THE THREE GOATS OF TENNIS

In tennis, history abounds with great players that have left their indelible marks on the various playing courts of time, in terms of consistency, skills and accomplishments none can be compared to these trio, they have taken the sport into realms beyond our imaginations which can challenge other great historical sporting achievement.

Their great Predecessors

Rod Laver and other greats of his era and before, undoubtedly had jaw dropping achievements but then a lot of their successes was done at amateur level and the competition was not as deep, but with the aid of technology, advancement in health, fitness and nutrition which is accessible to the best players intensifying modern competition, present accomplishments will tend to stand out. comparing different generations is usually a complicated ordeal because of differing circumstances which invariably cannot be placed on the same scale. But an attempt must be made like in other sports, such as in football and golf, achievements across history can be assessed and about 10 outstanding players will always emerge. In tennis, these three sporting icons can justifiably be regarded as the best in history if juxtaposed in any era when all their statistics are deeply considered.

The sporting milestones that lifted Peter Sampras above other greats like his arch rival Agassi, Connors, McEnroe, Borg, Emerson and Laver were his 14 majors and 286 weeks as number one. The trio have eclipsed his major titles by a distance and set records that are better than what he has.

The three greatest

These living legends, immortals of sports, hunt down opponents like preys, for the lower ranked players they lay in wait at the early rounds trying to create upsets against them they rarely succeed, at the second week the higher ranked and more illustrious opponents await still, the trio raise their game and dispose of them at the latter stages of most tournaments. exchanging titles among themselves.  Incredibly from the 2017 Australian open until the COVID pandemic cancelled Wimbledon in 2019, three of them have won 14 consecutive majors. A double calendar sweep and half between 2017 and 2019. At the 2020 Australian open they were all in the quarter finals, two were in the semis but one at the finals because they played each other and the winner went on to lift the brook shields trophy. Since the first time a major was won at Wimbledon 2003 until the French open in 2020 of the 68 majors competed, the trio have won an incredible 57 times with 7 players holding on to just 11 majors. they are the best three in major and masters’ titles accumulation which are the most prestigious trophies available. even at the ATP 500 world tour event two from the trio have won the most. They have finished each year as the number 1 ranked player from 2004 till 2015, and then until 2022 put into perspective in 20 years, a total dominance at the summit missing out just twice. on the average, the maximum career in professional tennis does not usually reach 13 years, most do not remain in the top 50 on the ATP rankings for that long, for most, winning a major or a single master title represent their career breakthrough and high point. The three of them have finished the year as world number one, at least five times.

Roger Federer (widely regarded as one of the greatest ever in sports), Rafael Nadal (the undisputed king of clay) and Novak Djokovic (the most accomplished tennis player of all time) all Europeans, have used their rivalries against themselves and a chase of history as a motivation to surpass their expectations and ours. They clearly would not have achieved this without the rivalry, Djokovic the youngest clearly took advantage of this trilogy, Federer set the standard, Nadal took it to another level (14 French open titles) and then Djokovic holding almost all the important milestones in tennis. In most sports the greatest players are sprinkled across different generations, in this era we have three at the same time surpassing the achievements of their predecessors and setting an almost impossible benchmark for the future greats of tennis.

Roger and Novak have dominated the hard court and grass events winning more of the important trophies while Rafael has conquered everything on clay with a winning margin which have never been seen before, he is rightly referred to as the king of clay.

Even at the team events, their dominance is still very significant Rafa led Spain to win the rebranded Davies cup and was stopped in the finals of the new ATP cup by Novak and Serbia. All three have led their countries to win at least a Davies cup. All have at least an Olympic gold.Roger has multiple titles at the hopman cup. All three with at least 20 majors.

Their great lifetime achievements

Roger Federer

• most consecutive weeks as number one 237 weeks. this held Nadal in number two for a record 160 weeks, the second longest streak belongs to Connors at 16o with Lendl at 157.
• most consecutive grand slam finals with 10.
• longest semi finals at a single grand slam tournament tied with Nadal at 15.
• quarter finals in slams at a single grand slam tournament tied with Djokovic with 18
• most Wimbledon 8 titles, with Sampras and Djokovic with 7 titles.
• longest slam appearances tied with Connors at 22 at Wimbledon
• five consecutive seasons with two grand slams at Wimbledon(2003-07) and the US open(2004-08). he has 40 consecutive match wins in both also a record.
• All four slams reached in three seasons a tie with Djokovic.
• most consecutive slam quarter finals (36) and (23) semi finals.
•  most titles on grass with 19 titles which has a very relatively short season in comparison to clay and the hard courts.
• He has never retired during a game in more than 1500 matches.
• Most titles at ATP 500 with 24 titles with Nadal at second with 23 titles.

Rafael Nadal

• 14 French open the most at any major.
• 100% in French open finals 14/14, the closest is Novak`s 10/10 in Australia.
• Most wins at a major with 112 at the French open.
• most titles on clay with 63 and a record 90.7% win percentage.
• Olympic gold medals at both singles and doubles
• Longest winning streak on clay with 81.
• he won the clay slam winning the French Open and all the clay masters(Monte Carlo,Rome and Madrid) in the same season and also tied with Roddick and Rafter in winning the summer slam (2013)Canada, cincinnati and the US open.
• Won Monte Carlo 11 times a record in master category winning 46 consecutive matches in the process another record.
• Nadal, Agassi and Djokovic has won the career golden slam comprising all four majors plus the Olympic gold.he is the youngest to achieve it.
•  He has stopped Federer and Novak from winning more multiple majors.

Novak Djokovic

• Held all the majors at once (non calendar year)he has a triple career gram slam winning all the majors at least three times.
• The most weeks as number one with 428 weeks, Federer has 310 while Sampras has 286.
• the most major with 24.
• the most masters with 40
• the most end of the year title with 7, Federer has 6.
• he has ended the year as number one a record 8 times.
• He alone has a career super slam(career golden slam plus the season ending title)
• Compiled the best single season in terms of  significant trophies won 10 titles in 2015.
• Most Australian open with a record extending ten titles (undefeated in ten finals)
• Better head to head against Federer and Nadal in more matches in comparison with other rivalries
• Won all the nine masters twice non have won it even once.
• most major quarter finals (60) and (49) semi finals a record.
• most big titles won 72.
• 377 match wins at a major.
• Only player to win a major in three different decades
• he has the highest ever ranking point of 16,950.
• He has stopped Federer and Nadal from winning more multiple majors

below are the feats lacking in their individual repertoire of success which will not in any way diminish their accomplishments.

• Most titles on the circuit list, the leader is Connors with 109 titles Federer has 103 titles Djokovic with 99 titles and still active
• Holding all the grand slam in a season.
• Federer (Monte Carlo, Rome masters). Olympics single gold. these are titles he did not win.
• Nadal could not win in Paris and Miami both masters and the season ending ATP title.

Apart from the earlier mentioned factors others such as expert analysis, the ELO rating system which is an effective metric, data such as, break point conversion, percentage of tiebreakers won amongst other parameters, have been used to nominate the greatest across all generations but one thing is certain, at the end of their glittering careers definitely, the question of the GREATEST OF ALL TIME (GOAT) will be laid to rest although Djokovic has a tangible advantage, it will  become evidently  clearer. tennis fans are really privileged to witness this unfolding masterclass.