Novak Djokovic’s Paris decision ends Big Three’s 21-year ATP Masters feat

Shahida Jacobs
Pictured: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer with their ATP Masters titles

Novak Djokovic’s decision to pull out of the 2024 Paris Masters means it is the end of yet another Big Three era as it will be the first time in more than two decades that none of them have won an ATP Masters 1000 title during a season.

Djokovic is set to miss the final Masters 1000 event of the year at Paris-Bercy and, as a result, for the first time since 2017 the Serbian will end a season without a Masters title.

This is only the third time since the tennis great won his first ATP 1000 trophy in 2007 that he has finished a campaign without a trophy at one of the nine Masters events.

The first was in 2010 when he failed to reach any of the finals while the second was seven years later when he missed the bulk of the season due to injury.

But his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal flew the Big Three flag at the Masters events during those seasons.

However, the trio’s record of 21 consecutive years with an ATP 1000 trophy will come to an end as Nadal also failed to win a Masters title this year.

Their incredible run started in 2004 when Federer won three Masters tournaments and since then one of the Big Three has managed to win a title every single year, until now.

The ATP Masters 1000 winners so far in 2024 are Carlos Alcaraz (Indian Wells), Jannik Sinner (Miami, Cincinnati, Shanghai), Stefanos Tsitsipas (Monte Carlo), Andrey Rublev (Madrid), Alexander Zverev (Rome) and Alexei Popyrin (Montreal) with Paris still to be played.

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Djokovic’s best performance at those events came in Shanghai when he finished runner-up to Sinner while Nadal only played in Madrid and Rome, losing early at both tournaments.

Djokovic won two ATP 1000 tournaments last year with his last at the Paris Masters in November, Nadal’s last Masters title was the 2021 Italian Open and Federer’s final ATP 1000 trophy came at the 2019 Miami Open.

The trio have won an incredible 104 ATP Masters 1000 titles between them with Djokovic the record holder on 40 trophies, followed by Nadal on 36 and Federer on 28. No other man has won more than 20 with Andre Agassi on 17.

2004
Federer – Indian Wells, Hamburg, Toronto

2005
Federer – Indian Wells, Miami, Hamburg, Cincinnati,
Nadal – Monte Carlo, Rome, Montreal, Madrid

2006
Federer – Indian Wells, Miami, Toronto, Madrid
Nadal – Monte Carlo, Rome

2007
Nadal – Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Rome
Djokovic – Miami, Montreal
Federer – Hamburg, Cincinnati

2008
Djokovic – Indian Wells, Rome
Nadal – Monte Carlo, Hamburg, Toronto

2009
Nadal – Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Rome
Federer – Madrid, Cincinnati
Djokovic – Paris

2010
Nadal – Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome
Federer – Cincinnati

2011
Djokovic – Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, Montreal
Nadal – Monte Carlo
Federer – Paris

2012
Federer – Indian Wells, Madrid, Cincinnati
Djokovic – Miami, Toronto, Shanghai,
Nadal – Monte Carlo, Rome

2013
Nadal – Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, Montreal, Cincinnati
Djokovic – Monte Carlo, Shanghai, Paris

2014
Djokovic – Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Paris
Nadal – Madrid
Federer – Cincinnati, Shanghai

2015
Djokovic – Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome, Shanghai, Paris
Federer – Cincinnati

2016
Djokovic – Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Toronto
Nadal – Monte Carlo

2017
Federer – Indian Wells, Miami, Shanghai
Nadal – Monte Carlo, Madrid

2018
Nadal – Monte Carlo, Rome, Toronto
Djokovic – Cincinnati, Shanghai

2019
Federer – Miami
Djokovic – Madrid, Paris
Nadal – Montreal, Cincinnati

2020
Djokovic – Cincinnati, Rome

2021
Nadal – Rome
Djokovic – Paris

2022
Djokovic – Rome

2023
Djokovic – Cincinnati and Paris