Alexander Zverev joins elite list of players to have beaten Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer at least 3 times each
Alexander Zverev defeated Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, ending the Serb's bid for a Calendar Golden Slam. This was Zverev's third career win over Djokovic, having previously beaten him at the 2017 Italian Open and the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals too.
Remarkably, the German is just the eighth player to have recorded at least three career victories against each member of the famed "Big 3" - Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The first player to achieve the feat was three-time Major winner Andy Murray, who notched his third win over Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the 2010 Canada Masters. Murray, who also got the better of Nadal at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open, has fared much better in his head-to-head meetings against Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer than he has against Nadal.
While Murray trails Nadal 7-17 in their h2h meetings, he has accumulated a record of 11-25 against Djokovic and 11-14 against Federer.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga next joined the exclusive club in 2011. The Frenchman beat Rafael Nadal twice during that season - at the Queen's Club Championships and the ATP Finals.
Tsonga had already beaten the Spaniard in the semifinals of the 2008 Australian Open previously. He had also racked up more than three wins against both Djokovic and Federer by 2011.
While Tsonga holds a 4-10 head-to-head record against Nadal, he has fared much better against Federer (6-12) and Djokovic (6-17).
Andy Roddick joined the elite list in 2012, when he beat Roger Federer for only the third time in his career at the Miami Masters. Although the American largely struggled against Federer during his career (recording a 3-21 head-to-head against the Swiss), he was fairly successful against Djokovic. Roddick led the Serb 5-4 in their head-to-head meetings, while trailing Nadal 3-7.
2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro followed the trio in 2013, when he beat Novak Djokovic en route to reaching his second career ATP Masters final at Indian Wells. The Argentine has a respectable head-to-head record against each of the Big 3: 4-16 against Djokovic, 7-18 against Federer and 6-11 against Nadal.
Former World No. 4 Tomas Berdych became the next player to join the exclusive club when he broke a 17-match losing streak against Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open. The Czech has a negative h2h record of 4-20 against Nadal overall.
Berdych has a similar record against both Federer and Djokovic; he accumulated a 6-20 record against the Swiss and a 3-25 record against the Serb.
Stan Wawrinka later joined the exclusive club during the fall season of 2015, which saw him beat Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters. The Swiss had also beaten Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open final and at the 2015 Rome Masters.
Wawrinka, however, has fared much better against Djokovic (trailing 6-19 in their h2h meetings) than he has against Federer (3-23) and Nadal (3-19).
Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev both enjoy a good head-to-head record against the Big 3
Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev are the two latest players to join this distinguished list of players. Thiem entered the club when he beat Roger Federer for the third time in his career at the 2019 ATP Finals. The Austrian leads the Swiss maestro by a whopping margin of 5-2 in their h2h meetings, and has done fairly well in his rivalries with Djokovic (5-7) and Nadal (6-9) too.
Alexander Zverev, of course, achieved the feat on Friday by taking down Novak Djokovic in three sets. Zverev still trails the Serb by a margin of 6-3, but he can take pride in his h2h record against Federer - whom he leads 4-3.
Zverev also beat Nadal earlier this year in Madrid but lost to the Spaniard the following week in Rome, for a 3-6 record overall.