Where Were Federer, Nadal, Djokovic & Murray At Zverev’s Age?

Alexander Zverev hit the high point of his still-young career on Sunday, defeating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to lift his first Nitto ATP Finals title at 21 years, 212 days old. It is the German’s 10th tour-level triumph, and his biggest yet.

But Zverev has accomplished a lot at his young age. He has already captured three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and earned 23 victories against opponents inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. And by virtue of his win over Djokovic on Sunday, Zverev became the youngest Nitto ATP Finals champion since Djokovic himself a decade ago.

So one may wonder, where were some of the best players in the game when they were Zverev’s current age? ATPWorldTour.com flashes back to take a look at where all four active players who have reached No. 1 in the ATP Rankings were when they were 21 years, 212 days old.

Roger Federer
Considering Federer now has 99 tour-level trophies, one might be surprised that he owned just six when he was Zverev’s age.

The Swiss had climbed to No. 4 in the ATP Rankings, and won an impressive 178 tour-level matches. And Federer had won his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title 10 months earlier in Hamburg, beating two opponents inside the Top 10 en route to what was the biggest triumph of his young career.

But it was after he was Zverev’s age that Federer broke out. In March of 2003, when Federer was 21 years, 212 days old, he had already lifted two trophies that season. But the Swiss would go on to win five more that year, including his first Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon and his first of a record six Nitto ATP Finals crowns in Houston, where he would beat World No. 1 Andy Roddick, World No. 2 Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andre Agassi twice. The following February, Federer ascended to the top of the ATP Rankings for the first of what has been 310 weeks at World No. 1.

Rafael Nadal
The Spaniard achieved an incredible amount by the time he was Zverev’s age. Nadal had already won 23 tour-level titles, including his first nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns and three Coupes des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros.

Perhaps what stands out the most is that in 2005, when Nadal turned 19 years old, the Spaniard won 11 tour-level titles. To this day, Nadal has not lifted more trophies in a single season since. Nadal claimed the first four of his record 33 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles that year, and he hasn’t looked back since.

When Nadal was Zverev’s age, he had already amassed more than 250 match wins. And to put that in perspective, there are less than 200 players in history who have earned that many tour-level victories, according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone.

Novak Djokovic
The Serbian, had recently captured his first Nitto ATP Finals trophy when he was 21 years, 112 days old. That was Djokovic’s 11th tour-level title, and it came at the close of his best season to date.

In 2008, Djokovic claimed four victories, all of which were ‘Big Titles’. The current World No. 1 won his first Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open that year, earned his third and fourth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Rome, and won at least 60 matches for the second consecutive year.

Djokovic spent the entirety of 2008 at No. 3 in the ATP Rankings, and he earned 11 victories against Top 10 opponents that season. And there was no stopping from there, as Djokovic would win five titles in 2009, and the rest is history.

Andy Murray
The Scot had climbed to a career-best No. 4 in the ATP Rankings when he was Zverev’s age. Murray won an impressive five ATP World Tour titles in 2008, bringing his career total to eight at just 21 years of age.

Murray also claimed his first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles that season, triumphing in Cincinnati and Madrid, when the Spanish event took place later in the year on indoor hard courts. Murray also advanced to his maiden Grand Slam final in 2008, defeating Nadal en route to the championship match at the US Open, where Federer would claim his fifth consecutive trophy.

And while Murray fell short in that match, he won three of his four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Federer that year, and his win against Nadal in Flushing Meadows was his first victory against the Spaniard in six tries.