What happened to the five tennis stars tipped to 'consign big four to history'

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray were for a long time the 'big four' of tennis - but what happened to the five tennis players tipped to challenge them?

Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray cemented their status as four of the greatest tennis players to ever pick up a racket, in an era of dominance we may never see again. Across their respective illustrious careers, Djokovic (24), Nadal (22), Federer (20), and Murray (3) won 68 Grand Slam titles combined.

In fact, when Marin Cilic won the US Open in September 2014, it was the first Grand Slam final in almost 10 years where the so-called 'Big Four' didn't feature. That record only serves as a reminder of how truly dominant they were from the early noughties to the mid-2010s.

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Of course, 39-year-old Djokovic is the only player of the four currently still competing on the ATP Tour, recently claiming the 102nd title of his career in October after Alex de Minaur retired injured from the China Open final.

The Serbian has arguably cemented himself as the GOAT of tennis, continuing to showcase his longevity, but The Guardian once tipped five tennis players to 'consign the big four to history'.

Here is a look at how their respective careers have played out.

Marin Cilic

As mentioned above, Cilic was the player who broke the spell of Grand Slam wins shared by the Big Four when he beat Kei Nishikori in the 2014 US Open final, and he has since had a very respectable career at the top of tennis.

The Croat cracked the Big Four as The Guardian predicted 12 years ago by reaching No.3 in the ATP rankings in 2018 after winning the Davis Cup and reaching the Australian Open final. A year earlier, he also lost 6-3 6-1 6-4 to Federer in the 2017 Wimbledon final before winning an Olympic silver medal in men's doubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics alongside Ivan Dodig.

A winner of 21 ATP tour-level singles titles, Cilic continues to compete on the tour and is currently 96th in the ATP rankings, showcasing a similar longevity to stars he grew up playing against, including Djokovic.

The 38-year-old's longevity is made all the more impressive after overcoming major knee and meniscus/cartilage surgeries in 2023 and 2024 that doctors initially warned might end his career.

Grigor Dimitrov

Grigor Dimitrov was the second player tipped to threaten the Big Four over a decade ago after becoming only the second player born in the 90s to win back-to-back Mexican Open titles.

When The Guardian published their article, the Bulgarian, aged 23 at the time, was fresh from dismantling Murray in their 2014 Wimbledon quarter-final before losing to Djokovic in the semis.

Since then, Dimitrov has enjoyed a solid career, reaching No.3 in the ATP rankings in November 2017 after making the semi-finals of the Australian Open and winning the Nitto ATP Finals.

Although he technically conquered the 'Big Four' in the rankings, he didn't literally conquer them. Dimitrov has a combined head-to-head record of 8–41 against Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, and Murray.

The 35-year-old almost beat Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon in 2025, going two sets up before being forced to retire after suffering a brutal pectoral injury.

Currently 134th in the ATP rankings, Dimitrov's career has been on the decline since then, and he most recently lost in qualifying at the Paris Masters for the first time in his career.

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Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic was another player knocking on the door when The Guardian posted their article after reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2014 and becoming the first player born in the 90s to win two tour-level titles.

Aged 23 at the time, Raonic was another emerging talent like Dimitrov, and he's since enjoyed a similar career to the Bulgarian. He rose to No.3 in the ATP rankings in 2016 after an incredible run at Wimbledon that included a victory over Federer before losing to Murray in the final.

Although the Canadian never won a Grand Slam during his career, he did win eight ATP Tour singles titles and holds the record for the most aces in a three-set match with 47 aces against Cameron Norrie at the 2024 Queen’s Club Championships.

Raonic announced his retirement from tennis at the start of 2026 after playing his last official match at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kei Nishikori

Nishikori was the first man to deny Djokovic a place in the final at Flushing Meadows since 2009, when he tasted defeat to Cilic at the 2014 US Open.

At the time, he was also the first Asian to reach a Grand Slam final, making him a prime contender to break the Big Four's dominance.

Unfortunately, the Japanese star arguably didn't reach the heights predicted of him as a 24-year-old in 2014. The US Open was the only Grand Slam final he competed in across his career, though he did reach four ATP Masters Finals (Madrid 2014, Miami 2016, Rogers Cup 2016, and Monte Carlo 2018).

Nishikori also reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 4 in March 2015 and did beat Nadal in a bronze medal match at the 2016 Rio Olympics, arguably one of his most impressive wins.

After tumbling down the rankings and struggling to compete in the latter stages of events, Nishikori announced his retirement at the start of October, with the 36-year-old playing the final match of his 18-year career at the Japan Open in Tokyo.

Ernests Gulbis

The final player predicted to 'consign tennis's big four to history' was Ernests Gulbis after he beat Federer to reach the semi-finals of the French Open.

Gulbis was 26 at the time, with The Guardian noting how his 'consistency' must improve for him to regularly challenge the biggest stars for the biggest titles.

Unfortunately, the Latvian never lived up to that expectation, winning just six ATP tour singles titles and never progressing beyond his career-best ranking of No.10 - achieved in June 2014.

He announced his retirement in February 2024 after a period of inactivity on the tour and took over as the president of the Latvian Tennis Union in September 2022.