Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are widely considered the 3 best players in history. However, they are also racing to be the GOAT (Greatest of all time). While it is unclear and widely debatable if it is possible to choose the GOAT in such a close race, the Big3 are breaking all sorts of records.

Novak has now managed to overtake both Federer and Nadal as the guy that has concluded most seasons as the world no.1 after he tied the great Pete Sampras. The Serbian champion will end this season as the deserving world no.1 for the 6th time while both Roger and Rafa achieved the same feat on 5 occasions.

The Serbian champion achieved this feat after winning 4 tournaments out of 7 and with a stunning 39-3 win-loss record in the season. One of his defeats came when he defaulted at the US Open after unintentionally hitting a lines judge at the throat.

 

 

 

Novak commented:

“Pete [Sampras] was somebody I looked up to when I was growing up, so to match his record is a dream come true.”  

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi had also nice words for Novak to add:

“To finish the year as No.1 is one of the most impressive achievements in our sport, one which requires sustained excellence across the season. To see Novak achieve this for the sixth time and match Pete’s record is simply incredible, and he continues to cement his place in the history books.”

Novak Djokovic in 2020

At the moment ranked no.1, Novak played his last match on the 30th of October when he lost to Lorenzo Sonego 6-2 6-1 in the quarter in Vienna.

This season Novak has a 39-3 match record. The Serbian has won 4 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open, in Dubai, in New York and in Rome. Novak was the finalist at the French Open.

Nadal in Paris, ranking, and results in 2020

At the moment ranked no.2, the Spaniard has 25-4 match record in 2020. Nadal is participating in Paris where he managed to beat Feliciano Lopez 4-6 7-65 6-4, Jordan Thompson 6-1 7-63 and Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-6 7-5 6-1

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Rafael Nadal will play Zverev in the semifinal. The head to head is 5-1 for Nadal.

The Spaniard clinched 2 titles in 2020 in Acapulco and at the French Open.

Rafael won 86 titles in his career: 21 on hard courts, 60 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 4 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played each other 56 times. The head to head is 29-27 for Djokovic. The last time that they competed against each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-0 6-2 7-5 in the final in Paris (French Open) on the 11th of October 2020.

In the following video you can watch the highlights.

Roger Federer in 2020

Now ranked no.4, Roger played his last match on the 30th of January when he capitulated to Novak Djokovic 7-61 6-4 6-3 in the semifinal of the Australian Open.

Roger Federer’s most significant result of the present season was reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal

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