The Greatest Ever

We've been living through the greatest era in the history of men's tennis.  That's not a secret.  The Big Three aren't just three of the all-time greats, they're the three winningest players in men's Grand Slam tennis history.  Roger was the first to 20.  Then Rafa passed him and got to 22.  And now Novak is the all-time men's leader with 23 Grand Slam titles, one behind Margaret Court's all-time record for total Grand Slam singles titles (men or women).  There's no reason to think he won't get there at Wimbledon, either.

Those combined numbers are staggering!  Not only are they the only three men with 20 Grand Slam titles, they've combined to win 65!  That's more than 16 years' worth of Grand Slam tournaments.  Federer was the first to win one, at Wimbledon in 2003.  There wasn't a Wimbledon in 2020, so there's been 79 Grand Slam tournaments over the past 20 years since Roger's first win.  Those three have won more than 82 percent of them!  It's, frankly, ridiculous.  (Throw in Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka with three each and that's 71 of 79 between five players!)

Here's the crazy thing about it, too.  It could easily be more!  I'm not talking about the numerous Grand Slam finals where one of the Big Three played another.  I'm talking about the Grand Slams where other circumstances came into play.  Had things been different, Djokovic would've become the record-holder a lot earlier than now!

Think about just the past few years alone.  In 2020, there was no Wimbledon (where he was the two-time defending champion) and he got defaulted at the US Open after accidentally hitting a linesperson with a ball.  Then last year he had the Australian Open visa saga and wasn't allowed to enter the U.S., thus making him ineligible for the US Open.  He also missed the 2017 US Open due to injury and wasn't back to being "Novak Djokovic" until mid-2018.

In 2015-16, he had his "Djoker Slam," which he capped by filling winning his first French Open title.  Then in 2021, he finally beat Nadal at the French and came within a loss in the US Open final from winning the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988 (and the first by a man since Rod Laver in 1969).  There was even potential for a Golden Slam that year, but Djokovic lost in the semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics.

Olympic gold is the only thing he's missing.  In fact, his only Olympic medal was a bronze in 2008.  (He lost the bronze medal match in 2021 and withdrew from the mixed doubles after losing the semifinals, thus conceding the bronze, in Tokyo.)  His last chance to change that will most likely be right back at Roland Garros next year.  (If you're wondering about Davis Cup, Serbia won it for the first time ever in 2010.)

Consider this, too.  Djokovic hasn't lost a match at the Australian Open since 2018.  In the past five years, he's won the title four times and wasn't allowed to play in 2022.  It's been six years since his last loss at Wimbledon!  Four straight titles with the not-held 2020 tournament mixed in.  He holds the record for championships at both tournaments (10 in Australia, 7 at Wimbledon--tied with Federer).

He's "only" won three US Opens...where he's also lost the final six times!  Ditto at Roland Garros.  "Only" three titles, but also four final losses (three of which were against Nadal).  In total, Djokovic has been to 34 career Grand Slam finals, which is, you guessed it, an all-time record!  

Djokovic isn't anywhere near done, either.  He's 36, so he's not exactly young, but he's the youngest of the Big Three.  Federer is already retired, while Nadal, who's indicated he'll retire in 2024, will miss most (if not all) of the remainder of this season.  Djokovic shows no signs of slowing down, so it's reasonable to think he'll get to 25 (maybe even this year).  And 30, ridiculously, isn't out of the question!

Twenty-three Grand Slam titles and 34 Grand Slam finals are staggering enough numbers!  Then think about this: Over the first six years of his career (2005-10), Djokovic had a grand total of one Grand Slam title (the 2008 Australian Open) and two other Grand Slam finals (the 2007 & 2010 US Opens).  In his 46 Grand Slam appearances since then, Djokovic has won nearly half of them!  Twenty-two to be exact!  To call that "absurd" would be an understatement!

During his prime, Roger Federer had a streak of 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals (he also made at least the quarterfinals of every Grand Slam tournament for nine straight years, which is equally insane!).  Djokovic's longest streak of consecutive finals is six (2015 Australian-2016 French).  That makes all the Grand Slam finals almost more impressive.  (He had a seven-year quarterfinal streak from 2009 Wimbledon-2016 French, which, while not Roger's nine straight years, is still impressive in its own right.)

It's already widely accepted that he's the greatest hardcourt player in history.  He's making an argument as the greatest grass court player, too.  And, let's not forget, he's won three French Open titles on his "weakest" surface.  Simply put, there really isn't much of an argument.  Novak Djokovic is the greatest men's tennis player in history.

I'll always be first and foremost a Roger guy, so no disrespect to Federer.  Not by a longshot!  In fact, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are the reason why Novak Djokovic is the greatest player ever.  We've never seen anything like the Big Three.  And it took Djokovic a while to catch up to Roger and Rafa.  He didn't just catch up.  He surpassed both of them!  The three of them made each other better.  And Novak is the best of the three.

When we look back at the Big Three Era, we'll do so fondly.  We got to see three of the greatest players in history...all in their primes...as contemporaries!  But the greatest of them all is Novak Djokovic.  The all-time leader with 23 career Grand Slam titles (so far!).