With Rafael Nadal’s retirement, completed this Tuesday (19), two years after Roger Federer’s, the era of tennis giants is coming to an end. This was a period in which these two legends became, together with the survivor Novak Djokovic, the three most decorated players in history.
For almost 20 years, the three tennis giants shared almost every major title. They dominated all statistics from start to finish, starting with Grand Slam victories: 20 for the Swiss, 22 for the Spaniard and 24, for now, for the Serb. Fourth in the rankings, Pete Sampras, has 14.
The three also have the most Masters 1000 wins: 40 for Djokovic, 36 for Nadal, 28 for Federer, followed by Andre Agassi with 17.
The Serbian leads the number of weeks spent as world number 1 (428), ahead of the Swiss (310), while Nadal occupies sixth place with 209.
As for the total number of titles, Jimmy Connors’ 109 may remain the record, but this trio is not far behind, with 103 for Federer, 99 for Djokovic and 92 for Nadal.
During the last two decades, which will undoubtedly be considered the golden age of tennis, there have been a total of 60 duels between Nadal and Djokovic, the most disputed match in the entire history of tennis, with 31 to 29 for the Serb. There were 50 duels between Djokovic and Federer, with 27 to 23 for ‘Djoko’. Finally, 40 games between Federer and Nadal (24 to 16 for the Spaniard).
Who was better?
Of these three, who is the best? The debate to choose a “GOAT” (“Greatest of all time”, the best of all time in English) has not ceased among sports fans.
Everyone has their arguments. Nadal’s defenders point out that he is above his rivals in Grand Slam finals (5-4 against Djokovic and 6-3 against Federer, while the Serbian won 4-1 against Federer). Those who support the Swiss claim that he was the player who contributed the most to the sport, thanks to his attacking style.
But Federer’s critics point out that, being the oldest (born in 1981, Nadal in 1986 and Djokovic in 1987), he began his career before his two great rivals and was able to expand his list of victories against opponents who disappeared as soon as he settled in. the ‘Big Three’, such as Mark Philippoussis, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick or Fernando González.
Criticism of the Spaniard focuses on the imbalance of his record, which is sustained by his immense superiority on clay (14 Roland Garros of his 22 Grand Slams, 26 Masters 1000 of the 36 and a total of 63 titles on clay).
Djokovic imposes himself as number 1 in terms of figures: he leads the direct confrontations, he is the only one to have the complete collection of 9 Masters 1000 (in addition to the 4 Grand Slams, like his rivals) and has won the season-ending Masters on seven occasions, record number. His 24th Grand Slam, at the US Open 2023, put an end to the debate if we consider the numbers, but he still had time to win Olympic gold in Paris-2024, the only missing line.
In the debate, Nadal’s long injury history must also be taken into account, unlike his rivals.
Being the youngest, but not the most precocious, the Serb had to face competition from his two other rivals when they were at their best. When he won his first Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open, Federer already had 12 on his count, and Nadal had three.
When he won the second, again in Australia, but in 2011, Federer already had 16, and Nadal, 9. Since that date, the Serbian’s dominance has been overwhelming: 22 titles compared to Nadal’s 12 and Federer’s last four.
The rivalry between Federer and Nadal is the one that generated the most passion, perhaps because Djokovic entered the dispute later.
But among the 150 matches played between these three champions, including 23 Grand Slam finals, there were legendary duels in both directions: the Djokovic-Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final, won by the Serbian in an endless fifth set (13-12 after two match points lost by the Swiss), the 2012 Australian Open final, won in almost six hours by Djokovic against Nadal and, of course, the famous 2008 Federer-Nadal, which the Spaniard won as night fell, for many the most beautiful match in history.
And as for the love they received from fans, it cannot be explained in numbers, but Djokovic will never be able to match his two rivals, whose rivalry enchanted audiences beyond tennis.
