Number Game and the Legacy of “Big Three”
I might be late to the party…as usual. Honestly, I am not much of a party person, I’d prefer to lay down and play chess, or watch stuff, ranging from chess, tennis to movies and tv shows of all genres. Reading has become a thing of past right now!
After all that drifting away, let me come to the point. NOVAK DJOKOVIC won his 21st major and his 7th Wimbledon title at the 2022 edition which also marked the 100 years of the building of Wimbledon’s glorious centre court. Djokovic has made his move, leaving Roger Federer on 20 slam count, to catch Rafael Nadal who currently rests atop with 22 grand slams. This is undoubtedly the golden era of tennis where three of the greatest players of the sport have dominated the tournaments like no other. The three have pushed each other and themselves to become better and better and as a result they are not only competing but winning the biggest titles at the age of 35+ when most of the elites have hung their racquets.
Purely based on the number of slams, Federer with 20 slams seems to have dropped out of the GOAT debate, and Nadal leading with 22 and Djokovic’s 21 and both of the latter are still en-route for more. But, factoring in the total number of titles, Federer with 103 career titles is comfortably ahead of the other two greats.
The problem with just a layman look over data is that it never tells you the right story without context or the bigger picture to compare it to. All of the ‘Big Three’ have a certain data which is used by their loyal (albeit bitter and spiteful even) fans to put their favorites ahead of the other two guys. Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have forever changed tennis with their excellence, and their stupendous achievements. They all have achieved much more than any tennis player even dreams in their wildest imaginations and the comparison of whose achievements are greater is not the easiest to answer. However, it can be definitely said that they continuously pushed each other and also the bar of greatness for the last two decades.
However this does seem like the end of the road for the GREAT Roger Federer as it is unlikely he will remain competitive given his age. The other two are still going strong and it is the twilight of the golden era of tennis and we should enjoy every moment that’s left of it.
AND THERE’S ALSO A LAVER CUP 2022! That’s just a show-boarding where Team Europe beats Team World every year, unsurprisingly given 9 and sometimes even 10 of the top 10 players are European. But this year if going to be fun one with all the Big Three alongside Andy Murray (which formed an extended Big-Four) will play for Team Europe which seems like a perfect sunset of the brightest era of tennis.
