Rafael Nadal is the odd one out of the “Big Four”
The “Big Four,” as they were referred to, were of course Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Of the four, Rafael Nadal is the odd one out. This explains why.
With Andy Murray dropping down the rankings due to his hip injury, the big four became the big three. For the purpose of this article, the Brit is still included.
Roger Federer
The oldest of the Big Four, the Swiss maestro is arguably the greatest of all time. Federer and Rafael Nadal both hold 20 Grand Slam titles, most of the Spaniard’s coming on Clay. Nadal has an Olympic singles Gold Medal but Federer doesn’t. The Swiss was the first of the four to achieve the career Grand Slam, when Federer final won the French Open in 2009.
Married Life
Federer married Miroslava Vavrinec (Mirka) in April 2009. Mirka was a professional player, but retired in 2002 due to a recurrent foot injury. Later in 2009 their twin girls were born into probably the most famous Swiss family after the Robinsons.
Five years, two Grand slam titles (but four finals) and three end of year finals (two titles) later, Federer welcomed twin boys into the family. This is quiet a feat in itself, as the odds of having identical twins is 1 in 250. Federer had two sets of identical twins, which would raise those odds substantially.
Novak Djokovic
The Serbian is the youngest of the big four (by a week). Djokovic achieved his career Grand Slam in 2016. Like Federer, the Serbian had struggled to claim the French Open title. Djokovic achieved this on the fourth attempt when he defeated Briton Andy Murray in four sets. The Serbian is two Grand Slam titles behind Federer, with 18.
Djokovic, like the Swiss, does not yet have an Olympic Gold medal. He will be determined to rectify that this year in Toyko, as the best finish previously has been a Bronze in 2008. The Serbian married Jelena Ristić in July 2014 and their son was born that October.
Three years, five Grand Slams (but seven finals), three end of year finals (two titles) later Djokovic welcomed his daughter who was born in September 2017. Both Federer and Djokovic effectively have three mixed doubles teams between them.
Andy Murray
As previously stated, Murray has dropped down the rankings due to having to undergo hip resurfacing, before which he announced his retirement. The Brit is trying to come back to the top. However, he is more than happy to be enjoying his tennis and life without pain at the moment.
Murray has three Grand Slam titles, which is the lowest of the four. However, for Brits, he won the title that mattered, at Wimbledon in 2013–ending a 77-year wait for a male champion. He repeated the feat again in 2016. Murray has two Olympic singles Gold Medals and a Silver mixed doubles medal.
The Brit has never won the Australian Open, having been runner up each of the five times he has made the final. Murray lost to Federer once, and the other four times to Djokovic. The Brit has made the final at all four Grand Slams, when he made the final of the French in 2016. Unfortunately, it was the Serbian who stood in the way as both were out to make history.
Married Life
Murray married Kim Sears in April 2015 in Dunblane Catherdral. The couple welcomed their first daughter into the world in 2016. Two years later the couple welcomed their second child, another girl to the family. The Brit was absent from the tour due to his previously mentioned injury, and in 2019 Murray welcomed his third child, a boy, to the growing throng.
Around the time of the birth of his son, the Brit won his first tournament back on the tour. Speaking after the victory against Stan Warwinka, Murray joked, “I’ll have three kids under four years old. When I’ve been off the tour my family has got bigger so I need to get back on the road so we don’t get out of control!” The worldwide pandemic put paid to most of the 2020 season, and the Brit was busy planning his comeback, or so we thought. In March 2021 the Brit announced the birth of his fourth child, at the time of writing the gender and name of the child are still unknown. This puts Murray on the same footing as Federer in the children department.
Rafael Nadal the odd one out
Nadal achieved the career Grand slam in 2010 when he won the first of four US Open titles. The Spaniard holds 20 Grand slam titles, 13 of which are at the French Open. Due to his record at the French Nadal is rightly named the “King of Clay”. The Spaniard has never lost a French Open final.
Nadal was the first of the big four to win an Olympic singles Gold medal; he achieved this in 2008 at the Beijing Olympic games. The Spaniard withdrew from the 2012 London games, and was defeated in the semifinals of the singles in 2016 Rio games. However, Nadal did claim the gold in the mens doubles in Rio with Marc Lopez.
The Spaniard was the last of the four to get married. After a 14-year relationship with María Francisca (Mery) Perelló Pascua, the pair finally announced the engagement in January 2019. The couple married in Majorca in October 2019.
At the time of writing, the Spaniard does not have any children. Although it is something that he has not totally ruled out. Nadal has previously opened up about wanting children, and told ATP Tour, “If I didn’t see myself playing tennis… then possibly, I could have had children before… It’s not something that just depends on you. I love children and I would like to form part of a family.”
Little Nadals on the tennis court would be interesting; the future of the circuit could involve the children of the big four. Providing, of course, said children are even interested in playing the sport. The current lack of any children is why Rafael Nadal is the odd one out on this matter.
Main Photo from Getty.
