2019 US Open: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic's Grand Slam stranglehold hanging by a thread
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are aptly called the 'big three' as they have racked up 54 Grand Slam singles titles between them.
Djokovic made his Grand Slam debut at the 2005 Australian Open which also marked the debut of the big three at a Grand Slam. Since then, at least one of the trio has made it to a semifinal or beyond at all the Grand Slam events from the 2005 Australian Open to the 2019 US Open.
The big-three has entered 49 of 60 Grand Slam tournaments together since the 2005 Australian Open. Nadal was absent at the 2006 and 2013 Australian Open, 2009 and 2016 Wimbledon, and 2012 and 2014 US Open; Federer missed the 2016-18 French Open and 2016 US Open during this period; Djokovic did not enter the 2017 US Open.
From the 2005 Australian Open to the 2019 US Open, the big-three has together made it to the semifinals at 16 majors, most recently at the French Open and Wimbledon this season; at least two of the trio reached a Grand Slam last-four 24 times, most recently at the 2019 Australian Open (Djokovic beat Nadal in the final, Federer lost in the fourth round).
Exactly one member of the big-three, during this period, made it to a Slam semifinal on nine occasions, most recently at the 2018 French Open and now at the 2019 US Open - both times by Nadal.
During the 49 occasions when the big-three entered a Grand Slam tournament together, only Marat Safin (2005 Australian Open), Juan Martin Del Potro (2009 US Open), Andy Murray (2013 Wimbledon), and Stanislas Wawrinka (2014 Australian Open, and 2015 French Open) have managed to go all the way at a major. On all but one of these six occasions (2005 Australian Open: Safin beat Hewitt), one of the big-three made the final.
Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic swept 30 successive Grand Slam tournaments from the 2005 French Open (Nadal) and 2012 Wimbledon (Federer) during the big-three's most dominant phase.
Winning since 2017
Stanislas Wawrinka is the last player outside of the big-three to triumph at a major, doing so at the 2016 US Open, where he beat defending champion Djokovic in a four-set final.
The big-three, since then, has been on an 11-Slam win streak, starting with Federer's win at the 2017 Australian Open. However, only Nadal of the three have survived till the last four in Flushing Meadows this year.
Could one of the three potential first-time Grand Slam finalists - Daniil Medvedev, Grigor Dimitrov or Matteo Berrettini break the big-three stranglehold and make their Grand Slam breakthrough at the 2019 US Open?
Nadal might just have other ideas.