As part of the promotional activity for the Ultimate Tennis Showdown 2023, four participants sat down for a podcast-style conversation. Christopher Eubanks, Jan-Lennard Struff, Diego Schwartzman, and Andrey Rublev discussed, among many things, the latter’s record against the Big 3 of tennis. He has one win each against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
More impressively, Rublev defeated Djokovic in his home ground, Belgrade, Serbia, in a final while also managing to bagel him. He also clarified he has also beaten Andy Murray in addition to the legendary trio. Not many players can claim to have achieved this feat, with barely 30 players securing wins over each of the three best players of this century.
Andrey Rublev’s contemporaries stunned by his bagel over Novak Djokovic
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown is a private tennis league with different, more fast-paced rules. Players like Taylor Fritz, Nick Kyrgios, and Casper Ruud have signed up in addition to the aforementioned four. The third and fourth instalments of the ongoing UTS season will be held in December in London and Seoul. The casual conversation between Eubanks, Struff, Schwartzman, and Rublev is a marketing activity for promoting and building interest in the UTS.
A short preview clip of the talk has been doing rounds on X (formerly Twitter). It starts with Eubanks talking about Struff facing each of the Big 3 before Schwartzman asks Rublev if he has beaten Djokovic. He replied positively and also mentioned downing Nadal and Federer. Eubanks revealed he was in commentary for Rublev’s win over ‘Nole’. The American recollected that the World No. 5 defeated the 24-time Grand Slam winner in a final in Serbia and inflicted a bagel in the deciding set.
“I commentated his win against Novak in Serbia. I asked him, I was like: you won like 6-2, 6-7, 6-0 something, at the Novak Tennis Centre. [Was it the final] Yes the final. 6-0 in the third set, so you bageled him.”
Rublev then talked about his win over Federer at the Cincinnati Masters. This greatly impressed Schwartzman, who remarked not many would have victories over each of the Big 3.
“Bravo Rublo. I don’t think many players have that stat. I want to see that, how many.”
This sort of thing is great marketing, not gonna’ lie. Just personalities personaltying. Love it. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KScbfa3pX3
— Scott Barclay (@BarclayCard18) October 23, 2023
Rublev beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2022 Serbia Open in Belgrade. In addition to it being the World No.1’s home city, the tournament, too, is run and managed by his family. This was the only meeting between the duo on clay. The Serb otherwise leads the head-to-head 4-1. Rublev downed Federer in their Round of 16 match at the 2019 Cincinnati Masters in their only clash. He defeated Nadal on clay at the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters while winning against Murray at the 2021 Rotterdam Open.
A rare feat indeed
Collecting a win over each of the Big 3 was a rare achievement when the legendary triumvirate was at its peak. As Federer slowed down to eventually retire and Nadal’s injury struggles increased, more names were added to the list as years went by. A few like Murray, Robin Soderling, Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych, Nikolay Davydenko, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga claimed victories over the trio when they were still playing at elite levels.
Later on, the likes of Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Dominic Thiem also joined the honour roll. These are just a select few from around 30 players to have achieved wins over each of the Big 3.
David Nalbandian remains the only player to beat all three legends in a single tournament. He beat Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final, respectively, to lift the 2007 Madrid Masters. Nick Kyrgios holds the record of being the only one to beat all three in his first fixture with each of them, a testament to his great talent. The fact that only a handful of players have defeated all of the Big 3 despite them being around for over two decades shows the immense domination of the iconic trio.
