After the Australian Open, here's what the Big Three were up to at the same age as Carlos and Jannik

**At Carlos' age:**

\> Nadal, fresh off arguably his greatest slam win at AO 2009 and now undisputed king of the tour, was preparing for that year's Indian Wells. He would take out Del Potro, then Roddick, then Murray for the loss of just 19 games on route to the title.

\> Federer, adjusting to his new role as world number one (that he'd get used to *very* quickly), was midway through the 2004 clay swing and on his way to Hamburg for what would be his second clay Masters title, beating what was in hindsight the new 'Steward of Clay (TM)', Guillermo Coria, in the final.

\> Novak, burnt-out and ill, was recovering after throwing-up during a five-set loss to Tsonga in the quarter-finals of AO 2010. The clue is in the pizza, Novak, the pizza! Nevertheless, Nadal's injury absence from the tour meant he had risen to world number two for the first time in his career.

**At Jannik's age:**

\> Nadal had nearly wrapped up his utterly dominant 2010 season, arguably his greatest ever campaign, and was on his way to London for the ATP Finals, where he would take out Novak, Berdych, Roddick and Murray on his way to a chastening three-set loss to Roger in the final -- the closest he would ever come to winning the end-of-year trophy.

\> Federer, now the world's most marketable sporting icon and gaining on Jesus as it's biggest icon full-stop, was about to play Davydenko in a tight four-set quarter-final at AO 2006. His limelight at that year's AO -- a title he would reclaim after the previous year's epic semi defeat to Safin -- was stolen by Marcos Baghdatis, of all people.

\> Novak, now a gluten-free steamroller who haunted Nadal's every waking moment, had swept all before him in 2011 to be the undisputed no. 1, but seemingly ran out of gas at the tail-end of the year. He pulls out of Paris with a shoulder injury before a tie with Tsonga (again). At this point, Tsonga leads their h2h 5-4. It would end 6-17.