Sitting here watching Rafael Nadal play Roger Federer at the French Open on TV, a sports fan realizes, if he has any sense of gratitude, that it is a rare privilege to see athletes this good, for this long, with this degree of mutual respect and classiness.

Add in the too-little-appreciated Novak Djokovic, and men’s tennis has a triumvirate unmatched in dominance and endurance by any trio in any sport in the modern world. Not even the “Big Three” in 1960s golf of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player were close to the historical superlatives Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are racking up. Good as Palmer and Player were, neither would figure in the discussion for “greatest of all time,” as Tiger Woods, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Walter Hagen, and Sam Snead all would have greater or equal billing.