'Without Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, we would have...', says former French ace

There is no doubt that the domination of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has prevented many players from winning at least one Slam. the Big 3 have won 56 of the last 67 Slams played, as well as the last 13. In the first part of an episode titled "What if the Big 3 had not existed", former French player Rodolphe Gilbert said that without the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Tsonga in particular would have won a few Grand Slam titles.

Gilbert on Federer, Nadal and Djokovic

"A Frenchman could have won a Grand Slam," Rodolphe Gilbert said. "Even more than one. The two best placed would have been Jo Tsonga and Gael Monfils. I even think that Jo could have won several. Jo is one of the very few players to have beaten each member of the Big 3 in Grand Slams, notably Federer at Wimbledon, which is not bad, is it? The problem with this generation is that to win a Grand Slam, they had to beat at least two members of the Big 3 and sometimes even all three," he added. "Without the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, we would have had a French winner I think, and we would stop pissing us off with this," he added. "I obviously think of Jo on hard but I also remember his defeat against Ferrer in 2013 in the semifinal of Roland Garros. The Big 3 was not the only obstacle even if after anyway, we would have had to beat Rafa. Gael could have won a Roland without the Big 3 since in 2008 he was beaten by Roger in the semi-finals who then loses to Rafa in the final" - he concluded. The Big Three monopolized the top spot in the ATP men's singles rankings from 2 February 2004 to 6 November 2016 and again from 21 August 2017 to the present, for a total of 800 weeks (equivalent to over 15 years) as of 9 March 2020. Federer was ranked number 1 for a record 310 weeks, Djokovic, the current number 1, for 281 weeks, and Nadal for 209 weeks. Each player has occupied the top position at the end of the year five times. The Big Three have played each other in 145 matches, including 69 finals. Of all the matches, 46 have been played at Grand Slam tournaments, including 22 finals. The first match between two players of the Big Three occurred in March 2004 at the Miami Masters, where Nadal defeated Federer. Federer and Djokovic first met in April 2006 at the Monte Carlo Masters. Nadal and Djokovic first faced each other a month later at the 2006 French Open.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/31vZaCp