Many people say men's tennis is in a golden era right now,
because of what has been called the "Trivalry" between Federer,
Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal. However, Becker, Lendl, and Edberg also made up an exciting trivalry.
This got me thinking about all of the greatest trivalries in tennis history and
where the current trivalry fits in historically.
Lavallcombe - The
first trivalry of the Open Era was between a trio of Aussies. John Newcombe,
Rod Laver, and Ken Rosewall made up that trivalry. Officially, they played 46
matches against each other, but that doesn't count the hundreds of times they
played before the Open Era. In the Open Era, they contested four grand slam
finals, meeting nine times in slams and 16 times in WCT tournaments. Rosewall's win over Laver in the 1972 Dallas
WCT final was one of the best matches in Lavallcombe. Rosewall won 7-6(5) in
the fifth set after losing the fourth set in a tiebreaker. The trio also made
up a Davis Cup team, which played a huge role in bringing titles to Australia,
including in 1973, which was the country's 15th title in 24 years.
McConnorg - The
next trivalry spanned over three decades, going from the late 1970's to as late
as 1991. This was between Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Bjorn Borg. They
played each other 71 times, which included several of the all-time greatest
matches in tennis history. In 1980, McEnroe and Borg met in both the Wimbledon
and US Open finals, producing some of the most memorable five-set epics in
tennis history. Connors also had his share of epic encounters with his rivals.
He played five five-set matches against McEnroe, which includes the 1980 US
Open semifinal that was determined by a fifth-set tiebreaker. McConnorg
combined for 26 grand slam titles and occupied tennis' top ranking for 547
weeks.
Bendlberg - The
three coaches also are three of the greatest players in tennis history. Edberg,
Lendl, and Becker played each other 83 times, including 35 times between Edberg
and Becker, which was the record before last year. Of the 83 meetings, 39 were
in finals, which includes seven grand slam finals. However, some of their best
matches were outside the finals. In the 1985 Australian Open semifinals, Edberg
defeated Lendl 9-7 in the fifth set. In their final meeting, they had the
benefit of a tiebreak, when Edberg again defeated Lendl in the 1992 US Open
quarterfinals. The three players completely dominated their era with 336
combined wins against their peers in the top 10.
Courassi - This
is another trio of countrymen. The 1990's were dominated by players from the
United States. In particular, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, and Pete Sampras. The
Americans met 66 times on tour with over half between Sampras and Agassi. In
fact, most fans wouldn't have considered Courier part of any trivalry, but
since this post is about trivalries, I added him in. And he was part of some
amazing matches and even had a winning head-to-head against Agassi. Sampras
also had two of the best matches of his career against Courier. In both the
1995 Australian Open quarterfinals and the 1996 Roland Garros quarterfinals,
Sampras came back from two sets down to beat Courier. The rivalry between
Agassi and Sampras, however, ranks as one of the best in tennis history. The
pair played 34 times, including nine times in slams and in four grand slam
finals. In total, the trio had 26 grand slam titles and spent 445 weeks at No.
1.
Fedalovic - So
where does the current trivalry between Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal
rank? For me, it is the best of all of them. Not only are they the three
greatest players to be part of a trivalry, but they consistently meet on the
biggest stages in the sport. Here are the numbers: 101 meeting, 15 grand slam
finals, 32 meetings in any round of a slam, and 48 finals at any tournament. Each
rivalry within the trivalry has to rank as one of the top 10 rivalries in
tennis history. Each rivalry has met at least 10 times in slams and 30 times in
total. The three players have fought each other for the top ranking in the game
for the last 514 weeks and counting. They also have 36 combined grand slams and
396 wins against top 10 players. Also since Djokovic first reached the top
three in 2007, only three other players have been able to crack into the top
three, and only one reached the top two. We haven't even begun to talk about
the incredible matches between these players.
In 2012, Djokovic and Nadal met in the Australian Open final
in a match that took almost six hours to complete with Djokovic finishing on
top 7-5 in the fifth set. Then this past year, Nadal defeated Djokovic 9-7 in
the fifth set at the Roland Garros semifinals on his way to a record-setting
eighth title in Paris. In both 2010 and 2011, Djokovic and Federer met in the
US Open semifinals, and both times,
Djokovic saved two match points to defeat Federer 7-5 in the fifth set.
Then there is the rivalry between Nadal and Federer, which is widely considered
the greatest in tennis history, which includes what is widely considered the
greatest match in tennis history. In 2008, Nadal defeated Federer 9-7 in the
fifth set of the Wimbledon final for his first title at the most prestigious
event in tennis. The trivalry continues to dominate tennis today with all three
players still in the top 10 and 14 of the last 16 slam titles.
