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When Three G.O.A.Ts Exist Simultaneously

61 Grand Slams out of the last 76 are shared between these three. The tennis aficionados call them "The Big Three" and their passports call them Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. If the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T) had a definition, these three names would define it more than perfectly. Romanticizing their greatness in words would be an injustice to their achievements in tennis.

Half a decade ago, this "Big Three" was used to be a "Big Four" with the inclusion of Andy Murry, but his injuries didn't help him at all to stay in the same aura as the other three. The current ATP World Ranking is Djokovic at no. 1, Nadal at no. 4, and Federer sadly at 46.

20 Grand Slams each for Novak and Roger and 21 Grand Slams won by Rafael Nadal. The 21st he won recently, the 2022 Australian Open, defeating Danil Medvedev 3 sets to 2 after losing the first two sets. What an enthralling final. For Federer, the surprising factor is his age. He is 40 years old and still wins the battles against players in their early 20s. He reached the Quarter Finals of his favorite tournament, Wimbledon, in 2021 but had to back off because of his injury. Since then, he hasn't set his foot on the court professionally.

 
 Nadal, 35, and Djokovic, 34 are still competing for being the Greatest of the Greatest, stats and trophies favor
Nadal and that too is just by one grand slam. Djokovic has ruled the indoor courts like in US OPEN and Australian Open while Nadal is called the "King of Clay", dominating the French Open aka Roland Garros for years and years. Last year in Roland Garros Semi-Finals we witnessed one of the matches for the history books between these two. Djokovic won the match 3 sets to 1 but the rallies between these two were the ones that I could watch 24x7 for 365 days. 



The legit Legend of the " Big Three" might come to an end as Roger Federer might be retiring at the end of this year. But the other two may carry on for the upcoming 5 years and still rule the court with some young blood talent against them. We are lucky enough to witness them play the sport. And we should appreciate their efforts to make the game better and better every time they play.


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