2017 has been a surprising year in
tennis to say the least. After a grand slam drought in the preceding two years
of 2015 and 2016, the old lions, the two GOATs came back roaring to split the 4
grand slams of 2017 between them. Enough
has been written about how Rafa and Roger have dominated the tennis landscape
in the last decade and how they are probably the greatest players that have
ever played the game. But what has probably escaped attention has been that,
this era of tennis has seen the fewest number of grand slams champions. What
this means is that from 2005 to 2017 (13 years) the 52 grand slams have been won
by just 8 players (Roger, Rafa, Novak, Stan, Andy, Cilic, Del Potro &
Safin).
I challenge you to find a 13 year
period in the last century where the number of grand slam winners are that few.
What this means is that the big 4 or 5
have played a level of tennis that has been difficult to match up for the rest.
But the genesis to this are the original maestros Roger and Rafa whose dizzying
craftsmanship gave birth to the Novaks, Stans and Murrays who probably would not
have hit those levels had it not been for the blazing standards set by the two.
What does that mean for a tennis
fan. For someone like me who started watching tennis from the days of Becker,
Edberg and then marveled at the Agassi – Sampras era, what always stood out was
the depth in Men’s tennis and how the Top 10 in the world on their day could
beat each other. A world #50 could easily upset the world #1 and this happened with
regularity in the pre-2005 era. However with Roger and Rafa pulling away from the
pack with the sheer talent and dominance, the gap within the top 10 became very
pronounced. Then Novak stepped up, raised his training and focus to inhuman
levels and consistently broke the Rafa/Roger duopoly. The gritty Murray, the graceful Wawrinka and the
mercurial Del Potro also stamped their legacy during this era by becoming grand
slam champions. But none of them could match the longevity or the sheer
consistency of the top dogs Roger and Rafa. Consider this, Rafa has won at least
one grand slam in each of 10 consecutive
years which is a record , Roger has reached 23 consecutive Grand slam semi-finals
and 36 consecutive Grand slam quater-finals – that’s 9 years of consistency which
I don’t think will be replicated, ever.
Also consider this, It was 1905 when
all 4 Grand slams became operational in one calendar year. After Rod Laver won
the career grand slam in 1968 it took 31 years for Agassi match it. In the next
17 years, 3 players have done the career slam – Roger, then Rafa and Novak, all
of them within this 13 year golden era.
2018 may turn out to be the year
when the guard changes with Zverev, Thiem etc taking over , or it may signal
the return of Novak, Stan and o fcourse a final swan song in the Roger – Rafa rivalry.
Nevertheless, 2018 may be an added year to this golden era or we are at the cusp
of the beginning of another.
