The number of major titles isn’t the only factor used to determine where players sit in the pantheon, but it’s increasingly used as a go-to metric.
Nadal cut short his astonishing feat after his gruesome five-set win Daniil Medvedev In Australian Open Last in the early hours of Monday.
The 35-year-old Spaniard said he doesn’t care much whether his 21st title makes him the best player in history.
But many fans are fascinated by the debate as to who will eventually emerge from the golden age of men’s tennis on top, each supported by their own phalanx of supporters dying with the “Big Three”.
Swiss great Federer was out on his own as the sport’s alpha male when he surpassed Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam wins at Wimbledon in 2009, with Nadal trailing on six majors and Djokovic on just one.
As the race for big titles began to slow down for Federer from 2010, two of his greatest rivals stepped up the accelerator, winning consecutive Grand Slams over the next decade, even as Federer returned to winning ways in 2017 and 2018.
Nadal pulled the level at 20 Slams after winning the French Open in 2020, and Djokovic joins the party after scoring three big wins during a stellar 2021 season.
But the Spaniard is now out on his own after what he called “the biggest comeback of my career” to win a 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 has gone. Melbourne.
Nadal now has 58 “Big Titles”, defined by the men’s ATP Tour as trophies at Grand Slam Championships, ATP Finals, Masters 1000 tournaments or Olympic singles gold medals.
He is the fourth man in history to have achieved at least two trophies in all four Grand Slams, a feat also achieved by Djokovic.
Federer has won the most career singles titles out of the three, with his tally of 103 only bettered by American Jimmy Connors, who won 109.
Djokovic is out on his own in terms of time spent at number one, with 358 weeks at the top so far, Federer at 310 and Nadal at 209.
The Serbian, who lags behind two of his major rivals in the popularity stakes, also has a winning record in one-on-one matches against both, although Nadal has beaten Djokovic in his Grand Slam meetings.
So what next in the fight for tennis immortality?
Nadal never faced any of his great rivals in Melbourne.
Federer was absent and Djokovic, unaffected against the coronavirus, was deported on the eve of the tournament after Australia canceled his visa.
The 40-year-old Federer’s future remains the biggest unknown as he comes back from a consecutive right knee injury that limited him to just five tournaments last year.
He doesn’t expect to be in action again for months and has said it is unlikely he will be fit for Wimbledon, where he realistically has the best chance of winning another Major.
World number one Djokovic, who is a year younger than Nadal, has time, although he is still experienced in the men’s game.
Last year he had come within a match of completing a calendar-year Grand Slam – winning all four Majors in a single year – but was badly beaten by Medvedev in the final of the US Open.
Off-court issues could sabotage the Serbian’s bid to rise to the top. There are serious questions over whether he will be able to defend his French Open title under the current COVID-19 rules and will miss the US Open for the same reason.
If Djokovic is not at Roland Garros, Nadal will be a strong contender for his 14th French Open title.
Nadal himself wondered whether or not to play him again after a leg injury last season, but barring exhaustion, he will now look forward to the rest of the season with a spring in his step.
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