Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s Grand Slams brought Switzerland and Spain to the top

While Spain and Switzerland were far less prominent in the men’s tennis rankings before 2000, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were the sparks that boosted them in the top of the countries with the most men’s singles Grand Slams obtained.

Since 2003, when Roger Federer won his first Grand Slam after he beat Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippoussis in the final act, Switzerland has seen a marvelous rise. That’s what happens when a legend starts fulfilling his destiny. And so did happen to Nadal and his home country, Spain.

To see the spectacular rise with your own eyes, look at the following graph from minute 1:40. Keep your attention on Spain and Switzerland’s flags.

Roger Federer has gathered 20 Grand Slams in his illustrious career so far while Stan Wawrinka, another Swiss player, contributed with another 3 to bring Switzerland on an honorable 4th place in the above ranking. 

On the other hand, world number one Rafael Nadal bagged no less than 19 Grand Slams across his career. Of course, most of them have been won at Roland Garros. The king of clay triumphed 12 times in Paris.

If we take a look at the percentages of each country in the top 10 with the most Grand Slams presented above, you probably noticed that USA stands tall on the first place. They have conquered a whopping amount of 60 such titles. That was caused by the three American players who dominated the tour especially between 1990 and 2000. Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier were the lions of that decade.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2sZRAkM