Former world No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis says Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the main reason why some big names don’t have a Grand Slam title in their collection.
Baghdatis, who retired after 2019 Wimbledon, certainly has a point as Federer was the guy that prevented him from becoming a Grand Slam champion.
Baghdatis, 36, reached his lone Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in 2006.
Baghdatis was enjoying a great Australian Open campaign but he had no answer for Federer in the final.
Baghdatis made a good start to the final but Federer stormed back to win in four sets 5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2.
Six months after the 2006 Australian Open final, Nadal reached the Wimbledon semifinal.
There, Baghdatis suffered a straight-set defeat versus Nadal.
Baghdatis: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were absolutely dominant
“Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic dominated the tour for more than a decade and a half, not to mention the great Andy Murray. In my day, to win a Slam, you had to beat at least one or two of these monsters. There were so many talented guys who could have won a major. We think of Jo‐Wilfried Tsonga, Gaël Monfils, Kei Nishikori, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, while Marin Cilic managed to seize his chance at the US Open 2014. The players I mentioned were not in able to win just one Grand Slam because of the Big 3. Murray himself has lost many semi‐finals and finals against them,” Baghdatis said during his appearance on the Tennis.com podcast.
Last year, Djokovic won three Grand Slams.
At the start of this season, Nadal captured a record 21st Grand Slam title.
There are only two under-30 players that have a Grand Slam title in their collection.
Those two players are 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev.
Federer is recovering from a knee surgery and many believe the battle for the all-time Grand Slam has come down to who wins more Majors between Nadal and Djokovic..