{"id":321,"date":"2016-09-15T10:56:52","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T14:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=321"},"modified":"2016-09-15T11:10:20","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T15:10:20","slug":"big-four-lives-despite-wawrinkas-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2016\/09\/15\/big-four-lives-despite-wawrinkas-triumph\/","title":{"rendered":"“Big Four” Lives on Despite Stan Wawrinka\u2019s US Open Triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stan Wawrinka<\/strong> did what very few have been able to do in 2016.\u00a0Defeat Novak Djokovic<\/strong>. Granted the Serb has been off colour since Wimbledon<\/strong>, having struggled with personal issues and an ongoing wrist problem<\/a>. A Djokovic defeat is rare, but a Grand Slam in which one of the \u201cBig Four\u201d doesn\u2019t emerge victorious is an even bigger rarity. The result in New York<\/strong> also reignited the debate about whether the Big Four in its current incarnation is over.<\/p>\n

First thing\u2019s first, there is\u00a0absolutely no doubt that the Big Four in men\u2019s tennis are no longer at the peak of their powers. Roger Federer<\/strong>, Rafael Nadal<\/strong>, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray<\/strong> as a collective may no longer dominate the sport like they once did, but their standing as the four biggest players in tennis lives on.<\/p>\n

The status of the Big Four depends on how you define them. If it\u2019s purely on the number of matches won and rankings then some of the quartet may face competition for their places. Nadal is currently ranked fifth and Federer will drop out of the top #16 when he returns in 2017.<\/p>\n

That said it\u2019s worth highlighting that despite Wawrinka\u2019s victory in New York, the Big Four have won 42 out of the last 47 Grand Slam titles. Moreover, they\u2019ve also emerged victorious in all but four of the last 43 ATP Masters 1000 events<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also not forget that Nadal and Federer have been written off before. Nobody expected Federer to play the way he did and reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon this year. Similarly, when Nadal returned from injury in 2009 and 2013 he was met with scepticism. Yet the Spaniard proved his doubters wrong on both occasions, winning major titles after both returns.<\/p>\n

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