recently hired Andy Murray to coach him so 2025 go brrr I guess

Courtesy of Statista (statista.com/chart/20689). Licensed under the Creative Commons License CC BY-ND 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0).