Patrick Michael Rafter is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999, holding it for one week. His career highlights include consecutive US Open titles in 1997 and 1998, consecutive runner-up appearances at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001, winning the 1999 Australian Open men's doubles tournament alongside Jonas Björkman, and winning two singles and two doubles ATP Masters titles.
Pete Sampras is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating his longtime rival Andre Agassi in the final. Sampras won 14 major singles titles during his career, which was an all-time record at the time of his retirement: a then-record seven Wimbledon titles, two Australian Opens and a joint Open Era record five US Open titles. He won 64 ATP Tour-level singles titles in total. He first reached the world No. 1 ranking in 1993, and held that position for a total of 286 weeks, including an Open Era record of six consecutive year-end No. 1 rankings from 1993 to 1998. His precise and powerful serve earned him the nickname "Pistol Pete". In 2007, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Mats Arne Olof Wilander is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. From 1982 to 1988, he won seven major singles titles, and one major men's doubles title. His breakthrough came suddenly and unexpectedly when he won the 1982 French Open at the age of 17.
Roger Federer is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. He won 103 singles titles on the ATP Tour, the second most of all time, including 20 major men's singles titles and six year-end championships.
Rafael Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 209 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including a record 14 French Open titles. He has won 92 ATP-level singles titles, including 36 Masters titles and an Olympic gold medal, with 63 of these on clay courts. Nadal is one of three men to complete the Career Golden Slam in singles. His 81 consecutive wins on clay constitute the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.
The tennis rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is considered one of the greatest in the history of the sport. Federer and Nadal played each other 40 times, with Nadal leading 24–16 overall, including 14–10 in finals.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the ATP. The 2009 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World Team Championship, the Davis Cup, and the ATP World Tour Finals. Also included in the 2009 calendar is the Hopman Cup, which does not distribute ranking points, and is organised by the ITF.
This is a list of the main career statistics of professional tennis player Rafael Nadal. All statistics are according to the ATP Tour website. To date, Nadal has won 92 ATP singles titles, including 22 Grand Slam men's singles titles and 36 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles. He is one of three men to achieve the Career Golden Slam in men's singles, with titles at all four majors and the Olympic singles gold. He is the first man in history to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces in a calendar year and is the youngest (24) in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam. He is the fourth man in history to complete the double Career Grand Slam in singles, after Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, and Novak Djokovic. He is the first man to win multiple majors and rank world No. 1 in three different decades. Representing Spain, Nadal has won two Olympic gold medals including a singles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a doubles gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. In the process, he became the first male player in history to complete the Career Grand Slam and win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles. He has led Spain to five Davis Cup titles in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2019. He has won the 2017 and 2019 editions of the Laver Cup with Team Europe.
This is a list of the main career statistics and records of retired Swedish professional tennis player Björn Borg. His professional career spanned from 1973 until 1984 with a brief comeback between 1991 and 1993.
Roger Federer won three Majors in 2004. The first came at the Australian Open over Marat Safin, 7–6(3), 6–4, 6–2. He went on to win his second Wimbledon crown over Andy Roddick, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6(3), 6–4. In addition, Federer defeated the 2001 US Open Champion Lleyton Hewitt at the US Open for his first US Open title, 6–0, 7–6(3), 6–0. Furthermore, Federer won three ATP Masters 1000 events, one on clay at Hamburg, and two on hard court in Indian Wells and Canada. Federer took the ATP 500 series event at Dubai, and wrapped up the year for the second time over Lleyton Hewitt at the Tennis Masters Cup. Federer was the first player to win three Grand Slams in a single season since Mats Wilander in 1988.
In what is widely considered to be one of the greatest individual tennis seasons of all time, Roger Federer was dominant in 2006, finishing the year with a 92–5 record. The world No. 1 maintained his ranking for the full calendar year and reached all four major finals in 2006, winning three of them. His only loss at the majors came against Rafael Nadal in the French Open final in four sets, 6–1, 1–6, 4–6, 6–7(4–7). This was the first time they had met in a major final. In the other three majors of the season, Federer defeated Nadal in the final of Wimbledon, 6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3. He defeated Marcos Baghdatis, 5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2, at the Australian Open and Andy Roddick, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, at the US Open.
Roger Federer won one major in 2008, the US Open, defeating Briton Andy Murray, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2. Federer was defeated by Rafael Nadal in two Grand Slam finals: at the French Open, which he lost 1–6, 3–6, 0–6, and at Wimbledon in a famous five-setter, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9, when he was aiming for six straight wins to break Björn Borg's record. At the Australian Open, Federer lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, ending his record streak of 10 consecutive Major finals. Roger Federer lost twice in Master Series 1000 Finals on clay to Nadal at Monte Carlo and Hamburg. However, Federer was able to capture three more victories in 250-level events at Estoril, Halle, and Basel.
Roger Federer won two Majors in 2009, the French Open, defeating Robin Söderling in the final, and Wimbledon, defeating Andy Roddick in the final. In addition, Federer made the two other Grand Slam finals, Australian Open losing to Rafael Nadal, and the US Open, losing to Juan Martín del Potro. Federer went on to win two Master Series 1000 tournaments: in Madrid over Rafael Nadal, and in Cincinnati over Novak Djokovic. He lost in one 500 level event final in Basel to Djokovic. During the year, Federer completed the Career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open title, and won a record fifteenth Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Pete Sampras's mark of fourteen.
Roger Federer's 2010 season was punctuated by his victory at the Australian Open, beating Andy Murray in the final. Federer played in 18 tournaments in 2010 and won five. He was runner-up in the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open to Rafael Nadal. At the French Open, he faced his opponent in the previous year's final, Robin Söderling, at the quarterfinals stage and lost. As defending champion at Wimbledon, he was defeated in the quarterfinals by Tomáš Berdych in four sets, thus ending his streak of seven consecutive Wimbledon finals and also falling to world No. 3, his lowest ranking since 2003. During the summer hard-court season, Federer hired Paul Annacone to be his coach and revive his form. At the 2010 US Open, Federer advanced to his seventh straight semifinal appearance, but lost to Novak Djokovic in five sets, despite holding two match points in the final set. Federer's ranking slipped back from No. 2 to No. 3 after the tournament, but he finished the year strong with victories in Stockholm, Basel, and the ATP Tour Finals to pass Djokovic in the rankings and finish the year at world No. 2. By the end of 2010, Federer had earned wide consideration as the greatest male tennis player of all time.
Roger Federer's 2012 tennis season officially began on 2 January with the start of the 2012 ATP World Tour. Federer began the year with a semifinals finish at the Australian Open after a four-set loss to archrival Rafael Nadal. He recovered from his loss with three consecutive titles at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, and the BNP Paribas Open. He won his fourth title at the Mutua Madrid Open on blue clay, becoming the only person to win a title on blue clay in ATP history. By doing so, he regained the #2 ranking from Rafael Nadal At the French Open, Federer played four tough matches before he was ousted by Djokovic in the semifinals.
The 2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on January 5 with the start of the 2009 ATP World Tour.
Roger Federer's 2017 tennis season officially commenced on 2 January 2017, with the start of the Hopman Cup, and ended on 18 November 2017, with a loss in the semifinals of the ATP Finals.
The Big Three was 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. The trio 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 947 weeks ; Djokovic for a record 428 weeks, Federer for 310, and Nadal for 209. 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.
This is a list of the combined career statistics of the Big Four, the four players who have dominated men's tennis in singles for the majority of the first quarter of the 21st century. The Big Four consists of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.
Spain
49
