Roger Federer is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Federer 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.
Tomáš Berdych is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, completing consecutive upsets in the defeat of top seed and six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, and of No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. In the final, he lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. Berdych's biggest career title was the Paris Masters in 2005 as an unseeded player, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final. Berdych reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slams. Alongside his Wimbledon performance in the same year, he reached the semifinals of the 2010 French Open, defeating fourth seed Andy Murray in straight sets in the fourth round, and dropping no sets until his loss in the semifinals to Robin Söderling. At the 2012 US Open he defeated No. 1 Roger Federer, again at the quarterfinal stage, before losing to eventual champion Murray. During the 2014 Australian Open he lost to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka in four sets during the semifinals. He is the second player to defeat Roger Federer multiple times in Grand Slam events before the semifinal stage. He has the distinction of being one of three players, the others being Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka, to defeat all the Big Four in major events. Berdych is considered one of the best tennis players to have never won a Grand Slam title. As well as his Paris Masters win, Berdych reached the finals of the Miami Masters in 2010, Madrid Open in 2012 and Monte Carlo Masters in 2015. He first reached his career-high singles ranking of No. 4 in May 2015. He also played the longest ATP doubles match ever, with Lukáš Rosol, defeating Marco Chiudinelli and Stan Wawrinka in the first round of the 2013 Davis Cup 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–7, 24–22. The match was played on 2 February 2013, lasting 7 hours, 2 minutes. It was the second-longest ATP match ever.
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlights include three major titles, those being the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open, where he defeated the world No. 1 player in the final on all three occasions. Other achievements include reaching the final of the 2017 French Open, winning a Masters 1000 title at the 2014 Monte-Carlo Masters, and reaching three other Masters finals. Representing Switzerland, Wawrinka won gold in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics partnering Roger Federer, and was also pivotal in the Swiss team's victory at the 2014 Davis Cup. Wawrinka considers clay his best and favorite surface, and his serve and backhand his best shots. John McEnroe once said that Wawrinka has one of the most powerful backhands ever, and in 2009 said he possessed "the best one-handed backhand in the game." He has been described by The Economist as "tennis's great latecomer", owing to finding his greatest success late in his career. Prior to the 2014 French Open, he requested and was granted a formal change in his name from "Stanislas Wawrinka" to "Stan Wawrinka", stating that he plans to use the abbreviated name in tournament draws and press conferences.
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Djokovic has been ranked No. 1 for a record total of 428 weeks in a record 13 different years, and finished as the year-end No. 1 a record eight times. Djokovic has won a record 24 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including a record ten Australian Open titles. Overall, he has won 98 singles titles, including a record 71 Big Titles: 24 majors, a record 40 Masters, and a record seven ATP Finals. Djokovic is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces. In singles, he is the only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam, and the only player to complete a Career Golden Masters, a feat he has achieved twice.
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.
Roger Federer made all four Major finals in 2007, winning three of them. He defeated Fernando González, 7–6(2), 6–4, 6–4, at the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal, 7–6(7), 4–6, 7–6(3), 2–6, 6–2, at Wimbledon, and Novak Djokovic, 7–6(4), 7–6(2), 6–4, at the US Open. However, Federer lost the 2007 French Open final to Nadal, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6. Federer made five ATP Masters Series 1000 Finals in 2007, but only won two of those, in Hamburg and Cincinnati. Federer won 1 ATP 500 series event in Dubai. He ended the year by winning the year-end championships for the fourth time. In 2011 Stephen Tignor, chief editorial writer for Tennis.com, ranked Federer's 2007 season as the sixth greatest season of all-time during the Open Era.
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.
The tennis rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is the most prolific in men's tennis in the Open Era. It is widely considered by players, coaches, and pundits as one of the greatest rivalries in the history of tennis. The pair have contested at least one professional match every year from 2006 to 2022, and the ATP Tour listed the rivalry as the third-greatest of the 2000s decade, despite only starting in 2006. Nadal and Djokovic are statistically two of the most successful male players in the history of the sport.
The rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer was one of the most prolific rivalries in tennis history and is considered one of the greatest rivalries of all time.
The 2008 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on January 1 with the start of the 2008 ATP Tour. This season is considered to be one of Nadal's best: he won eight titles in 2008, including two majors and the Olympic gold medal. In addition, Nadal also won three Masters titles — Monte-Carlo, Hamburg, and Toronto. Nadal's 32-match winning streak in 2008 is the longest across three surfaces in tennis history. He won the French Open for the loss of no sets and just 41 games, in one of the most comprehensive major performances of all time. Nadal also won Wimbledon, defeating rival and five-time defending champion Roger Federer in what is widely recognized as the greatest tennis match in history. He then won the Olympic gold medal at Beijing, which clinched the world No. 1 ranking for the first time. He ascended to the top spot after 160 consecutive weeks as the world No. 2. Nadal would hold the No. 1 ranking for the rest of the season and finish the year ranked No. 1 for the first time in his career.
The 2013 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2013 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 4 and 11 November 2013. It was the season-ending event for the best singles players and doubles teams of the 2013 ATP World Tour.
The 2007 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 1 January 2007 with the start of the Chennai Open. He won five titles, including one Major and three Masters.
The 2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on January 5 with the start of the 2009 ATP World Tour.
The 2014 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 9 and 16 November 2014. It was the season-ending event for the best singles players and doubles teams on the 2014 ATP World Tour. The Bryan Brothers won the title at the doubles tournament, while Novak Djokovic successfully defended his single title for the second time after Roger Federer withdrew from the final, the first walkover in a final in the tournament's 45-year history.
The 2015 Novak Djokovic tennis season is considered one of the greatest seasons of all time by an individual tennis player. Selected achievements/records from this season are: winning 3 Major titles, becoming only the third man to reach all four major finals in an Open Era season, reigning as world number 1 for all 52 weeks of the year, winning a record 6 Masters 1000 tournaments, claiming the ATP World Tour Finals, reaching the final of 8 Masters 1000 tournaments, reaching a record 15 consecutive finals, a record 31 victories against players ranked in the top 10 at the time of the match and earning a record breaking amount of prize money. Djokovic had an impressive 15–4 record against the other 3 members of men's tennis's Big Four, including a 4–0 record versus Rafael Nadal, 5–3 against Roger Federer and 6–1 record against Andy Murray. Beyond that, he also finished the season with a 16–4 record against Top-5 players.
The 2015 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament that was played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 15 and 22 November 2015. It was the season-ending event for the best singles players and doubles teams on the 2015 ATP World Tour.
The 2019 ATP Finals (also known as the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played at the O2 Arena on indoor hard courts in London, United Kingdom, from 10 to 17 November 2019. It was the season-ending event for the highest-ranked singles players and doubles teams on the 2019 ATP Tour and was the 50th edition of the tournament (45th in doubles). The singles event was won by Stefanos Tsitsipas over Dominic Thiem in three sets. In doubles, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in straight sets.
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. 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 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.
Rafael Nadal began his tennis career in earnest with achievements in junior tournaments, winning the Spanish junior championships in 1997 and 1998 and the U12 Junior Masters in Stuttgart in 1998. By 1999, Nadal was competing in the U14 circuit, winning titles like Tim Essonne and Les Petits As. His early success continued into 2000, culminating in his victory at the U14 Spanish championships and his contribution to Spain's triumph in the ITF World Junior Championship for U14s. Despite offers to train in Barcelona, Nadal's family opted to keep him in Mallorca, where he continued to develop under the mentorship of his uncle Toni and Carlos Moyá.
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