If Grand Slams were best 2 of 3 sets - Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Sampras

McEnroeisanartist

Hall of Fame
How many Grand Slams would Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have if Grand Slams were best 2 of 3 sets.

In other words, if a player loses 2 out of the first 3 sets of a Grand Slam match, they would have been eliminated. ( Yes, of course, players approach and play best of 5 set matches differently then best of 3 set matches. )

Federer would have 15 Grand Slams. He would have been eliminated by Haas in the 2009 French Open 4th Round and 2012 Wimbledon 3rd Round.

Nadal would have 12 Grand Slams. He would have been eliminated by Haase in the 2010 Wimbledon 2nd Round, 2011 French Open 1st Round.

Djokovic would have 7 Grand Slams. He would have been eliminated by Federer in the 2011 US Open semifinals, Murray in the 2012 Australian Open semifinals, 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinals, 2015 Wimbledon 4th Round.

Sampras would have 13 Grand Slams. He would have been been eliminated by Corretja in the 1996 US Open Quarterfinals
 
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Doesn't work like that.

If players knew in advance that they were playing the best of 3 instead of the best of 5, they would have had a different mentality and done their utmost to pocket the first set. Not always the case in the best of 5.

Agassi, for example, focused on running his opponent around as much as possible in the first set rather than finish off points. It's a different strategy for the best of 5 format.
 
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