After 21 Years: The End of the 'Big Three' Era

Thomas Johansson, Albert Costa, Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras. Those were the men's champions at the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2002, the last year in which neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic won a Grand Slam title. 22 years later, the same will happen again, as Novak Djokovic's shock exit at the U.S. Open sealed the end of this remarkable run.

When Federer won is first Wimbledon title in 2003, little did we know that it would mark the beginning of the "Big Three" era, during which Federer, Nadal and later Djokovic dominated men's tennis in a way that seemed unthinkable before. Since Wimbledon 2003, the "Big Three" have won 66 out of 84 Grand Slam tournaments, with Djokovic winning 24, Nadal 22 and Federer 20 major titles.

With Federer long retired, Nadal no longer looking competitive as he continues to struggle with injury and Djokovic also failing to lift a Grand Slam trophy this year, the era of the “Big Three” is slowly but inevitably coming to an end. While Nadal hasn't officially retired and Novak Djokovic will surely fight to add more trophies to his record-breaking haul, even he won’t be able to play his physically and emotionally challenging game forever. There has never been an era in tennis during which three players have dominated the sport in the way that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have over the past two decades. And while the "Big Three" no longer exist, their memory will live on in tennis history.