How many Grand Slams have Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer missed due to injury?
Big 3 and their history with injuries and Grand Slams.
Follow Us
Roger Federer Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal (Credits: Twitter)
Injuries, by far, are the worst nightmares that any athlete goes through. The very fact that one can’t compete because of pain in the body is disheartening. Over the years, many players have missed major events due to injuries. May it be any sport.
Tennis players are no exception to the injury lows. Sometimes the calf, sometimes the wrist, sometimes the back. The issues are never-ending. Let’s look at the events the three greatest players to grace the game had to miss due to their injuries.
Rafael Nadal (14 Grand Slams)
- French Open 2003
- French Open 2004
- Australian Open 2006
- Wimbledon 2009
- US Open 2012
- Australian Open 2013
- US Open 2014
- Wimbledon 2016
- Wimbledon 2021
- US Open 2021
- US Open 2022
- French Open 2023
- Wimbledon 2023
- US Open 2023
Rafael Nadal, unfortunately, has been a victim of injury more often than anyone else. He has missed many events due to various body issues. They include 14 Grand Slams. Kudos to Nadal that he still has 22 under his belt despite not participating in so many Grand Slams. The earliest pullout was the 2003 French Open, which he had to miss because of his sore elbow
His French Open debut got delayed by two years, as he had to miss the 2004 edition as well due to injury. Over the years, the wrist, the back, the hip, and the abdomen injuries kept him out of Melbourne, Paris, London, and New York. The latest pullout was the 2023 French Open due to the Psoas muscle injury; and pulled out of the entire season. This means he won’t be there in London or New York.
Roger Federer (10 Grand Slams)
- French Open 2016
- US Open 2016
- French Open 2017
- French Open 2018
- French Open 2020
- US Open 2020
- Australian Open 2021
- US Open 2021
- Australian Open 2022
- French Open 2022
- Wimbledon 2022
Roger Federer has been relatively injury-free. However, his long career saw him miss 10 Slams due to injury. The first one came at 35 when he pulled out of the French Open after sustaining a knee injury. He had the record of appearing in 65 consecutive Grand Slams before 2016.
However, with age, Federer finally fell victim to body troubles as he regularly pulled out of events. He did not find much success in the latter half of his career. Eventually, Federer decided to call it a day, as the problems became a never-ending drama.
Novak Djokovic (1 Grand Slam)
- US Open 2017
Novak Djokovic has the proud record of only missing one Grand Slam in his entire career—the 2017 US Open. He was struggling with his elbow, which ended his 2017 season. It also ended a 51-year streak of consecutive Grand Slam appearances.
Djokovic dropped out of the top 20 due to his elbow. However, the Serb completed his rehabilitation quickly and again climbed the rankings. Moreover, he holds the men’s record of winning the most grand slams in history with 24.
In case you missed it:
- Nick Kyrgios ruled out French Open, injury sustained during car theft while mom held at gunpoint
- Simona Halep cannot play victim card as her doping mystery deepens
Stay Updated!
Manan Mehta
(215 Articles Published)