Big Three (tennis)

The Big Three is a common tennis term for Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.[1][2] From the 2003 Wimbledon Championships up to and including the 2020 Australian Open, the trio have dominated men's singles, winning 56 of the 67 Grand Slam titles, with Federer accounting for 20, Nadal 19 and Djokovic 17.[3] They have also occupied the top three positions of the year-end singles ATP Rankings eight times, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2019.[4]

The Big Three
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic

Grand Slam singles combined best results
Main article: List of Grand Slam men's singles champions

The Big Three are the top three players of all-time in terms of Grand Slam titles won, as well as the top three players in terms of Major finals reached. Federer has reached 31 finals, Nadal 27, and Djokovic 26. They are the only three male players in history to win eight or more singles titles at the same Grand Slam: Nadal with 12 French Open titles, Federer with eight Wimbledon titles, and Djokovic with eight Australian Open titles. (On the women's side, Martina Navratilova won nine times at Wimbledon, while Molla Mallory won eight US Championships, a predecessor of the US Open.)

Grand Slam200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020 Success rate (since 2003)
Australian Open 4RF WF SFF WF WF WD WN WF WD WD WD FN WD WD WF WF WD WD 83%
(15 / 18)
French Open 1RF 3RF WN WN WN WN WF WN WN WN WN WN FD WD WN WN WN 82%
(14 / 17)
Wimbledon WF WF WF WF WF WN WF WN WD WF FD WD WD SFF WF WD WD NH 88%
(15 / 17)
US Open 4RF WF WF WF WF WF FF WN WD FD WN SFDF WD FD WN WD WN 71%
(12 / 17)

Key:

  • W: Won
  • F: Lost in the final
  • SF: Lost in a semifinal
  • nR: Lost in the nth round
  • NH: Not held
  • superscript:
    • F: Federer
    • N: Nadal
    • D: Djokovic

ATP year-end ranking timeline
Main articles: ATP Rankings and List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players

The Big Three monopolized the top spot in the ATP men's singles rankings from 2 February 2004 to 6 November 2016 and again from 21 August 2017 to the present, for a total of 800 weeks (equivalent to over 15 years) as of 9 March 2020. Federer was ranked number 1 for a record 310 weeks, Djokovic, the current number 1, for 281 weeks, and Nadal for 209 weeks. Each player has occupied the top position at the end of the year five times.

Year-end rank20032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Roger Federer 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 2 6 2 3 16 2 3 3
Rafael Nadal 49 51 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 4 1 3 5 9 1 2 1
Novak Djokovic 679 186 78 16 3 3 3 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 12 1 2

Head-to-head matchups
See also: Federer–Nadal rivalry, Djokovic–Federer rivalry, and Djokovic–Nadal rivalry

The Big Three have played each other in 145 matches, including 69 finals. Of all the matches, 46 have been played at Grand Slam tournaments, including 22 finals.

The first match between two players of the Big Three occurred in March 2004 at the Miami Masters, where Nadal defeated Federer. Federer and Djokovic first met in April 2006 at the Monte Carlo Masters. Nadal and Djokovic first faced each other a month later at the 2006 French Open.

All tournaments Grand Slams Masters 1000
All rounds Finals All rounds Finals All rounds Finals
Player M W L % M W L % M W L % M W L % M W L % M W L %
Roger Federer 90 39 51 43% 43 16 27 37% 31 10 21 32% 14 4 10 29% 39 16 23 41% 20 8 12 40%
Rafael Nadal 95 50 45 53% 50 25 25 50% 29 19 10 66% 17 10 7 59% 47 24 23 51% 25 13 12 52%
Novak Djokovic 105 56 49 53% 45 28 17 62% 32 17 15 53% 13 8 5 62% 48 27 21 56% 21 12 9 57%
Total 145 69 46 22 67 33

Results by court surface

Nadal is dominant on clay, particularly at the French Open, where he has won all six matches against Federer and five of six against Djokovic.

Hard Clay Grass
Player M W L % M W L % M W L %
Roger Federer 58 29 29 50% 24 6 18 25% 8 4 4 50%
Rafael Nadal 47 16 31 34% 40 31 9 78% 8 3 5 38%
Novak Djokovic 65 40 25 62% 32 11 21 34% 8 5 3 63%
Total 85 48 12

Key:

  • M: Meeting
  • W: Win
  • L: Loss

Two walkovers (the final of the 2014 ATP World Tour Finals and the semifinal of 2019 Indian Wells) are not included in the table.

Notable matches
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See also

References
  1. Eccleshare, Charlie (27 August 2018). "Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic head to US Open with 'Big Three' more dominant than ever". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. Chase, Chris (21 August 2018). "Federer, Nadal and Djokovic: Ranking the Big Three rivalries". USA Today. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  3. Zagoria, Adam (25 August 2019). "How The 'Big Three' Of Men's Tennis Has Taken Grand Slam Titles From A Generation Of Players". Forbes. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  4. "Big 3 Dominance: Nadal, Djokovic, Federer Top Year-end Rankings". Tennis. 26 November 2019.


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