At a time when speculation is rife about the reign of tennis’s ‘Big Three’, World No.2 Rafael Nadal has come out with a bold prediction of his own. With the youngest of the trio, Novak Djokovic nearing the age of 33, it is no surprise that retirement talks have begun for the older two players, Roger Federer, who is almost 39 and Rafael Nadal, who is 34. Between them, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have won 57 of the 69 Grand Slam titles since Federer’s 2003 Wimbledon Championships win up to Rafa’s 2020 French Open triumph.
While the trio have started showing the first signs of cracking – we saw a new Grand Slam winner in Dominic Thiem at the US Open and both Djokovic and Nadal were done away with by much younger players at the ATP Finals – the Big Three remain dominant. With Roger Federer set to make a comeback from his knee surgery in 2021 and both Djokovic and Nadal dominating on their favourite hardcourt and clay surfaces, Rafael Nadal feels the same way.
“We’ll still be here for a while longer, competing and striving to win,” the Spaniard said of himself, Federer, and Djokovic on a Spanish talk show. Rafa, who is inching closer to the coveted World No.1 spot, also talked about coming back to the Tour in what he hopes will be much more normal circumstances next year. Having played just the four tournaments after the COVID-19 break, Rafa ended the year as the World No.2 with 9,850 points to Djokovic’s 12,030.
Coming into 2021, Rafa will also hope to reclaim his spot as the player with the most Masters 1000 title wins. With 35 Masters 1000 wins, Rafa shared the title with Djokovic for a short period time after Djokovic’s triumph at the Cincinnati Masters this year. However, with his win at the Rome Masters 2020 – his 36th – Nolle eclipsed Rafa to take the title for himself. With things in Australia uncertain, Rafa’s first shot at equalling the record may come later than expected.
