Novak Djokovic is the youngest of the Big Three, so he arrived the latest onto the scene, but he will be leaving it the last and most successful.
Two decades ago, it seemed like no one could stand in Roger Federer's way to becoming the greatest tennis player of all time. The Swiss Maestro won 11 Grand Slams between 2004 and 2007, but two times in that period, he missed out on the Calendar Grand Slam by one major.
That major was the French Open, and on both occasions, he was beaten by a certain Rafael Nadal. That Rafael Nadal later became his greatest rival, or so it seemed.
The stage was set for a great rivalry, but then, he appeared. Coming from Serbia, young but motivated Novak Djokovic. Two decades later, the Serbian is sitting on top of the tennis world, having 24 Grand Slam titles in his collection, two more than Nadal and four more than Federer.
He's also the last player standing, as one of his rivals is already retired, and the other one will retire at this year's Davis Cup. With the vast majority of their tennis careers now over, Djokovic had a chance to look back on how their rivalry came to be in a recent interview with Argentinian publication La Nacion.
"I see it as you described it: as one of the greatest rivalries, definitely, in all of the sport, and I am very proud and very honoured to be part of that group. They are both older than me, Rafa by one year, and Roger by six. And they had the biggest influence on my game and my development as a professional tennis player."
Djokovic remembered that he won his first major in 2008, but it took him three more years before he was able to add another one.
"I became a contender for the Grand Slams and started to be at the highest level of the professional standard when I won the Grand Slam in 2008. But the next one I won in 2011."
"It took me three years to win the second Grand Slam and I was number 3 in the world for those three years. And I was playing at a very high level, but I couldn’t get to win Grand Slams because of these two guys."
He admitted that in that period, he couldn't find a solution to the game of his opponents, but once he did, he knew more Grand Slams would come, and he was right: 23 more of them.
"I didn’t have the solution or the formula to succeed against them at the time. I was able to win one or two matches, but not the important ones. Those three years were crucial for my development. They made me hungrier to win, particularly against the two of them."
"I knew that if I figure out the way to beat these guys in the big matches, that I will solve the riddle of a Grand Slam for me and I will start to win more Grand Slams. And that's what happened."
Djokovic also touched upon the relationship with his two rivals. While they weren't necessarily friends, there was a certain relationship that they established over the years since, as Djokovic said, he saw the two more than his own mother.
"For many years, I saw them more than I saw my mother. Even though we weren’t close as friends, I'm confident to say that we got to know each other well. These rivalries attract millions of people to the sport and link people in a way that is eternal."
The 37-year-old also looked back on the start of the rivalry, when fans were set on having Federer and Nadal as two rivals before he came and disturbed it.
"It was Roger-Rafa, and then: 'Novak, what are you doing there? Who is this guy now? There is no space for third.' But then we created the most wonderful trio that tennis has ever seen."
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