(Reuters) – Rafa Nadal beat Casper Ruud within the French Open last on Sunday to win a men’s record-extending twenty second Grand Slam title.
The following is a timeline charting how Nadal, taking part in in what is taken into account to be the best period of men’s tennis, surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
2003: Federer grew to become the latest entrant into the Grand Slam membership with the primary of his eight Wimbledon titles, beating Mark Philippoussis within the last.
Tally: Federer 1
2004: The Swiss flexed his muscle tissues by profitable three majors — the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Tally: Federer 4
2005: While Federer defended his Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles, Nadal burst on to the scene along with his first French Open title beating Mariano Puerta within the last.
Tally: Federer 6; Nadal 1
2006: Federer’s domination continued as he received three majors, together with beating Nadal within the Wimbledon last, however Nadal laid the inspiration for his claycourt reign along with his second French Open title.
Tally: Federer 9; Nadal 2
2007: The seemingly unstoppable Federer repeated his feat from the earlier yr however the French Open title continued to elude him as Nadal thwarted him within the last for a second straight yr.
Tally: Federer 12; Nadal 3
2008: Djokovic hit the massive time along with his maiden main, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga within the Australian Open last. After his French Open triumph, Nadal surprised Federer within the Wimbledon last however the Swiss responded by profitable the U.S. Open.
Tally: Federer 13; Nadal 5; Djokovic 1
2009: Nadal received his first hardcourt Grand Slam title, edging out Federer in 5 units within the Australian Open last. However, Nadal’s 31-match profitable streak at Roland Garros ended within the fourth spherical, permitting Federer to declare his solely French crown.
Nadal was unable to defend his Wimbledon title as he was compelled to pull out with knee issues.
The Swiss went on to declare his record fifteenth main at Wimbledon, surpassing Pete Sampras’ record tally.
Tally: Federer 15; Nadal 6; Djokovic 1
2010: Federer began the yr by profitable the Australian Open for a fourth time.
But it turned out to be Nadal’s best marketing campaign as he swept the subsequent three majors. He defeated Djokovic within the U.S. Open last to full a profession Grand Slam.
Tally: Federer 16; Nadal 9; Djokovic 1
2011: The Big Two grew to become the Big Three as Djokovic received 10 titles in 2011, together with three majors on the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Meanwhile, Nadal reclaimed his French Open crown for his tenth main title total.
Tally: Federer 16; Nadal 10; Djokovic 4
2012: Djokovic overcame Nadal within the longest Grand Slam last in Open Era to win his third Australian Open title.
Nadal continued his dominant run at Roland Garros to add one other main title to his tally, whereas Federer received a record-extending seventeenth main at Wimbledon.
Tally: Federer 17; Nadal 11; Djokovic 5
2013: Djokovic received his third straight Australian Open by defeating Andy Murray within the last. While Federer struggled with a again harm, Nadal completed the yr as primary after defending his French Open crown and including one other U.S. Open title to his tally.
Tally: Federer 17; Nadal 13; Djokovic 6
2014: Again Federer failed to add to his Grand Slam tally as Nadal received his ninth French Open title, equalling Sampras’ whole of 14 slams. Djokovic defeated Federer within the Wimbledon last.
Tally: Federer 17; Nadal 14; Djokovic 7
2015: Djokovic accelerates, profitable the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open and likewise grew to become solely the second man to defeat Nadal on the French Open when he beat the Spaniard within the quarter-finals, solely to lose to Stan Wawrinka within the last.
Tally: Federer 17; Nadal 14; Djokovic 10
2016: Djokovic defended his Australian Open crown earlier than profitable his maiden French Open title, making him the holder of all 4 majors — a feat the media dubbed the “Nole Slam”.
Nadal and Federer have been each tormented by accidents through the season and failed to add to their Grand Slam hauls.
Tally: Federer 17; Nadal 14; Djokovic 12
2017: Federer received his 18th slam — and his first since Wimbledon 2012 — with a thrilling five-set victory over Nadal within the Australian Open last.
Nadal cemented his place as the best claycourter in historical past when he secured a record tenth title in Roland Garros.
Federer grew to become the primary man to win Wimbledon eight occasions with victory over Marin Cilic within the last, earlier than Nadal clinched his third U.S. Open title.
Djokovic missed the second a part of the yr with an elbow drawback.
Tally: Federer 19; Nadal 16; Djokovic 12
2018: Federer received his sixth Australian Open to turn into solely the fourth participant after Margaret Court, Serena (*22*) and Steffi Graf to win 20 or extra main singles titles. Nadal prolonged his profitable run at Roland Garros, earlier than Djokovic earned his first main in additional than two years at Wimbledon.
A 3rd triumph in New York ensured Djokovic had equalled Sampras’ tally of 14 majors and was now solely behind Federer and Nadal within the all-time record.
Tally: Federer 20; Nadal 17; Djokovic 14
2019: Nadal closes to inside one in every of Federer’s whole as he maintained his stranglehold on the French Open and beat rising Russian Daniil Medvedev to win the U.S. Open.
Djokovic received a third successive main and a seventh Australian Open with a dominant straight units win over Nadal and saved two match factors towards Federer to win a fifth Wimbledon title in a five-set traditional.
Tally: Federer 20; Nadal 19; Djokovic 16
2020: Djokovic reeled off one other Australian Open title however was thrashed 6-0 6-2 7-5 within the Roland Garros last by Nadal who moved alongside Federer for the primary time with a record-equalling twentieth men’s main title.
With Nadal and Federer absent from the U.S. Open, Djokovic missed a possibility to shut the hole on his rivals after being disqualified from his fourth-round match for by chance hitting a ball at a line choose.
Tally: Federer 20; Nadal 20; Djokovic 17
2021: Djokovic seems set to eclipse Nadal and Federer as he stormed to a ninth Australian Open title, beat Nadal within the French Open semi-final earlier than downing Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas within the last and outclassed Italian Matteo Berrettini within the Wimbledon last.
Victory over Medvedev within the U.S. Open last would have sealed a first men’s calendar yr Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969, and the lead within the G.O.A.T (biggest of all time) race, however the Serbian was surprisingly overwhelmed.
Nadal missed the second half of the yr with a foot harm whereas Federer was additionally sidelined by a knee harm.
Tally: Federer 20, Nadal 20, Djokovic 20
2022: Nadal admitted that he was simply happy to be taking part in in Melbourne after fearing his foot harm would possibly finish his profession.
But with Djokovic deported after his visa was cancelled and Federer absent by harm, the Spaniard rolled again the years, turning into the primary man to win 21 Grand Slam titles by beating Medvedev to declare the Australian Open for the primary time since 2009.
Nadal, 36, defeated Norwegian Ruud to earn his 14th French Open crown and a men’s record-extending twenty second Grand Slam title.
Tally: Nadal 22, Federer 20, Djokovic 20
(Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru and Martyn Herman in London, enhancing by Pritha Sarkar and Christian Radnedge)
