It would be easy to assume that as a tennis player ages, they become less athletic and therefore are less likely to win Grand Slam tournaments.

However, a graph posted by reddit user "0ptimu5prim3" shows that age is not necessarily the deciding factor as to how well a tennis legend will do in these tournaments, also revealing a fascinating pattern throughout the players.

The graph compares the amount of Grand Slams won by "the big three" Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

It shows that Nadal was the youngest of the three to win a Grand Slam, aged just 19, with Djokovic coming in second at just under 21, whilst Federer won his first Grand Slam at 22. 

While Federer was the oldest of the three to win his first Grand Slam, he quickly reaches 10 wins just three years later. Nadal is again the youngest to reach 10 wins, at the age of 25, while Djokovic trails at over 28-years-old by the time he reaches his 10th Grand Slam. 

The graph reveals a fascinating pattern, in that at around the age of 29-30, each of the top three players had a plateau in their Grand Slam wins.

One reddit user also noticed this phenomenon, commenting: "All 3 have a lull around the 29-30 year old mark. I wonder why that is." Another jokingly replied, "Realising that their youth is over."  

At around 31-years-old, each of the players immediately continue their Grand Slam winnings as if nothing had happened. By this age, Federer had won 17 of these tournaments, yet failed to increase that number again until over four years later. 

By this time, Nadal had increased his number of wins to 19 at the age of 33, so Federer failed to remain dominant for that age-range. 

Surprisingly, though, at the age of 34, Federer suddenly began winning Grand Slams again, reaching a total of 20 wins just two years later. 

To this day, Federer remains on 20 wins, and while he is the oldest of the top three, he doesn't show any hint of slowing down, after reaching the Wimbledon final just a few months ago. 

While Djokovic holds the least amount of Grand Slams out of the top trio, he is also the youngest of the group, so who knows what could be in store for the future of these tennis giants?