Dominance of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic & Rafael Nadal is 'not normal', says Garbine Muguruza

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have dominated the men's tour for over 15 years now. The three of them are by far the most successful players n the history of men's tennis, and have put everyone else from their generation in the shade.

Men's tennis' fabled 'Big 3' have had a lion's share of the Major honors in the 21st century. Together they have won 56 Grand Slam titles out of the last 67, and one of them has finished as the World No. 1 in 15 of the last 16 years (the only exception being Andy Murray in 2016).

Well into their 30s now, each of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has had a late career resurgence recently. The trio have, remarkably, won every single Grand Slam title since the beginning of 2017.

The women's tour, on the other hand, has been a totally contrasting story. With no single dominant player, there have been a multitude of different Slam champions over the last few years.

Former World No. 1 Garbine Muguruza recently weighed in on the issue, and claimed that what the women's tour is experiencing is perfectly normal. Instead, she believes that the men's tour is currently going through an exceptional and uncommon period.

3 of the best tennis players in history have coincided in the same era: Muguruza on Roger Federer and the Big 3

(L to R) Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

In an interview with El Tiempo, Muguruza spoke about the dominance of Roger Federer and the Big 3 on the men's circuit.

"I think that what is happening on our circuit (WTA) is normal, that is, the fact that there is a lot of competitiveness on the circuit," the Spaniard said.

"What is not normal is that three of the best tennis players in history (Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal) coincide in the same era, as happens in the men's circuit. The normal thing is, as you can see in the women's circuit, that when a tennis player loses she ends up going down in the ranking and that when she wins she goes up," she added.

Since the 2017 Australian Open, the WTA tour has seen 12 different Grand Slam champions. By contrast, since 2005, the men's tour has only eight different champions - with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal being by far the most prominent winners.

Serena Williams is outstanding: Garbine Muguruza

Serena Williams (L) and Garbine Muguruza at French Open 2016

Herself a two-time Slam champion (at Wimbledon 2017 and French Open 2016), Muguruza was full of praise for her rival Serena Williams - who at 23 Grand Slam titles is closing in on Margaret Court's record of 24.

"Serena's case is a separate case. She is outstanding, it is very complicated to do what she has been doing," the 26-year-old said.

Muguruza also commented on a potential merger between the WTA and ATP, something that has been suggested by Roger Federer in the recent past.

"Tennis is one of the ways in which there is greater equality between wages between men and women. There are other modalities where this is not the case. A merger between the two entities seems to me to be very interesting," Muguruza said.

"It would be quite appealing, but I don't know what it would take. Whether there is an appropriate time to do so, I do not know. Perhaps this is the most appropriate," she added.