Nadal 21

Last Sunday (30^th Jan 22) Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final and in the process, he won  his record 21^st Grand Slam title. He was earlier sharing a record of 20 Grand Slam titles with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The following is a timeline showing how Nadal, playing in what is considered to be the greatest era of men’s tennis surpassed  Federer and Djokovic.

2003: Roger Federer become the newest entrant into the Grand Slam club with the first of his eight Wimbledon titles, beating Mark Phillppousis in the final.

Tally  Federer 1.

2004: Roger Federer flexed his muscle by winning three majors- the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

Tally  Federer 4

2005:While Federer defended his Wimbledon and US Open titles, Nadal burst on to the scene with his first French Open title beating Mariano Pureta in final.

Tally  Federer 6, Nadal 1

2006: Federer’s domination continued as he won three majors, including beating Nadal in Wimbledon final, but Nadal laid the foundation for his clay court reign with his second French Open title.

Tally  Federer 9,, Nadal 2

2007: Federer is unstoppable and repeated his feat of the previous year  the French Open title still stays with Nadal, as Federer is beaten by Nadal in the final.

Tally  Federer 12 Nadal 3

2008: Djokovic hit the scene with his first Australian title by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. After his French open win, Nadal stunned Federer in the Wimbledon final, but Federer beat Nadal in the US Open final.

Tally  Federer 13, Nadal 5, Djokovic 1

2009: Nadal won his first hardcourt title, beating Federer in 5 sets in the Australian Open final. However, Nadal’s winning streak at French Open ended in the 4^th round as he was forced to pull out with a knee injury. Roger Federer won his first and only French Open title Federer went on to win his 15^th Grand slam title by winning Wimbledon, surpassing Pete Sampras tally of 14.

Tally  Federer 15, Nadal 6, Djokovic 1.

2010: Federer won his 4^th Australian Open title. Nadal swept the next three Grand Slams of the year, in the process he completed his career Grand Slam.

Tally  Federer 16, Nadal 9, Djokovic 1.

2011: The Big Two became the Big Three, as Djokovic  won Australian, Wimbledon, and the US titles. Nadal won the French title.

Tally  Federer 16, Nadal 10, Djokovic 4.Open

2012: Djokovic beat Nadal in the longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era to win his third Australian Open. Nadal won the French Open title, Federer won Wimbledon.

Tally  Federer 17, Nadal 11, Djokovic 5.

2013: Djokovic won his third straight Australian Open by defeating Andy Murray in the final. Federer was struggling with a back injury this year. Nadal won French and US titles.

Tally  Federer 17, Nadal 13, Djokovic 6

2014: This year also Federer failed to add to his tally. Nadal won the French title and Djokovic defeated Federer in the Wimbledon final.

Tally  Federer 17, Nadal 14, Djokovic 7.

2015: Djokovic wins three Grand Slams Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, and also became the second men to beat Nadal in French Open, when he beat Nadal in Quarter finals, but he lost to Stan Wawarinka in the final.

Tally  Federer 17, Nadal 14, Djokovic 10.

2016: Djokovic defended his Australian Open title, and then went on to win the French Open title, making him holder of all four majors. Nadal and Federer were both plagued by injuries during the season and failed to add to their Grand Slam hauls.

Tally  Federer 17, Nadal 14, Djokovic 12

2017: After a gap of 6 years Federer won his 18^th Grand Slam by beating Nadal in 5 sets in the Australian Open final. Nadal created history by winning his 10^th French Open. Federer became the first man to win Wimbledon eight times. Nadal won  French and US Open. Djokovic missed the second part of year with an elbow problem.

Tally  Federer 19, Nadal 16, Djokovic 12.

2018: Federer won his 6^th Australian title, in the process he became only the 4^th tennis player to win 20 or more slams, he joined the club of Margaret Court, Serena Williams, and Steffi Graf. Nadal won French title. Djokovic won both Wimbledon and US Open.

Tally  Federer 20, Nadal 17, Djokovic 14.

2019 Nadal won French and US titles. Djokovic won Australian Open, and beat Federer in 5 set Wimbledon final, where he saved 2 match points.

Tally  Federer 20, Nadal 20, Djokovic 16.

2020: Djokovic won the Australian title but he lost to Nadal in straight sets in French Open. Nadal & Federer were absent from US Open. Djokovic was disqualified during the US Open tournament because he accidentally hit the line judge.

Tally  Federer 20, Nadal 20, Djokovic 17.

2021: Djokovic won his 9^th Australian title, beat Nadal in the semi finals of French Open, and then beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. He also won Wimbledon but lost to Daniil Medvedev in US Open Final.

Tally  Federer 20, Nadal 20, Djokovic 20

Federer took 15 years (2003-2018) to win 20 Grand Slams, Nadal took 14 years (2005-2019) and Djokovic took 13 years (2008-2021).

But by winning his 21^st Grand Slam, at present Nadal has become the greatest of all time (GOAT), Djokovic is the only other active player who can join Nadal in this tally. Presently Nadal is going great guns, and he has got all the chances of winning this year’s French Open, and taking his tally to 22. But in the history of men’s tennis, whether he will be considered the best tennis player ever is still not sure. It is a big irony that these three great players played in the same era. Imagine if they had come on the tennis scene 15 years apart, you can not imagine what will be their individual Grand Slam tally. Still, one question lingers in my mind, whether Nadal would have won the Australian Open 2022, if Djokovic did not have the problem of getting an Australian visa, as this is his favourite tournament, and he has won the Australian Open 9 times, and Nadal has never beaten Djokovic in Australian Open.

Waiting for your views on this blog

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

4^th February 2022.