The golden generation of tennis

Going into the final of the 2013 French Open, Spain’s David Ferrer had been in dominant form. Yet to lose a single set in his journey to the final, Ferrer was playing the best tennis of his career, but ironically went into the match as a heavy underdog. The reason? The man he was facing had won every French Open title since 2005, bar 2009. He was the man himself, the “King of Clay”, then-winner of 11 Grand Slams and Ferrer’s compatriot, Rafael Nadal.

Rafa, unlike Ferrer, had had few tough matches on his way to the final and yet was the favorite to win them all. The end result, to no one’s surprise, was a complete annihilation for the hapless Ferrer, who lost the match in straight sets. For all his talent, consistency and prowess, Ferrer, unfortunately, finds himself as the 5^th best player (though latest rankings suggest he is one better) in the world and the leader of a pack of current players who have all the talent in the world, but yet find themselves consistently behind the “Big Four”-Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The gulf between these players and others has widened to such an extent that has led many to wonder what it will take to stop them.

Considered by many as the greatest player of all time, Switzerland’s crown jewel, Roger Federer, has been the leader of this pack of “Big Four”, whose complete dominance has prompted many experts to label this as the “golden generation of tennis”. With 17 Grand Slams, an Olympic doubles gold and singles silver under his belt, FedEx, as Federer is popularly known, has become an inspiration for youngsters around the world. His game is poetry in motion, and during his peak he was virtually unbeatable. Winning his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 2003, he went on an unstoppable streak that slowed down only after the emergence of a certain Spaniard.

Among his contemporaries, Federer enjoyed rivalries with Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin. Roddick, in particular, was the one who often brought out the best in Federer and the duo met in four Grand Slam finals, including the epic at Wimbledon 2009. Roddick, unfortunately, ended up on the losing side in all four finals. He was particularly shattered by his defeat in the aforementioned final and would never be the same again. In an era of complete domination by Federer, the trio ended up winning a combined total of five Grand Slams. As for Federer, though his game has slowed down considerably with age, he keeps on mesmerising us with his wizardry and, as tennis fans, we do hope he can carry on for many more years.

With Federer at the peak of his powers, and all his rivals falling away, there emerged Rafael Nadal, who went on to become his greatest rival and knocked him off his perch. He took to clay like a fish takes to water and became the greatest clay court specialist in the history of the game. Boasting of 12 Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic singles gold, Rafa has solidified himself as one of the greatest players of all time. He has had some memorable duels with Federer, including the final of Wimbledon 2008, a match that is regarded by many as the greatest match of all time. However, injuries took a toll on his body and he spent a considerable amount of time off-court; and when he was back, two more of his contemporaries were already on their way up.

Coming from the war-ravaged country of Serbia, Novak Djokovic started his journey to the top by winning the 2008 Australian Open and becoming the first player from his country to win a Grand Slam singles title. He solidified his legacy by winning three Grand Slams in 2011, becoming the sixth male player in the Open Era to win three Grand Slams in a calendar year in the process. Known as Djoker for his on-court impersonations of fellow players, Djokovic is a proud holder of 6 Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic singles bronze. A proud son of Serbia, he broke the duopoly of Federer and Rafa over world tennis and currently holds the status of the best player in the world.

The last cog in this wheel is the man from Glasgow, Scotland – Andy Murray. A player with immense potential, Murray was considered to be lacking the finishing touch, almost getting there and falling at the last hurdle. Shouldering the expectations of all of Britain, he, for the most part of his career, been under pressure to become the first British player since 1977, and the first British man since 1936, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.

He shed a bucketload of tears after losing the 2012 Wimbledon final to Roger Federer. However, he came back to the same venue to win an Olympic singles gold by ironically beating the same man he lost to in the Wimbledon final. He finally ended his Grand Slam drought and fulfilled his destiny by winning the US Open in the same year, and has since established himself as a leading player of his generation.

With the end of one era, starts another. Tennis fans were in search of their new hero once Pete Sampras retired and Andre Agassi followed suit. Many players flattered to deceive by winning a Grand Slam and fading away. Others stuck around for some time, but soon faded into oblivion. It was at this time a ponytailed Federer burst on the scene and the fans found their hero in the form of the Swiss maestro, who, with all his grace and precision, helped usher in a new era in the world of tennis.

After years of complete domination, he found his match in and was joined by three of his great rivals; and it has been an absolute treat to watch them in action. With their consistency and domination, they have gone on to separate themselves from the rest of the pack; it’s the “Big Four”, and the others.

With regards to the other top players of today, one can only imagine how frustrating must it be to work hard every day only to end up on the losing side. More often than not, they find themselves in tournaments just to make the numbers. Such has been the quartet’s dominance that in the last five years, that only one player outside the top four, Juan Martin Del Potro, can call himself a Grand Slam winner, having won the 2009 US Open.

From the heat of Melbourne Park to the red soil of Roland Garros, and from the serene and royal Wimbledon Lawns to the glamorous Flushing Meadows, the game of tennis has been privileged by the presence of a number of legends, each of whom were a part of a generation, and so is the case today. However, everything, good or bad, ends one day. There will be a time when someone will rise and challenge their authority, and possibly one day start a generation of his own. And we can only wait.

Thankfully for us, that day is nowhere near in sight and we can continue to enjoy the game of these four gentlemen, who have gone on to form the “Golden Generation”.