Which are the lowest moment/point in careers of Big 3.

[Nadal_King]

We always discuss glory for Big 3 but which was perhaps the lowest moment or a match where it felt Big 3 were at the lowest and it has to be after they were at the Stature they have achieved.
For Rafa it has to be in 2015-16 but moment was I guess Us open 2015 exit which was like a really bad way to exit and end to a miserable gs year for Rafa breaking rafa record of back to back 10 years winning a slam. Ao 2016 also comes to mind but before that match rafa had made a decent improvement although that match was a blip but feel he was better tha ln at Us open 2015.
For Novak it has to be 2018 sunshine swing looked completely clueless, down and out but way he turned it around post that is LEGENDARY!!
For Roger it's tough to pick although many would say currently but at 40 you expect such things, 2013 maybe was a blip but I feel federer hasn't really touched that low as Novak/Rafa above which is commendable and also attributes to the longevity and Talent of Roger,he has slamlesss spell from 2012-2016 but he wasn't far off from winning jyst some bad luck and an amazing novak.
Your views and how would you say each of big 3's lowest point

 

[Tennis_Freak99]

 

[InsideOut900]

For Nadal, probably early 2016. He was getting a bit of form back in late 15 and Doha 16, then his results plummeted with losses in R1 at AO and other losses in Buenos Aires/Rio. Loss to Fognini in USO was also a heartbreaking one after a long string of insuccesses in 2015.

Djokovic, early 2018 after AO. 2 terrible losses in IW/Miami and a bad clay season till Rome.

Fed, probably Wimb/USO 13.
2016 after AO was also pretty bad. 2021 is kinda irrelevant.

 

[Blahovic]

Djokovic's lowest moment was early 2010 hardcourt swing. Lost to Olivier Rochus at his physical peak on his favourite surface.

 

[ForehandRF]

Look how sad he was here.It was indeed one of the lowest points of his career, when it comes to confidence especially.

 

[vex]

Djokovic:
- Tough call between when he wasted nearly 2 years of his prime refusing surgery or when his career long failure to control his temper culminated in him he blowing a Fedal-less HC slam cakewalk by nuking a ball into a woman’s neck. Both were pretty appalling. If he wasn’t such a headcase when the balls not live he’d probably have 23 or more slams already.

Fed
- 40-15. Nuff said.

Rafa
- 2015 was hard to watch. He looked done. Credit to him for the big bounce back

 

[D.Nalby12]

Federer 2021 W loss with bagel followed by another knee surgery. I don't think it could get any worse. His career is almost over now.

Djokovic - 2017. He looked so done and dusted.

Nadal - 2015/2016. I was convinced his slam winning days are over.

 

[Rosstour]

Fed falling during the Raonic loss in Wimbledon 2016 was pretty bad. He looked done then.

 

[Nadal_King]

Djokovic:
- Tough call between when he wasted nearly 2 years of his prime refusing surgery or when his career long failure to control his temper culminated in him he blowing a Fedal-less HC slam cakewalk by nuking a ball into a woman’s neck. Both were pretty appalling. If he wasn’t such a headcase when the balls not live he’d probably have 23 or more slams already.

Fed
- 40-15. Nuff said.

Rafa
- 2015 was hard to watch. He looked done. Credit to him for the big bounce back

40-15 is in no way a low point, how can guy having championship points be having lowest phase of his career

 

[nolefam_2024]

Djokovic was definitely USO2020

 

[Tennisfan339]

Federer, maybe Robredo in USO 2013? Probably one of his worst slam matches ever. Lost in 3 sets against a semi-retired clay specialist. In the same vein there was also Seppi in Australia.

Djokovic, his early 2018 season between IW and Madrid. He lost to Daniel, Paire, Klizan and Edmund. That was a lot worse than in 2017.

For Nadal, the most dramatic part was the end of 2016 after his RG withdrawal. The matches against Coric in Cincinnati and Troicki in Shanghaï were the worstest.

 

[vex]

40-15 is in no way a low point, how can guy having championship points be having lowest phase of his career

He blew a direct chance to swing the slam race against Djokovic by TWO. One of, if not THE biggest moment in the slam race.

 

[Rosstour]

He blew a direct chance to swing the slam race against Djokovic by TWO. One of, if not THE biggest moment in the slam race.

Yeah it sucked but he showed he could go toe to toe with the best player in the world, maybe ever.

I think getting bageled in a Wimbledon QF by Hubie Hurtcats is much 'lower' than holding two championship points on Djokovic in a Wimbledon Final, regardless of how crushing that loss was.

 

[socallefty]

I was there for Djokovic’s lowest moment. He came back from elbow surgery and lost to Taro Daniel in the 1st round of IW2018. Since he played so poorly even after getting his long-delayed surgery, he was devastated and it looked like his career was close to the end. It turns out that he just came back on tour from the surgery too soon and he would be back to great form in 3 months at Wimbledon. Eight Slam wins later, he is still going strong.

 

[BauerAlmeida]

Federer: Now, obviously. 2 surgeries, bageled at Wimbledon, uncertain future.
Nadal: Late 2016. 2 and a half years with no slams and losing early to lesser players. Couldn't even win RG two years in a row, straight-setted 7 times in a row by Novak.
Djokovic: Mid 2018. Came back from surgery and played a considerable amount of tournaments and no answers. Wimbledon changed everything. Could be mid-2010 too though, after a disappointing post-RG 2008, mediocre 2009, and pretty bad 2010 pre-USO. Especially that Melzer defeat.

 

[nolefam_2024]

Till 2010 Djokovic's failures shouldn't be taken into account. We now know he is a big drama queen. Just because he didn't reach number 1 before 2011, he was definitely not going to quit tennis whatever he says now. He was earning millions per year and was top 4 in the world. That's not bad at all. Can't be low point.

 

[Autodidactic player]

40-15 is in no way a low point, how can guy having championship points be having lowest phase of his career

He blew a direct chance to swing the slam race against Djokovic by TWO. One of, if not THE biggest moment in the slam race.

The question asked about a "moment/point" in the big 3's career. Federer, like the others, has had longer term "slumps" but as for "moment/point" it's hard to beat blowing a 40-15 lead, serving, to claim one of the four most significant trophies in the sport and "swing the slam race against Djokovic by TWO".

 

[TennisLurker]

For Federer it's losing to Robredo at the US Open. Their head to head ended up like 11-1 with that being his only loss to Robredo.

For Novak it's when he was following that Spanish guru that had him looking like a Karen Carpenter Skeleton, with his results plumetting. I thought he was done.

 

[Milehigh5280]

Look how sad he was here.It was indeed one of the lowest points of his career, when it comes to confidence especially.

I'm surprised no one else had mentioned this yet. Maybe it's not mentioned as much because it's been over a decade and he went on to perhaps have the most important slam victory of his career.

 

[MichaelNadal]

I'm surprised no one else had mentioned this yet. Maybe it's not mentioned as much because it's been over a decade and he went on to perhaps have the most important slam victory of his career.

He was getting seriously down on himself early lol, wow

 

[Kralingen]

Look, every player struggles with form, every player loses big matches, every player has been injured and low on confidence before. Not unique to anyone.

This is the lowest on court moment of any of the Big 3. DQ’d from a Slam… it cannot get lower than that.

 

[Kralingen]

But you know the crazy part about this thread?

The consensus lowest on court moments from the Big 3 (Roger Miami ‘09 interview from @ForehandRF , Djokovic vs Paire/Taro Daniel in spring 2018, Rafa mid to late 2016) all have something very important in common.They ALL directly preceded multi slam seasons and YE #1s.

How absolutely mind boggling is that?

Roger won the Channel Slam in ‘09, Nadal produced a GOAT level RG ‘17 and won USO, and Djokovic won 3 straight Slams from Wimby ‘18 on. All regained #1, each less than one calendar year from their lowest moments.

The ability to look at yourself at your absolute nadir and turn it around is the mark of true, undeniable greatness. And the Big 3 have each done it.. insane.

 

[MichaelNadal]

But you know the crazy part about this thread?

The consensus lowest on court moments from the Big 3 (Roger Miami ‘09 interview from @ForehandRF , Djokovic vs Paire/Taro Daniel in spring 2018, Rafa mid to late 2016) all have something very important in common.They ALL directly preceded multi slam seasons and YE #1s.

How absolutely mind boggling is that?

Roger won the Channel Slam in ‘09, Nadal produced a GOAT level RG ‘17 and won USO, and Djokovic won 3 straight Slams from Wimby ‘18 on. All regained #1, each less than one calendar year from their lowest moments.

The ability to look at yourself at your absolute nadir and turn it around is the mark of true, undeniable greatness. And the Big 3 have each done it.. insane.

And we still crap on these guys on a daily basis lol, messy.

 

[Booger]

Which was Novak's worst loss?

Maybe Querrey at Wimbledon '16 or Istomin at the AO in '17? There were a lot of TT'ers calling him finish for a minute or two.

 

[ForehandRF]

I'm surprised no one else had mentioned this yet. Maybe it's not mentioned as much because it's been over a decade and he went on to perhaps have the most important slam victory of his career.

Yeah, it's an overlooked moment of his career but he looked like I have never seen him in a press conference.It's clear that he was devastated by how things were going for him at that point.

 

[Nadal_King]

Till 2010 Djokovic's failures shouldn't be taken into account. We now know he is a big drama queen. Just because he didn't reach number 1 before 2011, he was definitely not going to quit tennis whatever he says now. He was earning millions per year and was top 4 in the world. That's not bad at all. Can't be low point.

Exactly also low point is when you fall of acliff whuch isn't the case for pre 2011 Djokovic who was already a much less player in stature then at 2016 after which he fell to a low in 2017-18 which I think us even bigger than 2009-10 even if we don't see the grand slams he had won before those phases

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

As far as matches themselves are concerned: The occasions which correspond to the venue with the lowest elevation above sea level at which each player respectively fell to the floor. These may have therefore comprised triumphant occasions.

 

[Deleted member 771911]

Federer- AO final 09
Nadal- USO 2011
Djokovic- USO 2020/2021/OG 16 and 20/RG 2020

 

[goldengate14]

Federer W2019
Nadal A02011 (never really recovered his prime insane movement after that knee injury which almost ended his career after FO2012)
Djokovic summers of 2020 and 2021. DQd and then dismantled at UO and FO 2020 and in 2021 choking away the chance of a Golden Calendar Slam that was eminently achievable.

 

[goldengate14]

Federer- AO final 09
Nadal- USO 2011
Djokovic- USO 2020/2021/OG 16 and 20/RG 2020

Of the three Djokovic definitely has had the most lowest points. It may explain his increasingly frustrated on court behaviour.

 

[BauerAlmeida]

Till 2010 Djokovic's failures shouldn't be taken into account. We now know he is a big drama queen. Just because he didn't reach number 1 before 2011, he was definitely not going to quit tennis whatever he says now. He was earning millions per year and was top 4 in the world. That's not bad at all. Can't be low point.

Nadal was earning millions in 2016 too. And Djokovic in 2017. That doesn't mean they weren't low points.

 

[nolefam_2024]

Nadal was earning millions in 2016 too. And Djokovic in 2017. That doesn't mean they weren't low points.

Nadal had very high standard already. He was number 1 in 2013 end to 2014 mid before injury. He was contender at 3/4 slams. Don't forget he was part of 4/5 finals. RG2013, USO13, AO14, RG14. If not for injury, I think many give him more than 50% chance to even win AO making it 4/5 slams won. That was near his peak. Then he didn't make a semifinal for probably 2 years. That's not good enough for him.

Djokovic was world no. 3 in 2008, he made semis of USO and was no. 3 at the end of 2009. Again he made semis and finals of Wimbledon and USO in 2010 and was no. 3 at the end of 2010.

 

[King No1e]

Fed: USO13 vs Robredo
Nadal: Either Summer/USO15 or late season 2016 (loses to Pouille at USO, Troicki in Shanghai, gets crushed by Dimitrov in Beijing, and he's been slamless 1 more year since 2015)
Djokovic: Spring 2018 vs Paire/Daniel. I remember he didn't even seem too disturbed, which made it look like he was 100% on his way to retirement.

 

[kevin qmto]

I think people are having totally different ideas about what makes the "lowest point" of the Big 3's career. Some are just putting in a tough loss during an otherwise great season.

Others are going by patches of below peak play that could extend from several matches to an entire season. I think the latter is much more indicative of lowest point than a 40-15 or a lineswoman incident...

 

[King No1e]

I think people are having totally different ideas about what makes the "lowest point" of the Big 3's career. Some are just putting in a tough loss during an otherwise great season.

Others are going by patches of below peak play that could extend from several matches to an entire season. I think the latter is much more indicative of lowest point than a 40-15 or a lineswoman incident...

LOL at anyone thinking 40-15 was Federer's lowest moment. It wasn't the lowest point in his career, that was probably 2013 or 16. And it wasn't the toughest loss for him to take, he's endured plenty worse.

The only way it was his lowest point was by how much trolling he got from fans.

 

[ffw2]

LOL at anyone thinking 40-15 was Federer's lowest moment. It wasn't the lowest point in his career, that was probably 2013 or 16. And it wasn't the toughest loss for him to take, he's endured plenty worse.

The only way it was his lowest point was by how much trolling he got from fans.

lol, that's right.

Considerably tougher on Djokovic that a 38-year-old pushed him that hard.

But that moment certainly affected you in a special way...

Makes you spout poetry.

 

[King No1e]

lol, that's right.

Considerably tougher on Djokovic that a 38-year-old pushed him that hard.

But that moment certainly affected you in a special way...

Makes you spout poetry.

It's not even my poem lol. Just a great copypasta which triggers the Fed gang to no end.

 

[ffw2]

It's not even my poem lol.

All the sadder, lol

 

[King No1e]

All the sadder, lol

Just an observation, maybe the person pretending to be Noam Chomsky, attempting to write flowery sentences about Federer every few hours, and picking unnecessarily personal fights with other posters shouldn't be calling anyone else's posting habits "sad".

 

[Jason Swerve]

When Federer won his Hopman Cup title, and then Milan indoors in the same few weeks, thanks to Hingis' precocious advice and training, he forgot everything she drilled into him during the off season. He promptly lost tournament after tournament, for months. That was his lowest point, after learning so much. Hard-headed kid should've listened to his coaches, and Djokovic/Nadal'd be scrambling to catch up to him right about now.

This would be second. Damned crybaby got laughed at by the whole audience. "We'll let him settle down." Pathetic scene.

 

[ffw2]

Just an observation, maybe the person pretending to be Noam Chomsky, attempting to write flowery sentences about Federer every few hours, and picking unnecessarily personal fights with other posters shouldn't be calling anyone else's posting habits "sad".

lol, sounds good.

For you, this site is about a private ****-talking gossip chat, obsessing over Djokovic, and trolling.

Good times.

 

[Cashman]

Look how sad he was here.It was indeed one of the lowest points of his career, when it comes to confidence especially.

I'm surprised no one else had mentioned this yet. Maybe it's not mentioned as much because it's been over a decade and he went on to perhaps have the most important slam victory of his career.

He was getting seriously down on himself early lol, wow

Yeah, it's an overlooked moment of his career but he looked like I have never seen him in a press conference.It's clear that he was devastated by how things were going for him at that point.

Yeah, this was it. 2008 was a pretty awful year for Federer. Mono, back injury, losing to James Blake at the Olympics, going 0-4 against Nadal, getting dumped out of the ATP finals in RR, losing #1. Other than the USO he didn't win a single title above 250 level, and the USO draw was pretty cruisy (beating baby Djok and Muzz was not a big deal at that point). Then coming into 2009, it seemed like nothing changed. Another loss to Nadal at the AO, and a terrible spring hardcourts - Murray and Djokovic started to beat him almost at will.

He's had longer periods of worse performances since, but aged 27 and coming off a dominant 2007 that ~16 month period must have been a massive reality check. There would have been a few long, dark nights of the soul - wondering if that was it, the start of injuries and decline and retirement.

Then he bounced back to beat Nadal at Madrid and win the Channel Slam, and everyone quickly forgot about it.

 

[King No1e]

When Federer won his Hopman Cup title, and then Milan indoors in the same few weeks, thanks to Hingis' precocious advice and training, he forgot everything she drilled into him during the off season. He promptly lost tournament after tournament, for months. That was his lowest point, after learning so much. Hard-headed kid should've listened to his coaches, and Djokovic/Nadal'd be scrambling to catch up to him right about now.

This would be second. Damned crybaby got laughed at by the whole audience. "We'll let him settle down." Pathetic scene.

That AO09 moment makes me cringe every time I see it. Until then we'd only seen Fed get emotional in public after big victories, not losses.
Pretty shocking to see the stone-cold exterior crack like that.

 

[ForehandRF]

Yeah, this was it. 2008 was a pretty awful year for Federer. Mono, back injury, losing to James Blake at the Olympics, going 0-4 against Nadal, getting dumped out of the ATP finals in RR, losing #1. Other than the USO he didn't win a single title above 250 level, and the USO draw was pretty cruisy (beating baby Djok and Muzz was not a big deal at that point). Then coming into 2009, it seemed like nothing changed. Another loss to Nadal at the AO, and a terrible spring hardcourts - Murray and Djokovic started to beat him almost at will.

He's had longer periods of worse performances since, but aged 27 and coming off a dominant 2007 that ~16 month period must have been a massive reality check. There would have been a few long, dark nights of the soul - wondering if that was it, the start of injuries and decline and retirement.

Then he bounced back to beat Nadal at Madrid and win the Channel Slam, and everyone quickly forgot about it.

Good post.To think that from that low point he went overconfident at the USO, where he must have thought that he is invincible or something and he payed the price

 

[Wurm]

 

[MichaelNadal]

That AO09 moment makes me cringe every time I see it. Until then we'd only seen Fed get emotional in public after big victories, not losses.
Pretty shocking to see the stone-cold exterior crack like that.

Well he took a LOT of pride in being the top guy, and the face of tennis. Nadal had ripped it away reaaaaally fast, and on 3 surfaces in a row. Plus going in, Nadal was wrecked after the semi, and it was his first HC slam final, im sure Fed thought it was his chance for redemption so I get it. Also, for all he knew, he'd never beat Rafa at a slam again, he was pretty shaken after that one. It was unheard of for him to lose to someone at 3 slams in a row.

 

[ForehandRF]

Well he took a LOT of pride in being the top guy, and the face of tennis. Nadal had ripped it away reaaaaally fast, and on 3 surfaces in a row. Plus going in, Nadal was wrecked after the semi, and it was his first HC slam final, im sure Fed thought it was his chance for redemption so I get it. Also, for all he knew, he'd never beat Rafa at a slam again, he was pretty shaken after that one. It was unheard of for him to lose to someone at 3 slams in a row.

Not to mention that there was a lot of pressure on him to beat Pete's slam record.

 

[mike danny]

Well he took a LOT of pride in being the top guy, and the face of tennis. Nadal had ripped it away reaaaaally fast, and on 3 surfaces in a row. Plus going in, Nadal was wrecked after the semi, and it was his first HC slam final, im sure Fed thought it was his chance for redemption so I get it. Also, for all he knew, he'd never beat Rafa at a slam again, he was pretty shaken after that one. It was unheard of for him to lose to someone at 3 slams in a row.

At this point, what Fed went through happened to Nadal and Djokovic too. Fed's losses are just over-analyzed repeatedly because it happened to him first.

 

[mike danny]

Not to mention that there was a lot of pressure on him to beat Pete's slam record.

I think it came as a shock to him that he was no longer the top guy anymore and there was this one guy he couldn't beat. At that point he probably did some internal searching: he either found a way to beat Nadal or never break Pete's record.

It's a shame Nadal had his issues later in 2009, because I would have loved to see how Federer would have responded to Nadal in the final stretch of his prime.

 

[Graf1stClass]

When Federer won his Hopman Cup title, and then Milan indoors in the same few weeks, thanks to Hingis' precocious advice and training, he forgot everything she drilled into him during the off season. He promptly lost tournament after tournament, for months. That was his lowest point, after learning so much. Hard-headed kid should've listened to his coaches, and Djokovic/Nadal'd be scrambling to catch up to him right about now.

This would be second. Damned crybaby got laughed at by the whole audience. "We'll let him settle down." Pathetic scene.

Kournikova also cried