User:Kvwiki1234/Tennis/2018 Wimbledon–present: Djokovic returns, Nadal-Djokovic dominance

2018 Wimbledon–present: Djokovic returns, Nadal-Djokovic dominance
At Wimbledon, Federer lost to Kevin Anderson in the quarter-finals after suffering a hand injury at the start of the grass season, despite holding a two-sets-to-love lead and holding a match point in the third set. Djokovic and Nadal, meanwhile, made the semi-finals, where Djokovic defeated Nadal in five sets to reach his first major final in nearly two years. He then defeated Anderson in the final to win his fourth Wimbledon title, his first major title in over two years.

At the US Open, Murray competed in his first Grand Slam since the previous year's Wimbledon, losing in the second round. Both Djokovic and Nadal made the semi-finals where Nadal retired against Juan Martin Del Potro after being two sets down due to a knee injury he had been sustaining throughout the tournament. Djokovic, on the other hand, defeated Kei Nishikori in straight sets to make his eighth US Open final where he beat del Potro for his 14th Grand Slam title. He then followed this up with victory at the Shanghai Masters.

Nadal withdrew before his first match at the Paris Masters, thus yielding the No. 1 ranking to Djokovic, one day shy of exactly two years since he was dethroned. Djokovic and Federer set up a clash in the semi-finals where the Serb won a three-set encounter that lasted three hours. Djokovic was defeated by Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the final. Nadal then announced his withdrawal from the ATP Finals in order to undergo surgery for an ankle injury, as well as recovering from the abdominal injury that caused him to withdraw from Paris. At the ATP Finals, Federer and Djokovic were both defeated by champion Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals and final, respectively. The year ended with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer occupying the top-three positions in the rankings, while Murray's long periods of absence from the Tour led him to finish the year at world number 260.

At the start of 2019, Djokovic made a run to the semi-finals of Doha before being stopped by Roberto Bautista Agut who went on to win the tournament.

Murray, who was making his comeback in Brisbane, lost to Daniil Medvedev in the second round. Before the start of the Australian Open, Djokovic comfortably beat Murray in a practice match. In a press conference the next day, Murray announced his retirement from professional tennis stating that he hopes to be able to play his last event at Wimbledon that year, but added that he could already retire following the conclusion of the Australian Open should his injury prove to be too painful to continue playing. Murray lost in the first round to Bautista Agut; however, he exceeded expectations with his performance by extending the match to five sets. Following the match, he speculated that he could possibly return to tennis following a major hip operation. However, with the speculation that this could be the last match of his career, following the match a tribute montage from fellow tennis players was broadcast, with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic being among those to laud Andy for an illustrious career. Federer was upset in the fourth round by 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas in a tight four-setter. In the final, Djokovic defeated Nadal in straight sets to claim a record-winning seventh Australian Open championship and increased his Grand Slam tally to 15. By his Australian Open win, he was trailing Nadal by only two Grand Slams. In the week following the Australian Open, Murray underwent hip surgery.

Federer rebounded from his early loss at the Australian Open by winning his 100th title in Dubai. He followed this with a runner-up finish at Indian Wells and a title in Miami.

After withdrawing from Indian Wells due to injury, Nadal initially struggled, relative to his usual dominant standards, upon returning for the European clay-court season, losing in the semi-finals at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. However, he then returned to form in Rome, defeating Djokovic (who had won the title in Madrid the previous week) in the final to win his ninth crown at the Italian Masters 1000 event. The win also broke the tie he had with Djokovic as they co-held the record for most Masters 1000 titles.

At the French Open, Federer returned to play at the tournament for the first time since 2015, making it to the semi-finals where he was defeated by Nadal in straight sets. Djokovic also made it to the semi-finals, doing so without losing a set, but was beaten in five sets by Dominic Thiem in a match that was spread over two days due to rain. In the final, Nadal prevailed over Thiem for a second consecutive year, winning the tournament for a record-extending 12th time. This win would also push Nadal to 18 Grand Slam titles, just two behind Federer's record of 20.

Murray announced that he would compete in doubles at Queen's with Feliciano López. He also stated that he was hopeful of returning to singles action by the end of the year. Murray and López won the title; the first title Murray had won since Dubai in 2017 and a record sixth title (including singles and doubles) in Queen's for him. Federer, meanwhile, won a record tenth title in Halle, making him the only player in the Open Era besides Nadal to win ten titles at a single event.

At Wimbledon, Murray participated in both the men's doubles tournament with Pierre-Hugues Herbert and the mixed doubles tournament with Serena Williams, losing in the second and third rounds respectively. In singles, Nadal and Federer again faced off in the semi-finals, their first meeting at Wimbledon since the 2008 final which Nadal won. Federer defeated Nadal in four sets. He and Djokovic advanced to the final, where Djokovic defeated Federer in the longest Wimbledon men's final in history. For the second consecutive year, Djokovic would go home with multiple Grand Slams and brought his tally to 16, only trailing Federer's 20 and Nadal's 18.

Nadal returned to action in Montreal where he defended his 2018 Canadian Open title, defending a title on a surface other than clay for the first time in his career. Additionally, this would be Nadal's fifth Canada Masters title, which is just one shy of Lendl's record of six. It was also Nadal's tenth Masters 1000 title on hard courts, along with his three at Indian Wells, and one each at Cincinnati and Madrid (indoors). Following his victory, he decided not to play in Cincinnati once again. Murray, meanwhile, continued his comeback to tennis through doubles, playing with his brother Jamie in Washington and with Feliciano López, with whom he won the title in Queen's, in Montreal. In both tournaments, he and his partner failed to advance beyond the quarter-finals. However, he decided he was ready to return to singles in Cincinnati where Murray lost in the first round to Richard Gasquet in straight sets, Federer was upset in the third round by Qualifier Andrey Rublev in straight sets, and Djokovic was upset in the semi-finals by the eventual champion Daniil Medvedev in three sets.

Murray was the only one out of the Big Four not to participate in the 2019 US Open. He instead participated in Challenger Mancor, Es, where he lost to Mateo Viola in three sets during the round of 16. At the US Open, Djokovic retired against Wawrinka in the fourth round due to a shoulder injury, and Federer was upset by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals. Nadal advanced to his fifth US Open final while dropping just one set to 2014 US Open champion, Marin Cilic, in the fourth round. In the final, he met Daniil Medvedev, whom he had defeated in the Canada Masters final just two weeks prior. However, after going up two sets to none, Medvedev found another gear or two and forced the match to a fifth set. Nadal would go on to defeat Medvedev 6–4 in the fifth set, thereby notching his fourth US Open title and 19th Grand Slam singles title, leaving him just one behind Federer's record.

Nadal ended 2019 being ranked No. 1 for the fifth time, despite not making it to the semi-finals of 2019 ATP Finals. In the 2019 Davis Cup, Spain won their sixth title (their first since 2011), defeating Canada in the final 2–0. Nadal received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for his performance in the tournament after he won all eight matches in which he participated. This was Nadal's fifth Davis Cup title.

At the 2020 Australian Open, Djokovic won his eighth title (a record for men's singles) and his 17th Grand Slam title overall. He became the first man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title in three different decades.