Nadal followed in 2005 with a French Open triumph on his first attempt, including a win over Federer,[12] and the duo occupied the top two places of the ATP rankings from 25 July 2005 to 6 September 2010.

Nadal and Djokovic have each achieved a Surface Slam by winning majors on hard, clay, and grass courts in a calendar year, making them the only male players in history to do so.

[28] Djokovic, however, began to excel ahead of Murray in 2007, reaching one major final and two semifinals and beginning to regularly challenge Federer and Nadal.

[51] At the 2009 US Open, Murray was upset in the fourth round by Marin Čilić, while Djokovic reached his first Grand Slam semifinal of the season and lost in straight sets to Federer.

Having won two clay court Masters titles and 2013 Roland Garros, he was eliminated in the second round at 2013 Wimbledon – his earliest defeat at a Grand Slam tournament since 2005.

The 2013 season continued similarly, with Djokovic, Federer and Murray occupying three of the four semifinal slots at the 2013 Australian Open, with Nadal still suffering from an injury.

Murray beat Federer in a five-set semifinal match, meaning all four members of the Big Four had beaten each other at least once at a major, but he lost to Djokovic in the final.

[80] A back injury ended Murray's season prematurely,[81] but he finished fourth in the rankings and was the only player besides Nadal and Djokovic to win a Grand Slam event or Masters title (at 2013 Wimbledon and 2013 Miami respectively).

He reached just one major semifinal at the 2013 Australian Open, failed to win a single Masters, and finished the year sixth in the rankings with one title to his name; he also suffered from a recurring back injury throughout the season.

[92] Murray and Federer fell to sixth and eighth in the rankings respectively,[93] and after the tournament, several players expressed the opinion that they were now capable of challenging the Big Four.

Following his back surgery at the end of 2013, Murray struggled to return to form in the first half of the year, reaching only two semifinals and losing to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the quarterfinals while attempting to defend his 2014 Wimbledon title, a defeat which saw him fall to No.

[103] Milos Raonic, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, suggested a "human side" was visible in the Big Four, which was giving players belief when facing them.

[110] Federer recovered to win the 2014 Davis Cup as part of the Switzerland team for him, and the country's, first triumph in the competition, leading many people to say that his tennis career was now complete.

[123] Murray and Federer shared the two North American hard-court Masters titles, at 2015 Montreal and 2015 Cincinnati respectively, with Djokovic being the losing finalist on both occasions.

By winning Roland Garros, Djokovic set a ranking points record of 16,950 and became the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.

[127] At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Djokovic was knocked out of the men's singles in the opening round by Juan Martín del Potro, in a repeat of the bronze medal match from four years earlier.

Following an early loss at Shanghai, Nadal announced that he would skip the remainder of the 2016 season to recover fully from the wrist injury that troubled him earlier in the year.

He became the second player after Andre Agassi to win a Grand Slam singles tournament, ATP Finals, Olympic and Masters titles, and the first to do so in the same calendar year.

Nadal went on to win the tournament, defeating Dominic Thiem in the final to claim a record extending 11th French Open title and his 17th major overall.

After withdrawing from Indian Wells due to injury, Nadal initially struggled upon returning for the clay-court season, losing in the semifinals at 2019 Monte Carlo, 2019 Barcelona and 2019 Madrid.

Murray, meanwhile, continued his comeback to tennis through doubles, however, he returned to singles in 2019 Cincinnati, where he lost in the first round to Richard Gasquet in straight sets.

At the 2019 US Open, Djokovic retired against Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round due to a shoulder injury, and Federer was upset by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.

[145] Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño-Busta after inadvertently striking a ball at a line judge after conceding a break.

At the 2021 French Open, Federer withdrew after his third round victory in order not to jeopardize his recovery from a knee injury, while Nadal's bid at winning a record 21st major ended when he lost to Djokovic in an epic semifinal encounter.

Djokovic lost in the final to Daniil Medvedev,[152] preventing him from winning a record 21 majors and achieving a Grand Slam, which would have been the first in men's tennis since Rod Laver in 1969.

Djokovic successfully defended his title by defeating Kyrgios in four sets in the final to win his 21st major, thereby passing Federer and placing himself one behind Nadal.

At the 2022 Laver Cup, having struggled with a recurring knee injury for the past several years, Federer retired from professional tennis, thus ending the Big Three era.

[169] Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are the top three all time men's leaders in Grand Slam singles titles won, winning a record 24, 22 and 20 respectively.

confined to 2008 to 2017, and specifically the period from 2012 to 2016 when Murray was consistently higher than number 4 in the world, and winning grand slams, Davis Cup and Olympic gold until sidelined in early 2017 by injury.

[222][223] Some players, including Steffi Graf and John McEnroe, believe the presence of the Big Four has coincided with that of a new "Golden Era" in men's tennis since 2008, wherein depth, athleticism and quality have never been better.