The so-called Big Four of men’s tennis will unite for Team Europe for the first time at this year’s Laver Cup.
Key points:
- Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray have won 66 of the last 76 men’s grand slam singles titles
- Team Europe has won all four Laver Cup titles since the first was held in 2017
- This year’s tournament will be held at London’s O2 arena in September
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, who dominated men’s tennis for nearly two decades, will now seek to help Team Europe maintain its dominance over Team World at this year’s men’s team event.
Europe captain Björn Borg, an 11-time grand slam champion himself, said having all four stars of the game in the same team was a historic moment.
“I don’t think I could have imagined having these four icons of the sport on one team together,” he said.
“I know they, like I, appreciate the significance of this moment.”
Djokovic, the latest of the group to commit to this year’s tournament — which is set to be held at London’s O2 arena in September — said it was a unique opportunity.
“[The Laver Cup] is the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you’re normally competing against,” he said in a statement.
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The dominance that Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray enjoyed at the pinnacle of world tennis is unprecedented: the quartet have won 66 of the past 76 grand slam titles.
By triumphing over Nick Kyrgios in this year’s final, Djokovic ensured that one of the big four has won every men’s Wimbledon title since 2003.
Incredibly, up until February this year, one of the four was world number one for a span stretching 18 years.
During their peak, the quartet of stars were seemingly unstoppable on the men’s tennis circuit, leaving the rest of the top players at a loss at how to break their stranglehold on the sport.
As a result, three of the four mopped up major titles and ensured they kept a monopoly of the world number one spot.
Nadal (22), Djokovic (21) and Federer (20) have all won at least 20 grand slam titles as the most dominant trio in the history of the sport.
Although Murray claimed just three majors, he also reached eight further grand slam finals and became a two-time Olympic champion before assuming his career was over due to a persistent hip injury.
Murray, who will be making his first appearance at the Laver Cup this year, since made a remarkable return to the tour, winning the European Open just 10 months after hip resurfacing surgery.
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