David Nalbandian described beating all of the Big Three in the same tournament as something "incredible," and admitted that it took him some time to realize what he had accomplished.
In 2007, Nalbandian pulled off a stunning feat when he beat Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer en route to collecting the Madrid Masters title.
After surviving two three-setters at the start of the tournament, Nalbandian ousted home star Nadal 6-1 6-2 in the quarterfinal. Next up for the Argentine was Djokovic, who was also handed a 6-4 7-6 defeat. Then, in the Madrid final, the former world No. 3 lost the first set before completing an impressive 1-6 6-3 6-3 comeback over Federer.
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To this day, Nalbandian - who retired from pro tennis in 2013 - remains the only player who has managed to beat Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in the same tournament.
Nalbandian: I didn't realize what happened until the tournament ended...
"It was something incredible. I didn't realize until Monday, when it ended, that that had happened. When you are in a tournament like that, in that era, it was normal to play against them, and if you wanted to win the tournament you had to beat everyone," the former world No. 1 said during a conversation for the New Balls Please! podcast.
"It was like their best moment, or practically the best moment of the three. You always played, at least with two, always. It was normal. Well, I was lucky to be able to beat all three in a row in the same week. Of course, it was something incredible and it is not going to happen again. But yes, in that era it was very hard. We were used to playing against them."
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After landing his first Masters title in Madrid, Nalbandian also won the Paris Masters in late 2007. The Argentine finished his career with 11 titles.
Nalbandian was also close to becoming a Grand Slam champion, having lost the final at 2002 Wimbledon.
