Federer, Djokovic, Nadal: Big Three Domination At Wimbledon

Dominating? Yes. Unbeatable? Almost. Untouchable? Together, without a doubt. The Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been all of the above during most of their careers. At the moment, on the cusp of another Grand Slam championship they’ve dominated, the three combine for 53 Slam titles.

But the trio has been especially selfish with Slam trophies during the past three years and nowhere more so than at Wimbledon, which starts Monday.

Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have won every Grand Slam title since the 2017 Australian Open, when Federer beat Nadal in five sets to complete his fairytale comeback from knee surgery. Since 2003, the all-time greats have won 14 of the past 16 Wimbledon titles – Federer with eight, Djokovic four, and Nadal two. Andy Murray, their friend and former rival who will be competing in doubles this fortnight with France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert, nabbed the 2013 and 2016 editions.

“If you ask me about Federer, Nadal, I am grateful to be part of the era with them, because I think they made me the player I am today,” Djokovic said. “The success that I had, especially on the Grand Slams, was also due to the need to improve and to get better to win against these guys.”

Djokovic is the top seed and defending champion at SW19. The Serbian finished runner-up at last year’s Fever-Tree Championships (l. to Cilic), an ATP 500 event, but opted not to compete on grass before Wimbledon this year.

Big Three Slam Streaks

He had his own fairytale story by winning his 13^th Slam at last year’s Wimbledon. Djokovic hadn’t won a tour-level title in 379 days – 2017 Eastbourne on 1 July – and hadn’t hoisted a Slam trophy for 25 months. But as his son shouted, “Daddy! Daddy!” after Djokovic beat South African Kevin Anderson, the Serbian had another Grand Slam title to celebrate.

“I couldn’t pick the better place, to be honest, in the tennis world to peak and to make a comeback,” Djokovic said.

Federer, who is the second seed at Wimbledon, has only kept rising after winning the 2017 Australian Open. The Swiss has won 14 tour-level titles since January 2017, including his eighth Wimbledon two years ago and his 100^th title in February at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Tsitsipas).

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But a record-extending ninth Wimbledon title evaded Federer last year. Anderson saved one match point and came back from two sets down in their quarter-final to pull off the upset.

Federer, however, started the Big Three’s domination at the All-England Club in 2003, and perhaps it will be Federer who continues it on 14 July. The Swiss won his 10^th NOVENTI OPEN title last week in Halle, the first time Federer has won a tournament more than nine times.

“I’m aware that usually when it went well for me here in Halle I’ve also had very successful Wimbledons,” Federer said. “This definitely sets it up nicely and next to winning, I also feel good physically.”

Federer’s NOVENTI OPEN-Wimbledon Success

Nadal showed last year that he’s more than capable of competing on grass, despite a limited schedule because of injuries. The two-time Wimbledon champion (2008, 2010) finished better than the fourth round for the first time since 2011 and pushed Djokovic better than anyone, falling 10-8 in the fifth set of their semi-final.

The 33-year-old, who is the third seed, will be armed with belief in London, having won his past 12 matches and his unprecedented 12^th Roland Garros title earlier this month in Paris.

“As everybody knows, I love to play on grass. And as everybody knows, I am not able to play so many weeks in a row like I did 10 years ago, eight years ago. So I have to do my schedule,” said Nadal, who also did not play a tour-level grass-court event before Wimbledon. “I know I played a great event last year. I have been able to be very close to winning another title there… Honestly, the last two years that I played in Wimbledon, I felt close again.”

Did You Know?
This is the first time since 2012 at Wimbledon the Big Three are the Top 3 seeds and the fifth time (2008, 2010-11-12, 2019) overall.