If you were to remove a player’s biggest rival(s), what would their career totals look like? For simplicity’s sake, I will be completely optimistic and assume that they would have won without the presence of their rival (Not counting Sampras’ loss to Agassi in the 1992 FO, because it’s extremely unlikely Sampras wins that without Agassi. Yes, this is entirely subjective, but this post is more for fun/illustrative purposes).
Here’s a selective list:
Federer (without Nadal)
23 Grand slams total (out of 27 events)
7 at Wimbledon, (consecutive)
6 at FO, (5 consecutive)
5 at USO, consecutive
5 at AO
11 straight grand slam titles (FO 2005 to AO 2008).
6 straight grand slam titles (FO 2008 to USO 2009)
Nadal (without Federer)
12 Grand Slams
6 at FO
4 at Wimbledon
1 at AO
1 at USO
Federer (without Nadal AND Djokovic)
26 Grand slams total (out of 30 events)
7 at AO (5 consecutive)
7 at Wimbledon (consecutive)
6 at FO (5 consecutive)
6 at USO (consecutive)
18 straight grand slam titles (FO 2005 to USO 2009)