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Novak Djokovic joins Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray as Big Four unite for 2022 Laver Cup

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are set to team up again for Team Europe at the Laver Cup. (Getty Images: Matthew Stockman/The Laver Cup)

The so-called Big Four of men's tennis will unite for Team Europe for the first time at this year's Laver Cup.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, who dominated men's tennis for nearly two decades, will now seek to help Team Europe maintain its dominance over Team World at this year's men's team event.

Europe captain Björn Borg, an 11-time grand slam champion himself, said having all four stars of the game in the same team was a historic moment.

"I don't think I could have imagined having these four icons of the sport on one team together," he said.

"I know they, like I, appreciate the significance of this moment."

Djokovic, the latest of the group to commit to this year's tournament — which is set to be held at London's O2 arena in September — said it was a unique opportunity.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have 42 grand slams between them. (Getty Images: Julian Finney/Laver Cup)

"[The Laver Cup] is the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you're normally competing against," he said in a statement.

The dominance that Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray enjoyed at the pinnacle of world tennis is unprecedented: the quartet have won 66 of the past 76 grand slam titles.

By triumphing over Nick Kyrgios in this year's final, Djokovic ensured that one of the big four has won every men's Wimbledon title since 2003.

Incredibly, up until February this year, one of the four was world number one for a span stretching 18 years.

During their peak, the quartet of stars were seemingly unstoppable on the men's tennis circuit, leaving the rest of the top players at a loss at how to break their stranglehold on the sport.

As a result, three of the four mopped up major titles and ensured they kept a monopoly of the world number one spot. 

Nadal (22), Djokovic (21) and Federer (20) have all won at least 20 grand slam titles as the most dominant trio in the history of the sport.

Although Murray claimed just three majors, he also reached eight further grand slam finals and became a two-time Olympic champion before assuming his career was over due to a persistent hip injury.

Andy Murray played Novak Djokovic in seven grand slam singles finals. He lost five of them. (Getty Images: Scott Barbour)

Murray, who will be making his first appearance at the Laver Cup this year, since made a remarkable return to the tour, winning the European Open just 10 months after hip resurfacing surgery.

Murray's injury woes and the then-37-year-old Federer's diminishing output, meant some assumed their era was nearing its end at the 2019 Australian Open — only for Djokovic and Nadal to mop up 11 of the next 13 titles.

The Laver Cup, named in honour of Australian legend Rod Laver, has been held annually since 2017, although there was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Played on hard courts, the tournament pits six of Europe's best players — captained by Borg — against a rest of the world team, which is captained by US legend John McEnroe.

The only Australian to take part, Kyrgios has represented Team World at each of the last four tournaments, one of just three players who have appeared in every tournament alongside John Isner and Alexander Zverev.

Team Europe has never been beaten in the tournament.

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