Is the Big 4 the Best Quartet in Tennis History?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 15, 2013

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Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray have accounted for 35 Grand Slam singles titles, including the last 13 in a row.

If anyone other than those four wins the French Open, it will be a major surprise.

The so-called Big Four have so dominated men's tennis in recent years, it's reasonable to wonder whether there has ever been a group of four that's been as good.

While comparing individual players from different eras is challenging indeed, the difficulty increases significantly when comparing groups of players. There are few common issues to provide a basis for comparison among the groups, plus career paths of the players within each group seldom align perfectly. 

Acknowledging the difficulties, we forged ahead and subjectively selected four quartets that merit mention.

The foursome of Bill Tilden, Henri Cochet, Rene LaCoste and Jean Borotra controlled the game starting in the 1920s.



Beginning in the late 1950s, Pancho Gonzales, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver were the preeminent figures.

Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl dominated the tennis scene beginning in the 1970s. (Connors and McEnroe are pictured at right, well after their playing days.)

The Big Four of Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray own men's tennis now.

We will compare them in four categories: Grand Slam success, Tennis Channel's all-time rankings compiled by a panel of experts, year-end rankings since 1973 and other considerations.

 

Grand Slam Success

Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray have combined to win 35 Grand Slam singles titles, one more than Borg, Connors, Lendl and McEnroe. 

Tilden, LaCoste, Cochet and Borotra took home 28 major titles, and Laver, Gonzales, Rosewall and Hoad won 25.

There are several qualifiers to those totals.

O...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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