Every player's career measured by looking at Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer is "going to look suboptimal," believes Mark Petchey

Tennis commentator and former player Mark Petchey recently suggested that it is unfair to use Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer's success as a benchmark to judge every other player's career.

Djokovic (24), Nadal (22), and Federer (20) have won a total of 66 Grand Slam titles between them in the last 21 years. Moreover, the trio has shared the top spot in the world rankings for a staggering 931 weeks since the Swiss became the World No. 1 on February 2, 2004. The period amounts to around 17 years and 10 months.

Petchey sat down for a conversation with Mitch Michals for a fresh episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast. The duo touched upon Ugo Humbert's gradual rise to the Top 20 after having dropped to 157th spot in the ATP rankings in July 2022. Petchey said: (at 9:21)

"Humbert got himself up to 25 in the world back in 2021, dropped outside of the world’s 150 by the middle of the next year, and by this year obviously, he’s slowly tried to get back up inside the world's Top 20 this week."

Petchey then claimed that while Humbert's feat might look substandard against records achieved by the likes of Djokovic, Nadal, or Federer, it is 'not easy' to achieve what the 25-year-old Frenchman did.

"It's not easy. No matter how great you are, it’s not easy. We look at the guys at the top, you look at Novak, you look at Rafa, you look at Roger and you can’t measure everybody else’s career, which is always going to look suboptimal in that situation," Petchey added.

Humbert defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the final of the Open Sud de France on Sunday, February 11, to win his fifth tour title. Notably, he defeated World No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals and reached the 18th spot in the ATP rankings.

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Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal dominate Grand Slam records

Laver Cup 2022 - Day One

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer hold the top spots in respective lists for final, semifinal, and quarterfinal appearances in Majors thus far.

In the all-time finals tally, the Serb leads sits atop with 36 appearances, followed by the Swiss with 31 and the Spaniard with 30. The semifinal list's top three spots remain occupied by the Big 3 as well, with 48, 46, and 38 matches in the same order.

Furthermore, Djokovic and Federer share the top spot with 58 appearances in the quarterfinals of Grand Slam tournaments, followed by Nadal with 47. While Federer has been retired since September 2022, the Serb and the Spaniard continue to compete on the court to further better their numbers.