There are very few absolutes in modern men’s tennis given the niche carved by the Big Three – as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are called – over the last decade and a half.
Tennis fans may be drawn into a debate to decide who is the greatest of them all but it has been a generally polarising and largely futile argument at a time all three are competing. Most of these are based on Grand Slam statistics, which colours the discussion by surface, era and time passed.
But if there is one benchmark to gauge the consistency and versatility in men’s tennis, it is the Masters 1000 events.
The ATP’s highest rung of events – behind only Grand Slams and the season-ending ATP Finals in terms of points – are nine top-level tournaments spread over the year and countries, played on indoor and outdoor hard courts and clay (no grass). While Grand Slams have…