Rafael Nadal Discusses the Evolution of His Rivalry With Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic dominated the men's circuit for more than a decade on tour.

Rafael Nadal Discusses the Evolution of His Rivalry With Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer

Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal (Image via X/Danny)

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Rafael Nadal’s rise on tour coincided with Roger Federer’s rise, before Novak Djokovic began to play his best tennis. They came to be known as the Big 3 in tennis, revolutionizing the sport with their competitive spirit. A year after Nadal retired, he opened up about his rivalry with Federer and Djokovic on tour.

Federer completed his Career Grand Slam at the 2009 French Open and was the first player to win 20 Grand Slams on tour, he did that at the Australian Open in 2018 after beating Marin Cilic in the final.

But it took only two and a half years for Nadal to equal Federer’s record of 20 major titles, and he did that at the French Open in 2020, claiming his 13th Roland Garros. He then went on to set a new standard by winning his 22nd Grand Slam at the French Open in 2022 after beating Casper Ruud in the championship match.

Djokovic reached Nadal’s record within months. The Serbian star made headlines at the Australian Open in 2023, where he claimed his 22nd Grand Slam and made it 23 at the French Open in Paris. He then claimed his 24th career major title at Flushing Meadows in New York after defeating Daniil Medvedev.

The three stars set high standards for themselves which made their rivalry one of the best in the history of the game. Their competitiveness forced them to evolve faster in their games and style of play. Speaking to Jorge Valdano on the Movistar+ program ‘Universo Valdano’ via Puntodebreak, Nadal pointed out that the Big 3 rivalry was demanding:

The demand was maximum. We never stopped pushing each other. There was no margin to skip tournaments. That’s the greatness of our era. We were always in the final rounds competing for the most important tournaments. I don’t think one alone could have done it. I don’t think it changed much. The world evolves and playing style changes a bit. You hit harder, serve harder. I still believe in intuition, not playing like a robot trying to guess from stats.

Nadal and Federer have retired from professional tennis, with the former doing so in 2024 and the latter in 2022. Djokovic is the only player in the Big 3 who is still chasing for more glory on the court. This season, he proved that age is just a number as he claimed two ATP 250 titles in Geneva and Athens.

Rafael Nadal claims the Big 3 contributed to the rise of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Several pundits and tennis legends have compared the Big 3 rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s rivalry. The two stars are currently the leading players in the men’s circuit, having won all eight Grand Slams in the past two seasons. The last player other than Alcaraz and Sinner to win major titles was Novak Djokovic at the 2023 US Open.

Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal; In bubble – Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/t2, Jannik Sinner HQ)

During the aforementioned interview, Rafael Nadal revealed that without the rivalry between him, Roger Federer, and Djokovic, there wouldn’t be a rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz. The former World No.1 noted that they were the ones who spearheaded the evolution of tennis and handed the two top stars a platform to run with:

I’m happy to have been a part of this story. Without taking anything away from Sinner and Alcaraz, who want to do things right, I think we [the Big Three] have helped new generations understand that you can be a fierce competitor without hating your rival. You can have a relationship that isn’t necessarily friendship, but it’s still a good one. It’s a good legacy we’re leaving behind.

Alcaraz and Sinner finished their 2025 season with 14 tour-level titles combined. Sinner finished the season better than Alcaraz, winning four of his last four tournaments, but the 22-year-old ended the year with eight titles, two more than Sinner’s total number of crowns this season.

Also Read: Jimmy Connors Makes Sarcastic Comment About Carlos Alcaraz’s Exhibition Participation Despite Schedule Complaints