History is always a surprising coincidence. On this day in history, many things have happened in the men's tennis world, and two of them are related to the Big Three, and may be called the Sad Day of the Big Three.
The Big Three all lost to one person in the same tournament
Argentine player Nalbandian, who has never won a Grand Slam title, is talented enough to achieve feats that no other player can accomplish, and he is the only one to beat the big three Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in one game. In March 2006, Nalbandian's world rankings were as high as 3rd, but they have since fallen. By October 2007, he had fallen to 25th place and reached the quarterfinals only once a year. Although the current Madrid games are played on clay courts in the spring, the games at that time were played on indoor hard courts. Nalbandian started his week with great tennis results, beating two of the best players who reached the Grand Slam singles finals – Clement and Berdych. He then defeated fellow Argentine Del Potro, who won the U.S. Open two years later.
But these victories are only a prelude to the future. In the quarter-finals, It took Nalbandian just 71 minutes to beat Nadal 6-1, 6-2. "Everything went well for me today," Nalbandian said in an interview. 'I took advantage of all of Nadal's mistakes and he never felt comfortable but I felt like I played well.' In the semi-finals, he faced Djokovic, winning 6-4, 7-6 (4). Djokovic said in a report: "Sometimes you don't play well and he's in the climax. He won against Nadal and a lot of good players this week, so obviously he's confident on the pitch and you can see that. ”
After losing all three of his first Masters finals, Nalbandian is eager to make a final breakthrough. His opponent was none other than his old rival Federer. When Federer won the first set 6-1, Nalbandian refused to surrender his weapons and reversed 6-3, 6-3 in the next two sets. "I was very focused, knew I had to play incredibly to win and everything went well for me," Nalbandian said. 'Having beaten so many good players here this week is a huge encouragement for me. No other player has beaten every member of the Big Three in the same game. Surprisingly, just two weeks later, at the Masters in Paris, Nalbandian won the title again and beat Federer and Nadal again.
The Connors 109 crown, which is difficult for the big three to match
The Big Three broke almost all tennis records, but they couldn't break Connors' record for the number of titles. In the open era, no one has played more singles finals than Connors. On 22 October 1989, in Tel Aviv, Connors was preparing to play his 164th final in hopes of winning his 109th singles title. It's been an epic career. Connors won his first singles title as a teenager and went on to win in his 30s. The first time was in January 1972, in Jacksonville, Florida, where Connors defeated American veteran Greebner in the final. Since then, Connors has come to power, winning five more tournaments in 1972. For many years, Connors' total number of championships has reached double digits — 11 in 1973, 15 in 1974, 12 in 76, and 10 in 78. In 1983, Connors won the U.S. Open by beating Lendl in four sets at his favorite U.S. Open. In 1984, when Connors was 32 years old, he won five titles, the fifth in Tokyo, and Connors defeated Lendl again in the final to win his 105th championship.
But then there were surprising lows. Although Connors remained in the top ten for the next three years, he did not win a singles title once during that time. From 1985 to 1987, Connors reached the final nine times. At the beginning of '88, the championship drought continued, with Connors finishing second in the tournaments in Milan and Biscayne Bay. Finally, in July, in Washington, D.C., Connors lifted the championship trophy again. Later that year, he won in Toulouse. A year later, the 37-year-old Connors defeated rival McEnro 6-3, 6-3 in Toulouse to defend the title. The following week, Connors won his 108th crown in Israel.
The 109th title proved to be Connors' last record. The closest to that record is Federer's 103 crown, one of the Big Three, but in Federer's current state, it's almost impossible to surpass. It is more difficult for Nadal with 88 crowns and Djokovic with 85 titles to surpass. This record may be doomed to fail the Big Three.