The trio are the three all-time Grand Slam title leaders, having garnered 20, 19 and 17 Grand Slam titles respectively. Even in the Masters 1000 series introduced in 1990, Rafael Nadal (35), Novak Djokovic (34) and Roger Federer (28) are the three most prolific winners; nobody else has more than 17.
With over 250 match wins in Grand Slams and 350 in Masters 1000 tournaments each, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have established a stranglehold over the biggest tournaments in men’s tennis. Their dominance can be gauged from the fact that since the 2005 Australian Open, only once (2014 US Open - Marin Cilic beat Kei Nishikori) has a Slam final not featured one of the three.
In the second part of the episode titled “What if the Big 3 had not existed” on TennisBreakNews, former French players Rodolphe Gilbert and Florent Serra pondered how the absence of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic would have impacted the career of Andy Roddick in particular.
Serra believes that Roddick suffered greatly following the advent of Roger Federer on the Grand Slam scene. The former French player said that Roger Federer’s success, coupled with the general slowing down of surfaces, robbed Andy Roddick of several Wimbledon and US Open titles.
Roger Federer owned Andy Roddick in their head-to-head, especially at Grand Slam tournaments. Roger Federer won four of his 20 Grand Slam titles - 2004-05 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open, 2009 Wimbledon - at the expense of the big-serving American.
The Swiss legend was even more ruthless against Andy Roddick opponent in the pair’s four other Grand Slam meetings. He beat Roddick at Wimbledon 2003, the Australian Open 2007, the US Open 2007 and the Australian Open 2009 without dropping a set.
Roger Federer destroyed Andy Roddick’s ambitions of catching up with Pete Sampras: Florent Serra
Serra believes that if not for Roger Federer, Andy Roddick would have had a more successful career and won a few more Grand Slam titles than the one he eventually ended up with.
The former French player also added that notwithstanding Andy Roddick’s lopsided 3-21 head-to-head against Roger Federer, the American had the ability to lock horns with the Big 3. That is evident in the American’s fairly competitive 4-5 head-to-head record against 17-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Serra also credited the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for popularizing tennis through their enticing rivalries with each other.
The former French player concluded by saying that Roger Federer and his other Big 3 colleagues’ domination of the circuit has meant that there is less diversity in Grand Slam winners. That in turn has led to sustained spectator interest in the sport.
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