Tennis greatness is currently judged using a Grand Slam count, but two legends of the sport have insisted that gauge is not entirely reliable.
When the era dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic is judged, the three most successful male players of all-time will be judged on the number of Grand Slam titles they have won.
Djokovic has been declared the winner of the greatest rivalry in the history of the game as his 24 major titles put him ahead of Nadal on 22 and Federer on 20.
The primary reason why Djokovic is continuing his career after he toasted his 39th birthday last May is to try and take his Grand Slam tally to 25, which would move him one head of Margaret Court in the all time list.
Yet the reality is the number Djokovic could and should be chasing could be well beyond 30 if the current landscape in tennis was in place in the 1970s and 80s.
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Back then, many of the top female and male players did not compete at the Australian Open and that had a two-fold impact on the Grand Slam records that are not viewed as the ultimate milestones in the sport.
A glance at the appearance records for many of the game’s great highlights how their Grand Slam records could have reached a very different conclusion if they had played more often at the major events.
Their absence means the 11 wins for Court at the Australian Open put a slightly different perspective on her dominance in her home Slam, with many of the game’s biggest names opting out of making the long trip Down Under at the start of the year in favour of playing more lucrative events in America and Europe.
Tennis greats Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert are great examples of players who opted out of playing at the Australian Open at a time when they were comfortably the best two players in the women’s game.
“We didn’t play in Australia for a long time,” said Navratilova, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles. “Back in our day, playing on the women’s tour and trying to build that up was more important than playing in Australia, but all we hear about now is the Grand Slam record.
“The reality is, it was different when we were playing. If Chrissie (Evert) and I had played every year in Australia and also at the French Open for me, maybe I would have more Slams now, but it was different then.”
A glance at Navratilova’s record confirms she missed 12 editions of the Australian Open over the course of her career, with the number of titles she could have won in that period highlighted by the seven straight singles titles she won at the event from 1982.
Then at the French Open, Navratilova was also missing for 12 tournament in Paris, with the 24 Grand Slams she was absent for highlighting how many she could now have.
Evert also has an interesting record in Slams, with her record of 18 Grand Slam wins impacted by absence from the Australian Open on 12 occasions.
She also missed six French Open tournaments in her career, leaving her with 18 missed Grand Slams that could have substantially boosted her final total.
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It wasn’t just female players who missed out on additional Grand Slam chances, as seven-time Grand Slam winner John McEnroe did not play in ten Australian Open’s during his career and he also failed to make an appearance in six French Opens, with his focus always on Wimbledon and the US Open.
McEnroe’s great rival Bjorn Borg played at the Australian Open once in his career, while American greats Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi missed numerous editions of the opening Slam of the year.
While Djokovic’s Grand Slam battle with Federer and Nadal was compelling, the record of 25 Grand Slam titles he is looking to create now could have been well over 30 and maybe even 35 if Navratilova and Evert played in this era.
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