Roger Federer has been told that he never would’ve reached a historic total of 20 Grand Slam titles were it not for his Big Three rivals. Former pro Andrea Petkovic claimed that the Swiss star would’ve ended his career on 17 without Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal pushing him on. While both men have gone on to surpass his tally, Federer was the first man to reach the milestone of 20.
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Although Djokovic and Nadal have gone on to lift 23 and 22 Grand Slam trophies respectively, it was Federer who was the first player from their era to break the men’s singles record. The 42-year-old surpassed Pete Sampras by winning his 15th Major at Wimbledon in 2009 and went on to scoop five more before retiring.
Federer’s last three Grand Slam victories came after he underwent knee surgery in 2016. And former world No 9 Petkovic has now claimed that the tennis legend wouldn’t have bounced back to win them without the motivation of his rivalry with Djokovic and Nadal.
“If we put ourselves back into the shoes around 2009, when Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras’ number,” the German told Tennis Channel’s Inside In podcast. “If Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic hadn’t appeared on the tour, he would’ve stopped at 17. 100 per cent. We would’ve never seen these numbers.”
Petkovic used the example to explain that there was a danger in not having a strong rivalry. And she is now hoping that the WTA has found its own Big Three in Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
The 35-year-old continued: “I was so excited at the beginning of the year when Sabalenka won the Australian Open because I know from my personal experience and just from watching tennis for almost 20 years now, how important rivalries are.
“I was worried if Iga Swiatek just dominates the tour for the next three, four years, that she won’t get better and won’t improve as a tennis player.” Petkovic now has the same fear for Carlos Alcaraz, who recently won his second Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon.
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Explaining why the world No 1 needed some competition, she said: “That’s the most important thing, not only in sports, [but also] in politics and art, where ever it is needed to create something really great, to create masterpieces, or to become the best at what you do, you need those rivalries.”
As for Federer, his men’s singles record of 20 Major titles went on to be broken by both of his rivals. Nadal was the first man to reach 21 at last year’s Australian Open and he extended his lead to 22 at the French Open.
But Djokovic stormed ahead by winning Wimbledon 2022 and this year’s Australian Open. And he became the first man to win a 23rd Slam in Paris a few months ago, equalling Serena Williams’ Open Era record.
