Big Three (tennis)
The Big Three is a common nickname in tennis for the trio of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, each considered to be among the greatest players of all time.[2][3] The trio have dominated men's singles tennis for two decades, collectively winning 66 major singles tournaments; Djokovic leads with an all-time record of 24 titles, followed by Nadal with 22 and Federer with 20. They have been ranked as world No. 1s in singles for a total of 939 weeks (equivalent to 18 years); Djokovic for a record 420 weeks, Federer for 310, and Nadal for 209.[4] One of the three finished the season as the year-end No. 1 player every year from 2004 to 2023, with the exceptions of 2016 and 2022. They collectively occupied the top-three positions of the year-end ATP rankings eight times; in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2019.[5]
Prior to the adoption of the term Big Three, there was the Big Four, a similar term used from about 2008 to 2017 to describe the larger quartet of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and their nearest and most consistent rival, Andy Murray. Although the volume of Murray's achievements would not match the 'Big Three', during those nine years he was in contention on a similar basis for the biggest trophies, reaching the final at all four majors at least once, winning several major and Masters titles, in addition to the ATP Finals and the Olympics, while being the only other player to make it to the top of the ATP rankings (from November 2016 to August 2017) in an 18-year period from 2004 to 2022.[6][7][8] The term is occasionally still used when referring to the group. As both a trio and as a quartet, they have been a critical part of what has been labelled a "golden era" in men's tennis.[9][10][11][12]
Federer was the first to come to prominence after winning Wimbledon in 2003, and became the world No. 1 after winning the Australian Open in 2004. Nadal followed in 2005 with a French Open triumph on his first attempt, including a win over Federer,[13] and the duo occupied the top two places of the ATP rankings from July 2005 to August 2009. From 2007, Djokovic and Murray increasingly challenged Federer and Nadal's dominance with consistency. By 2011, Nadal declared that his joint dominance with Federer had ended, following the ascent of Djokovic and later Murray.[14] Djokovic has been a dominant player since the beginning of 2011, gradually approaching or surpassing Federer and Nadal's career achievements.[15] Despite occasional injury breaks by individual members of the Big Three, they have maintained their collective dominance at the majors through to 2023. However, the emergence of new players, commonly referred to as the "Next Gen", has tempered their dominance at the ATP Finals and Masters tournaments since 2017.
The Big Four regularly held the top four places in the year-end rankings between 2008 and 2013. They were ranked year-end world top four from 2008 to 2012, the longest span of dominance for any quartet of players in tennis history. They held the top-two spots continuously from 25 July 2005 to 14 March 2021, as well as the top ranking from 2 February 2004 to 28 February 2022, meaning that no player outside the Big Four were ranked world No. 1 for 18 years or was in the top 2 for nearly 16 years. All four have reached a career-high ranking of world No. 1: Djokovic has been No. 1 for a record 420 weeks, Federer for 310 weeks, Nadal for 209 weeks, and Murray for 41 weeks. Djokovic was the year-end No. 1 for a record eight years, with Federer and Nadal for five years each, and Murray once.
