Federer vs Nadal vs Djokovic: Who dominated Wimbledon?

Summary

• Roger Federer has the most Wimbledon titles for a Men's Singles player (8)
• Novak Djokovic has the joint-second-most Wimbledon titles for a Men's Singles player, along with Pete Sampras (7)
• Rafael Nadal won two Wimbledon titles, one of which ended Federer's winning streak of 41 matches

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, popularly known as the Big 3 of Tennis, are three of the biggest legends the sport has ever seen. Between them, the trio has a whopping 67 Grand Slam titles to their name, from 2003 to 2023. While Federer and Nadal have retired from the sport for good, Djokovic is still playing and challenging younger players in the Men's division.

Wimbledon, the grass-court Grand Slam tournament, is considered one of the most prestigious Tennis tournaments of all time. All three of Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer have won Wimbledon at least twice in their careers. Federer and Djokovic are two of the most successful players at Wimbledon and have a whopping 15 titles in between them.

Also Read: All men’s singles Wimbledon champions of the 21st century

From 2003 to 2023, one of the Big 3 won Wimbledon in all but two instances. In 2013 and 2016, Andy Murray won the title, who is regarded to be a member of the Big 4, along with the Big 3. It shows how dominant they were for about two decades. It is time to look at how many titles the trio won at Wimbledon and the number of times they fell just short of winning it.

Big 3's major finishes at Wimbledon

Roger Federer 

Federer won his first Wimbledon in 2003, which was the start of an insane winning streak. He won every Wimbledon from 2003 to 2007 and even entered the final in 2008. It was Rafael Nadal who ended his winning streak of 41 matches on the Grass Court Grand Slam after losing back-to-back finals in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Federer won the event in 2009, 2012, and 2017, while he came second in 2014, 2015, and 2019 to Djokovic. In total, Federer won eight titles at Wimbledon, the most for a Men's Singles player. He finished second in four instances, making him the player to appear in the most Wimbledon finals.

Rafael Nadal 

Rafael Nadal did not taste as much success as the other two of the Big 3 at Wimbledon. However, he made a name for himself on grass courts, especially at his prime in the late 2000s. The Southpaw made it to the final in 2006 and 2007, only to lose to a red-hot Federer on both instances. His time to win the Grass Court Grand Slam event came in 2008.

At his best, Nadal beat Federer, who was at his best too. In 2010, Nadal won his second Wimbledon by beating Tomas Berdych in the final. His last appearance in the final was the following year, where he lost to Djokovic. In total, Nadal won 2 Wimbledon titles and finished third in three instances. 

Also Check: Indian tennis players who have won Wimbledon titles across categories

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is the joint-second-most successful player at Wimbledon alongside Pete Sampras. The Serbian was at his prime in the 2010s, a period in which he won 5 titles and became a runner-up once. The star player won his first Wimbledon in 2011 and was a runner-up to Murray in 2013. He defeated Federer in two consecutive years in the finals in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

In 2018, the star player overcame Kevin Anderson to win his fourth Wimbledon, which started his insane unbeaten streak. He followed it up with a sensational win against Federer in the 2019 final. While 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic, Djokovic defended his title in 2021 and 2022, respectively. He lost the finals in 2023 and 2024 to Alcaraz after being the champion for 2194 days.