Roger Federer: Why Nadal and Djokovic Can Break His Grand Slam Record

Roger Federer may have won 16 Grand Slam titles, and have a whole lot more to boot, but soon all his records will be re-written. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the two men who can, and will pass Federer to win more Grand Slam titles.

Now, almost two years since his last Grand Slam victory, Federer will struggle to add to his 16.  Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are already well on the way towards the record, and there's nobody that can stop them.

Not even Federer.

It would be easy to regurgitate endless statistics to show how, at the minute, Novak Djokovic is the best player around, and behind him is Rafael Nadal. But we already know that.

Just like this season, in 2012 winning a Grand Slam will be nearly impossible for anyone else. Why? Because they'll have to beat both Nadal and Djokovic.

The pair are, without doubt, the two best players on the circuit right now, and as Federer proved in Paris, beating them both isn't going to happen. There are four slams next year, they will be won by Nadal and Djokovic.

It's not just Federer who will be left behind though. The likes of Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfied Tsonga won't be able to reign in the pair. Every now and then they will beat Nadal or Djokovic, but beating them both in the same tournament is not going to happen.

The reason? Their age.

Instead of going into the technical discussion about who is best out of Nadal and Djokovic, and which one has the better service return—it's Djoker by the way—consider the fact they are aged just 25 and 24 respectively.

Federer was already great when Nadal came along, but then he got better. The competition against a consistent and strong number two seed pushed him even further. Unfortunately for Federer, his age means he was simply clinging on to Nadal. The five year age difference meant that their rivalry was never going to last.

Nadal and Djokovic have time on their side. They have already dominated the top two spots in the rankings for a year, and there are no signs that is going to change. Using each other as motivation they will pull away from Murray and Del Potro, getting better and better with each passing year.

At their age they could keep that up for another five years, that is 20 Grand Slams.

Out of those 20, Nadal needs only seven to overtake Federer. I know I'm not betting against that. Five more years at Paris, he's bound to win three of them, even with Djokovic breathing down his neck. A couple of Australian Open wins, one more at both Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows on top of that, and you have 18 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic has a tougher task, he's only got four wins. Another two in 2012—along with a Gold Medal in London—will see him on six. Four more years playing with Nadal and he will come out slightly ahead of the Spaniard. Two wins in Paris, three at the US Open, and two each at Wimbledon and Australia will see him reach 15 Grand Slam titles in five years time.

By this time Nadal and Djokovic will have re-written the history books for tennis. No longer will there be any debate about the greatest rivalry in tennis. Everyone will agree that the Nadal/Djokovic era was the greatest we have ever seen in tennis.

At the end of the 2016 season, Rafael Nadal will all but retire, his injury problems are already well publicised and his playing style won't help that. He will retire with 18 Grand Slam titles to his name.

Upon his retirement, Djokovic, who is a year younger, will still have some steam left in his legs. His smoother playing style will ensure that. Djoker will play on through to 2020, as a national hero in Serbia.

We've already mentioned that he will have reached 15 Grand Slams by 2016, when Nadal retires. But in the twilight of his career, winning will become a lot harder. A new breed of young stars will be bursting through the ranks, but he will battle on to beat Nadal, his great rival.

Eventually Djokovic will reach 17 titles, and in his retirement year, fans will have given up all hope of the record being equalled. Then at Flushing Meadows, in September 2020, fourth seed Novak Djokovic will win his 18th Grand Slam crown.

Roger Federer is one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. His career has seen both past greats retire, and the emergence of future greats. But he will always be remembered as the man who showed Nadal and Djokovic how to win.  

Mark my words, when Novak Djokovic retires in 2020, we will all look back at his rivalry with Rafael Nadal and talk about how they pushed each to a level we never thought possible. They will be better than Federer.