Tennis has been blessed over the last two decades by the presence of four tennis greats to ever hold a racquet but, with Rafael Nadal’s recent retirement, only Novak Djokovic will continue to fight for titles from 2025 onwards.
3 Tennis Greats: The Federer, Nadal and Murray Effect
While Djokovic still has a chance to further his legacy, the curtain has closed on a remarkable chapter of ATP Tour rivalries and we’ve decided to take a look at the careers of Roger Federer, Nadal and Andy Murray.
Tennis Greats: Swiss Maestro
Blessed with poise, panache and a rapier-like forehand, Federer first came to the attention of a wider audience in 2001 when, as a 19-year-old, he defeated seven-time champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round of Wimbledon. That victory kick-started a career-long love affair with the All England Club as Federer went on to win the title for the first time in 2003, before claiming it again on seven subsequent occasions.
The popular Swiss claimed 13 Grand Slam titles between 2003 and 2008 before completing the career Grand Slam in 2009 when he triumphed over Robin Soderling in the final of the French Open. Federer, who spent 310 weeks at the summit of the world rankings, experienced something of a slump after winning Wimbledon in 2012 and had to wait until 2017 to win his 18th Grand Slam title, beating his great rival Nadal in a thrilling Australian Open final.
After one last Wimbledon and another Melbourne win he retired in 2022 with 103 titles to his name. including 20 Grand Slams.
Tennis Greats: The King of Clay
While Federer took over as the poster boy for men’s tennis in the mid-2000s, Nadal soon came along to create what has become known as one of the most storied rivalries in all of sport. Widely considered to be the best clay-court player of all-time, Nadal claimed a first ATP Tour title on the surface in Poland in August 2004 and, less than a year later, he became a Grand Slam champion as he won the 2005 French Open, beating Mariano Puerta in the final.
Where Federer had Wimbledon, Nadal had Paris. The Spaniard won the French Open on 14 occasions, most recently in 2022, finishing his career with a ludicrous 112-4 record at Roland Garros. Arguably his most iconic success, however, came at Wimbledon when he outlasted Federer 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7 in the 2008 final in a match widely considered the best of them all.
Nadal completed the career Slam at the 2010 US Open, eventually winning 22 Grand Slam titles – a total bettered only in the men’s game by Djokovic – as well as Olympic gold in 2008.
Tennis Greats: Mighty Muzza
As for Murray, he remains unfortunate to have played in the same era as three genuine legends, but the Scot, widely considered to be one of Britain’s greatest ever sportsmen, still achieved some remarkable feats. After suffering an agonising loss to Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final, Murray dusted himself down to claim the first of two Olympic gold medals at London 2012, then he went and became a Grand Slam champion in New York a month later, beating Djokovic in the US Open final.
He returned to Wimbledon the following year to again take down Djokovic, putting an end to a 77-year drought by becoming the first Briton since Fred Perry to claim the men’s singles title, then he doubled up on the Centre Court grass in 2016. Perhaps his most incredible achievement was to spend 41 weeks at no.1 in the world from November 2016 to August 2017, while he also played a pivotal role in leading Britain to Davis Cup glory in 2015.
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