That the 2010 decade of men’s tennis was dominated by the Big Three – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – is old news.

Their overwhelming presence is evident from their Grand Slam numbers in the last 10 years. Djokovic leads the pack winning 15 of his 16 Majors since his rejuvenated run in 2011 while reaching 23 finals. Nadal has 13 Slams from 19 finals while Federer – who won the first Major of the decade – has five from 10 finals.

It should be noted here that all three of them won their first Majors in the preceding decade: Federer at Wimbledon 2003, Nadal at French Open 2005 and Novak Djokovic at Australian Open 2008.

Andy Murray, the only other world No 1 in the decade and a member of the erstwhile Big Four, follows with three Slams from 10 finals along with Stan Wawrinka, who has a solid three out of four record in Major finals. The only other Major champion in the last 10 years is Marin Cilic, who won the 2014 US Open.

That’s it, six Grand Slam champions across 40 tournaments in 10 years.

As incredible as that sounds by itself, a look at decades and champions before this in the Open Era truly puts into perspective what a remarkable feat the Big Three have achieved in 2010s.

This is the first time in Open Era (which began in 1968) that there are no men’s singles Grand Slam champions from outside Europe.

The last non-European to win a Major was Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro who won the 2009 US Open – the last Slam of the last decade. The United States of America, which boasts of most male Grand Slam winners in the Open Era at 52, last had a male champion back in 2003, when Andy Roddick won the US Open. Nobody from Australia (Oceania) has a won a men’s singles title Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon 2002.

While there have been a few Major finalists from outside Europe in the last few years – South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, Canada’s Milos Raonic, Japan’s Kei Nishikori and del Potro – none of them have managed to win.

Decade-wise Grand Slam champions by continent

Decade Grand Slam champs Europe North America South America Oceania and Australia Africa
2010 6 40 0 0 0 0
2000 15 28 6 4 2 0
1990 16 15 21 2 2 0
1980* 12 25 12 0 1 1**
1970*** 16 16 12 4 9 0
1960 (only 7 Majors played in Open era) 3 0 1 0 6 0
Only in Open era

* Only 39 Slams were played in this decade as Australian Open’s date was changed in 1986
** Johan Kriek won his first Major as a South African but became an American citizen before he won his second in 1982
*** There was two Australian Open tournaments held in 77, with different champions, hence there were 41 Majors

This is also fewest number of individual Major winners, by a fair margin, in the Open era. There were 15 different Slam champions in the 2000s and 16 in the 1990s. This is how phenomenal the golden era, as the time of the Big Three has come to be called, of men’s tennis has been.

At no other time in the Open Era of men’s tennis has a set of players, or indeed a continent, dominated in this complete a manner. Even when Pete Sampras won 12 Majors in the 1990s and no one seemed close to him, the base of the pyramid was strong with eight one-time winners four men with two titles each. Even when Federer stormed his way to 15 Majors in seven years of the next decade, there were eight one-time winners at least.

But in this decade, it has all changed with the Grand Slam trophies becoming the stronghold of few, even as they aged.

2010

Player Country Continent Number of Slams won in the decade
Roger Federer Switzerland Europe 5
Rafael Nadal Spain Europe 13
Novak Djokovic Serbia Europe 15
Andy Murray Great Britain Europe 3
Stan Wawrinka Switzerland Europe 3
Marin Cilic Croatia Europe 1
In chronological order

Federer (38), Nadal (33), Djokovic (32), are winning Grand Slams well into their 30s, an age traditionally considered the end of a tennis player’s career. But as things stand, there is not a single men’s champion in the 20s.

The last time we saw young players breakthrough in Major finals was in 2000s, when a teenage Nadal won the French Open in his first Major final as Hewitt, Safin, Djokovic and del Potro won titles at 20 while Roddick became a Slam champion at 21. A time when Oceania, North and South America produced winners and were close to Europe, if not ahead.

Here’s a look at all the Grand Slam champions from each decade before this and their countries.

2000

Player Country Continent Number of Slams won in the decade
Andre Agassi  USA North America  3
Gustavo Kuerten  Brazil South America 2
Pete Sampras USA North America  2
Marat Safin Russia Europe 2
Goran Ivanisevic  Croatia Europe 1
Lleyton Hewitt
Australia  Oceania and Australia  2
Thomas Johansson Sweden Europe 1
Albert Costa Spain Europe 1
Juan Carlos Ferrero Spain Europe 1
Roger Federer Switzerland  Europe 15
Andy Roddick  USA North America  1
Gaston Gaudio Argentina South America 1
Rafael Nadal Spain Europe 6
Novak Djokovic  Serbia  Europe 1
Juan Martin del Potro  Argentina South America 1
In chronological order

1990

Player Country Continent Number of Slams won
Ivan Lendl Czech Republic Europe 1
Andres Gomez Ecuador  South America 1
Stefan Edberg Sweden Europe 3
Pete Sampras  USA North America  12
Boris Becker Germany  Europe 2
Jim Courier  USA North America  4
Michael Stich Germany  Europe 1
Andre Agassi  USA North America  5
Sergi Bruguera Spain Europe 2
Thomas Muster Austria  Europe 1
Yevgeny Kafelnikov Russia  Europe 2
Richard Krajicek Netherlands  Europe 1
Gustavo Kuerten  Brazil  South America 1
Patrick Rafter Australia  Oceania and Australia  2
Petr Korda Czech Republic  Europe 1
Carlos Moya Spain  Europe 1
In chronological order

1980

Player Country Continent Number of Slams won in the decade
Brian Teacher USA North America  1
Bjorn Borg Sweden Europe 3
John McEnroe USA North America  6
Johan Kriek* South Africa, USA North America, Africa  2
Mats Wilander Sweden Europe 7
Jimmy Connors USA North America  3
Yannick Noah France  Europe 1
Ivan Lendl Czech Republic  Europe 7
Stefan Edberg Sweden Europe 3
Boris Becker Germany Europe 4
Pat Cash  Australia Oceania and Australia  1
Michael Chang USA North America  1
In chronological order of the Slams as they are now, with Australian Open first

* Johan Kriek won his first Major as a South African but became an American citizen before he won his second in 1982

1970

Player Country Continent Number of Slams won in the decade
Arthue Ashe USA North America  2
Jan Kodes  Czech Republic  Europe  3
John Newcombe Australia Oceania and Australia  5
Ken Rosewall Australia Oceania and Australia  3
Stan Smith  USA North America  2
Andres Gimeno Spain  Europe  1
Ilie Nastase Romania  Europe  2
Jimmy Connors USA North America  5
Bjorn Borg Sweden Europe  8
Manuel Orantes Spain  Europe  1
Mark Edmondson Australia  Oceania and Australia  1
Adriano Panatta Italy Europe  1
Roscoe Tanner USA North America  1
Vitas Gerulaitis USA North America  1
Guillermo Vilas Argentina  South America  4
John McEnroe USA North America  1
In chronological order of the Slams as they are now, with Australian Open first

1960

Player Country Continent Number of Slams won in the decade
Ken Rosewall Australia  Oceania and Australia  1
Rod Laver Australia  Oceania and Australia  5
Arthue Ashe USA North America  1
Only 7 Majors played in the 60s are counted in the Open Era

Interestingly, several of the one-time Slam champions came from the clay courts of Roland Garros, an avenue that is now all but shut with one man winning 12 titles there.

However, at present, even the younger players considered to be future champions – Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev, the only Grand Slam finalists born after 1990 or ATP Finals champions Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas – are all from Europe.

For now, as has been for many years, the question most tennis seek an answer to is when will we see a new first-time male Grand Slam champion. But while we are sure to see a new winner in the coming decade, the question that will stand is this: Will we see a Grand Slam champion outside Europe in the next decade?