By Nick Georgandis
Number Crunch: Between 2001 and 2010, Roger Federer and Serena Williams combined to win 103 pro-level tournament titles, including 27 Grand Slam titles.
The last 18-to-24 months have been anything but "like the good old days" for the pair of players who were easily the players of the decade for the 2000s on their respective tours.
On Sunday, Williams and Federer emerged victorious at the same tournament the same week for the first time since the 2010 Australian Open.
Granted, Williams' bouts with injury have curtailed her playing schedule quite a bit, but the fact remains that the past two years have seen the game pass its premiere stars by just a tad - Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the case of Federer; a revolving door of usurpers in the case of Williams.
The last time Federer and Williams won the same tournament the same week was February 2, 2010, a span of 832 days.
To quantify just how long a time that's been, consider that in those 832 days, there have been five differerent names in the No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings - Williams herself until October 10, 2010; followed by Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki for 18 weeks; Belgium's Kim Clijsters for a single week in February 2011; Wozniacki for 49 more after that and Victoria Azarenka from January 30 of this year going forward.
Since Williams won the Australian Open in 2010, the following eight Grand Slams have been won by six different players. Williams notched Wimbledon in 2010 just before her injury, and Clijsters took the 2010 US Open and 2011 Australian Open. The other five Slams have been won by five different players, each winning the first of her career.
The men's tour has been less diverse in the last two years, with Nadal spending 56 weeks at No. 1 and Djokovic into his 47th at the top spot. Those two have also won all the Grand Slam titles since Federer took Australia in 2010 - four for Nadal, four for Djokovic.
Federer's career Grand Slam lead over both men is plenty safe - he is seven ahead of Nadal and 11 up on Djokovic, but not nearly as comfortable a margin as when he made Australia his 16th career conquest - back then Nadal had a mere five Slams, Djokovic only one.