Big Four? Big Three. Three-and-a-half, t.ops

Listening to the commmentary of the French Open (tennis, if you weren't sure), I was genuinely confused by talk of the " Big Four". I mentally counted down: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic ... er ... who the hell is the fourth?

Well, it turns out it's Andy Murray. Wha? Surely, Murray is not in the same league as the other three? 

Well, actually, no he's not. Not even close. In terms of rankings, Federer has been No. 1 for 310 weeks, Dkokovic 287, Nadal 209, and Murray ... 41. In Grand Slam wins, Federer leads with 20, followed by Nadal 19, Djokovic 17, and Murray ... 3. Earnings (as of February 2020)? Djokovic leads with $143.1 million, followed by Federer with $129.9 million, Nadal $120.6 million, and Murray ... $61.5 millon (below Serena Williams), ATP Masters 1000 wins? Nadal and Djokovic are joint leaders with 35, Federer has 28, and Murray ... 14. Repectable, this last one, but still not in the same league.

So, let's just stick with Big Three, shall we? Between them, the three have dominated mens singles tennis this millennium, accounting for 56 of the last 67 Grand Slam titles. Murrary is a second rank player, along with the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, maybe Juan Martín Del Potro. At the head of that group perhaps, but of it, nevertheless.