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. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Djokovic has been ranked No. 1 for a record total of 427 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 2008 Wimbledon Championships Men's Singles final was the championship tennis match of the men's singles tournament at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. A part of the storied Federer–Nadal rivalry, it pitted then-top ranked Roger Federer against then second-ranked Rafael Nadal. After 4 hours and 48 minutes of play, Nadal defeated Federer 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7. This final is regarded by many as one of the greatest tennis matches ever played.
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 2012 Australian Open Men's Singles final was the championship tennis match of the men's singles tournament at the 2012 Australian Open between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, at the time ranked the number 1 and 2 players in the world, respectively. A defining match in the Djokovic–Nadal rivalry, the Serb defeated the Spaniard 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 to win the tournament. It was both the longest Australian Open match and the longest major final match in history, lasting 5 hours 53 minutes, overtaking the record previously set by the 1988 US Open final between Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl. It is considered to be one of the greatest and most physical tennis matches of all time. With both players operating at their highest levels, the match was regarded as a war of attrition with impeccable quality throughout the duration of play. The match remains the only time that Nadal has lost a major final after winning the first set.
The 2014 Wimbledon Championships Men's Singles final was the championship tennis match of the Men's Singles tournament at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. A significant part of the Djokovic–Federer rivalry, it pitted Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer against each other in a Grand Slam final for the second time. The match marks the only time that Federer lost a Wimbledon final after winning the first set.
The 2009 Australian Open Men's singles final was the championship tennis match of the Men's singles tournament at the 2009 Australian Open. It was contested between the world's top two players for much of the previous four years, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, then ranked first and second in the world respectively. It was their seventh of nine meetings in a major final, and their first outside of either the French Open or Wimbledon. This was Nadal's first major hard court final, while it was Federer's ninth and at the time he was yet to lose in a major hard court final.
Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and is the current world No. 5. Medvedev has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including the 2021 US Open and 2020 ATP Finals. Medvedev defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final to deny him the Grand Slam. In the latter, he became the only player to defeat the top three ranked players in the world en route to the year-end championship title. He has also won six Masters titles and contested six major finals. His six Masters titles all came in different venues, making him only the sixth player to win Masters titles at six different venues.
Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the final, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2019 Australian Open. It was his record-breaking seventh Australian Open title and 15th major title overall, surpassing Pete Sampras for third place on the all-time list. Djokovic and Nadal were both in contention for the world No. 1 singles ranking; Djokovic retained the top ranking by reaching the fourth round. Nadal was attempting to become the first man in the Open Era to achieve a double career Grand Slam, a feat he would achieve three years later.
The 2019 Novak Djokovic tennis season officially began on 1 January 2019, in the first round of the Qatar Open, and ended 22 November 2019 after Serbia defeat by Russia in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup Finals.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in the final, 7–6(7–5), 1–6, 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 13–12(7–3) to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. At four hours and 57 minutes in length, it was the longest singles final in Wimbledon history. It was Djokovic's fifth Wimbledon title and 16th major title overall. Djokovic became the first man since Bob Falkenburg in 1948 to win the title after being championship points down, having saved two when down 7–8 in the fifth set. This was the first time since the 2004 French Open that a man saved championship points in order to win a major. Djokovic became the second man and third singles player overall to win multiple major titles after saving match point during the tournament, after Rod Laver and Serena Williams. Conversely, this was the third time that an opponent of Federer saved match points and went on to win the major, following Marat Safin in the 2005 Australian Open and Djokovic in the 2011 US Open.
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 946 weeks ; Djokovic for a record 427 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.
The 2021 Novak Djokovic tennis season is considered one of Djokovic's best. It saw him become the second man in tennis history to achieve the Surface Slam following Rafael Nadal in 2010, and repeat his feat from 2015 of reaching all four major finals in a season. He won five tournaments, three of them majors: the Australian Open, the French Open, and the Wimbledon Championships. Djokovic reached the final of the US Open in an attempt to achieve the Grand Slam, but finished runner-up to Daniil Medvedev. He also won the Paris Masters and Belgrade Open, and reached his first final in a doubles tournament since 2010 at the Mallorca Open.
The 2022 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 3 January 2022, with the start of the ATP 250 tournament in Melbourne. It includes Nadal's best start to an ATP Tour season, when he won his first 20 matches in a row. It was also his career-first season winning the first two majors of the year, hence completing the Australian-French title double. As such, Nadal broke his tie with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and became the first man in history to win a total 21, and 22 Grand Slam singles titles.
The 2022 Novak Djokovic tennis season officially began on 21 February 2022, with the start of the Dubai Tennis Championships. During this season, Djokovic:
Rafael Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in the final, 6–3, 6–3, 6–0 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2022 French Open. It was his record-extending 14th French Open title and record-extending 22nd major title overall. It marked the first time in his career that he won the Australian Open and the French Open in the same calendar year. Nadal also became the third man to defeat four top 10 players en route to a major title since the introduction of ATP rankings in 1973. Ruud became the first Norwegian man to reach a major quarterfinal and beyond, and the first Scandinavian man to do so since Robin Söderling in 2010.
Three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Nick Kyrgios in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–3) to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. It was his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st major singles title overall. Djokovic became the fifth man in the Open Era to record a streak of at least four consecutive titles at one major. By reaching his 32nd men's singles major final, he surpassed Roger Federer's all-time record. Djokovic also became the first player to win 80 matches at all four majors with his first-round win over Kwon Soon-woo. Because the ATP decided not to award ranking points in response to Wimbledon's banning of Russian and Belarusian players, Djokovic dropped out of the top five in the ATP rankings after winning the tournament.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud in the final, 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2022 US Open. It was his first major title. He claimed the world No. 1 singles ranking with the win; Ruud, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas were also in contention for the top position. Alcaraz saved a match point en route to the title, in the quarterfinals against Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz became the youngest major champion since Nadal at the 2005 French Open, the youngest US Open champion since Pete Sampras in 1990, the first man born in the 2000s to win a major singles title, and the youngest man to be ranked world No. 1, surpassing Lleyton Hewitt's record. Alcaraz also became the third player to reach a major final having won three consecutive five-set matches, after Stefan Edberg at the 1992 US Open and Andre Agassi at the 2005 US Open. At 23 hours and 39 minutes of play duration across his seven matches, Alcaraz spent the longest time on court in major history until then, a record that was later broken by Daniil Medvedev at the 2024 Australian Open. Ruud became the first Norwegian to reach the final.
The 2020 Dominic Thiem tennis season saw the Austrian tennis player win 25 matches with 9 losses, earning over six million dollars in prize money, and recording his first Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open. He began the season ranked fourth on the ATP Tour, and finished the season ranked third.
The 2011 Wimbledon Championships Men's singles final was the championship tennis match of the men's singles tournament at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, played between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. This match is a significant part of the Djokovic–Nadal rivalry, as it was the fifth final in a row played between the two in the 2011 season and the first one in a major tournament that season. Nadal and Djokovic were the top two players at the time, entering the Championships as the world No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Djokovic won all of their four previous finals in the 2011 season, while Nadal won all their five previous encounters at the majors. Nadal was also the defending champion.
Rafael Nadal vs. 
Daniil Medvedev 
