Looking back at the Big 3's dominance of the Grand Slams in the decade that was 2010-2019

The Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are called so because they have dominated the biggest tournaments in the sport like very few other players in history have.

The trio's Grand Slam title hauls of 20, 19, and 16 respectively are the three highest of all time. Moreover, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are the only players in the Open Era apart from Rod Laver and Andre Agassi to win the career Grand Slam - the feat of winning each of the four Grand Slam titles at least once.

With the exception of Djokovic at the French Open (4), the trio has reached 5 or more finals at every Major. One of the Big 3 members is the outright or joint-title leader at each of the Grand Slam tournaments - Djokovic (7), Nadal (12) and Federer (8) are the outright title leaders at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon respectively, while Federer shares the US Open title lead with Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors (5 apiece).

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The Big 3's stranglehold on the Grand Slams during the decade that was 2010 to 2019 was such that the trio cumulatively scooped up 33 of the 40 titles on offer during the period. Andy Murray (2/3), Stanislas Wawrinka (3/3) and Marin Cilic (1/1) - the only other men to win Grand Slam titles during the decade - have won all but one title (2016 Wimbledon) at the expense of a Big 3 member.

On that note, let us look back at the trio's haul of Grand Slam titles during the decade.

#3 Roger Federer - 5 titles from 10 finals

Roger Federer

Federer was 29 when the decade rolled in. The Swiss maestro's win at the first Grand Slam event of the decade - the 2010 Australian Open - swelled his Grand Slam title tally to 16, which at the time was 10 and 15 clear of Nadal and Djokovic respectively.

Following Federer's defeat in the US Open 2019 quarterfinals, along with Nadal surviving a fierce Daniil Medvedev onslaught to win his 4th title in New York, Federer's lead over Nadal dipped to just 1.

In the intervening period, Federer equaled Sampras' record of 7 Wimbledon titles in 2012 and claimed the outright lead at the grasscourt Major in 2017. He twice came within a swing of his racquet away from claiming a record-extending 9th title, before losing to Novak Djokovic in a historic first-ever Wimbledon fifth set tiebreak.

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Federer won his first Australian Open title in 7 years and his first Grand Slam match against Nadal in over a decade when he overcame a break deficit in the fifth set of the 2017 final. A year later, Federer successfully defended his title Down Under with a five-set win over Marin Cilic.

Despite suffering the majority (31) of his 58 Grand Slam defeats during this decade, Federer's tally of 169 Grand Slam match wins during this period is only dwarfed by his two fellow Big 3 members.

#2 Rafael Nadal - 13 titles from 19 finals

Rafael Nadal celebrates his 19th Grand Slam title at the 2019 US Open

At the 2010 US Open, Rafael Nadal became the youngest player in the Open Era to win a Career Grand Slam.

The Australian Open was the only Grand Slam tournament which provided heartache for Nadal this decade.

In 2012, the Spaniard was up a break in the fifth set before going down to Djokovic in a near 6-hour slugfest. An injured Nadal then battled manfully in the 2014 final, taking a set off Stan Wawrinka, before going down in 4.

Three years later, against Federer, Nadal once again failed to see out a break lead in the fifth as he lost to his great rival at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2007 Wimbledon final. The 2019 Australian Open saw Nadal suffer his only straight-sets defeat in a Grand Slam final as Djokovic lifted a record 7th title at the tournament.

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But at the French Open, Nadal was virtually unbeatable and at times unplayable. A quarterfinal defeat to Djokovic in 2015 was his only defeat at the claycourt Major during the decade, and only his second defeat ever at the tournament.

Racking up 5 titles in a row from 2010 to 2014, and 3 in a row from 2017 to 2019, Nadal triumphed for a staggering 12th time at the 2019 French Open.

Nadal's lone title at Wimbledon came over Tomas Berdych in 2010. In his only other Wimbledon final during the decade, the Spaniard fell to Djokovic in 4 sets in the 2011 title match.

Nadal suffered his only US Open final defeat at the hands of Djokovic in 2011, either side of winning 4 titles (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019) there.

At the last Grand Slam event of the decade - the 2019 US Open - Nadal looked on course for a routine win, taking a two-set and a break lead. But then he had to survive a furious onslaught from Medvedev, who failed to convert multiple break points in the fifth before going down 4-6 in the decider.

Nadal registered 176 (of his 271) Grand Slam match wins during the decade, a tally second only to the youngest member of the Big 3.

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#1 Novak Djokovic - 15 titles from 23 finals

Djokovic won his 5th Wimbledon title in 2019

With 15 Grand Slam titles from 23 finals during the decade, Novak Djokovic has the most titles and most final appearances of any player during this period.

Three years after making his Grand Slam breakthrough at the 2008 Australian Open, Djokovic lifted his second title at the 2011 edition of the tournament. In a banner year, Djokovic's 41-match winning streak was halted by Federer in the French Open semis, but the Serb went on to win his maiden titles at Wimbledon and the US Open.

In his first attempt at a career Grand Slam, Djokovic endured defeat to Nadal at the 2012 French Open. The Spaniard again stood in the way of Djokovic's ambitions in 2013 and 2014, defeating him in the semis and finals respectively.

Stan Wawrinka denied Djokovic in the 2016 French Open final before the Serb finally emulated his Big 3 peers. He became the fifth player to win the career Grand Slam after beating Andy Murray at the 2016 French Open.

2015 saw Djokovic become the first player since Federer (2009) to appear in the final at all 4 Grand Slam tournaments in a year. The Serb's maiden title at the claycourt Major a year later made him the first player since Rod Laver to hold all 4 Grand Slam titles.

Wimbledon was Djokovic's happy hunting ground during the decade. Except for a straight sets defeat to Murray in 2013, Djokovic won all 5 of his Wimbledon finals during this period.

Djokovic emulated Federer's feat of winning 5 titles in his first 6 finals at the grasscourt Major when the Serb famously escaped multiple match points in an epic 5th set during the 2019 Wimbledon final, before triumphing in a historic first-ever final set tiebreak.

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The last Grand Slam tournament of the year witnessed Djokovic enduring 4 of his 8 Grand Slam final defeats during the decade. The Serb fell to Nadal in 2010 and 2013, Murray in 2012 and Wawrinka in 2016 amidst successful title runs in 2011 (defeated Nadal), 2015 (defeated Federer) and 2018 (defeated Kevin Anderson).

At the 2019 Australian Open, Djokovic handed Nadal his first-ever straight sets defeat in a Grand Slam final en route to lifting a record 7th title at the tournament. The triumph over Federer at Wimbledon later in the year meant that Djokovic had won multiple Grand Slam titles in a calendar year on 5 occasions during the decade (also 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018).

With 214 (of his 280) Grand Slam match wins arriving between 2010 and 2019, Djokovic was the undisputed numero uno Grand Slam performer of the decade.

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