Where do Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic stand in most consecutive seasons winning Grand Slams in the Open Era?
With 22 Grand Slam singles titles to his name, Rafael Nadal leads the charts for having the most number of Grand Slam singles titles among ATP players. This season, Nadal bagged two more Majors to take the lead in the Slam race, in which he now leads second-placed Novak Djokovic by a solitary Major.
As it turns out, the Mallorcan also holds the Open Era record for the most consecutive seasons with a Grand Slam singles title win.
🤯
It took 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ years to break
Roland Garros titles record by Nadal
in 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣4️⃣ 🤯
How many years it will take from
Nadal's retirement to break his
Roland Garros titles? 🤔
A tally that currently stands at 1️⃣4️⃣
And he’s not yet finished 👏
#Tennis #RafaNadal #Sports
#Records https://t.co/Lxd9LE7FTJ
By winning the 2005 French Open, the Spaniard became the second man in the history of the sport to win Roland Garros in his first attempt. Following that, Nadal's winning streak in the tournament continued until 2008, when he won his fourth consecutive Roland Garros title. In the same year, the Spaniard also won Wimbledon, his overall fifth Grand Slam singles title.
He kickstarted his next season by winning the first Grand Slam of the year, the 2009 Australian Open, his fifth consecutive year of winning a Major. The following year, the southpaw continued his dominance on clay as he won five consecutive Roland Garros until 2014. The following year, the Spaniard failed to win a Grand Slam singles title for the first time since 2005, thus putting an end to his 10-year streak.
Roger Federer's Wimbledon titles, in his own words.
#Wimbledon | @rogerfederer https://t.co/KIAjocLrGX
Nadal is closely followed by Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras, who are all tied for second place with eight consecutive seasons of winning a Major. The Swiss maestro won his maiden Grand Slam singles title in 2003, when he triumphed at Wimbledon. He went on to win the tournament four more times until 2007. In 2008, however, Federer lost the title to Nadal in a five-set thriller.
With his win at the US Open, though, Federer continued his streak of winning a Grand Slam for six consecutive seasons. In 2009, the Basel-born reclaimed his Wimbledon title while also winning his first and only French Open title. The Swiss won his fourth Australian Open title in 2010, his eighth consecutive season of winning a Major. However, with a final and two semi-final losses, Federer failed to win a single Grand Slam in 2011.
Djokovic, meanwhile, comes in third place with six consecutive seasons of winning a Major. The former World No. 1 dominated the ATP for nearly a decade along with his fellow Big-3 members, Nadal and Federer. Djokovic won his first Major in 2008, the Australian Open, but had to wait three years to win his second Major and become a serious threat to the 'Fedal' rivalry.
After winning his second Major in 2011, Djokovic went on to win seven more Grand Slam titles in the next five years. However, he failed to win any Grand Slam in 2017. Since winning another in 2018, the Serb is currently on a streak of five consecutive seasons of winning a Grand Slam, a record he will hope to extend in 2023.
Between Roland Garros 2005 and Wimbledon 2022, the ‘Big Three’ - Nadal, Djokovic, Federer - won 59 out of the 69 majors.
That’s 85%.
That’s an Alien number. 👽
Sporting icons, all three of them. 💪 https://t.co/SqIKveVo6t
"I am in the final stretch of my career" - Rafael Nadal
Most recently, Rafael Nadal featured in the Laver Cup alongside Roger Federer in the latter's farewell match at the tournament.
Seeing Rafa Nadal cry his eyes out at Roger Federer’s retirement is quite possible the most beautiful moment in sporting history.
Rivals.
Friends.
Brothers. https://t.co/30Xslt8Pbz
Following the match, the Spaniard spoke to Spanish media house COPE about Federer's retirement and also shed some light on his own, revealing that he was in the final stretch of his career and that his own retirement was just over the horizon.
"I know that the moment of my retirement will come within 'x' or 'x' plus a little, but with 36 years and a half we are in the final stretch of my career. But now I neither consider it nor do I want to consider it," he said.