The Indo-Romanian pair won 6-3, 6-7(6), 10-7 over the second seeded Polish-Serbian combination win in the super tie-breaker in a battle that lasted just over one hour.
For 15 minutes Novak Djokovic appeared to have a fight on his hands at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday, then the Serb dialled up his A game and tore Stanislas Wawrinka to pieces.
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic had made it near impossible for their peers to live, and thrive, amongst them. But the coming generation, which hasn't been as scarred by defeat at the hands of the Big 3, may make tennis unpredictable again.
World number one Novak Djokovic continued his dominance of Kei Nishikori with a 6-3, 7-5 victory in the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday.
Nadal converted two of three break chances to claim his 19th win in 22 encounters against the Swiss.
US Open champion Marin Cilic made a shock first-round exit from the Shanghai Masters on Monday after losing 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(2) to fellow Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
Penpix of the top men's contenders at the 2021 French Open which begins on Sunday:
IMAGES from matches on Day 4 of the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York on Thursday.
Roger Federer moved to within one win of his 1,000 career victory when he crushed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International.
Indian tennis stars Sania Mirza and Rohan Boapnna, who enjoyed good runs on the Pro circuit last week, bowed out of the second Adelaide ATP and WTA tournaments after first round defeats with their respective partners, on Tuesday.
The Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna stood just win away from for its second ATP men's doubles title together this season after advancing to the BNP Paribas Masters final in Paris.
The fourth seeded Indian pair of Harsh Mankad and Ashutosh Singh lost to the top seeded Australian pair of Adam Feeney and Robert Smeets 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-10, in the final of the Euro 30,000 ATP Challenger grasscourt tournament in Manchester.
Gilles Simon scored a 6-4, 6-4 victory over defending champion Dmitry Tursunov at the Indianapolis Championships on Sunday.
The hot-headed Aussie rails against chair umpire, ATP after Miami Open loss
The Indian pair of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan beat compatriots Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals of the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
From the heady heights of contesting his first ATP final, Nicolas Mahut will have to come back down to earth quickly because he has to try and qualify for Wimbledon.
Osaka takes equity stake in crypto exchange FTX
Novak Djokovic extended his unbeaten start to the season to 15 matches as he swatted aside German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-1 with ease on Wednesday to reach the Dubai Tennis Championships quarter-finals.
Somdev Devvarman's giant-killing run ended with a straight-set loss to fourth seeded American Robert Kendrick in the final of the ATP Challenger Series' hard-court tournament in Nashville, US. The Indian Davis Cupper, who had beaten the second and third seeds in the run-up to the final, lost 3-6, 5-7.
The claycourt specialist won 6-4 6-4 as he followed up last week's win in Vina del Mar, Chile with another title, his first on home soil.
Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek faltered at the final hurdle as they suffered an upset straight-set defeat at the hands of Alexander Peya of Austria and Brazil's Bruno Soares to finish runners-up at the ATP Japan Open in Tokyo on Sunday.
'I really look forward to going to Paris, to fight for the Grand Slam, and I am really looking forward to show my great level in a Grand Slam, too.'
Dominic Thiem will clash with Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final of the Australian Open. The Austrian made the title round with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(4) victory Germany's Alexander Zverev in the second semi-final at Melbourne Park on Friday. Djokovic beat great rival Roger Federer 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-3 in the first semi-final on Thursday.
The top seeded Indian pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja reached their first final of the season together after overcoming a fighting combo of Toshihide Matsui and Danai Udomchoke in straight sets in the ATP Kyoto Challenger event on Friday.
India's Leander Paes and his German partner Andre Begemann conceded a one-set advantage to go down to Dominic Inglot and Henri Kontinen in the men's doubles final of the St Petersburg Open on Sunday.
The Indo-Pakistan duo beat top seeds Harel Levy of Israel and Lars Burgsmuller of Germany in the semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic completed a 100 percent round-robin record at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-2, 7-6 defeat of Czech Tomas Berdych on Friday booking his place in the semi-finals.
The unseeded Indian Davis Cupper upset world No 86 Bobby Reynolds 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the hardcourt event. He will take on American fourth seed and world No 91 Robert Kendrick in the final.
Defending champion Roger Federer overcame some dogged resistance by Spain's David Ferrer to reach the final of the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday, winning 7-5, 6-3 at the O2 Arena.
Andy Murray is performing a delicate balancing act as he prepares for a claycourt Davis Cup final and the ATP World Tour Finals on an indoor hardcourt at the O2 Arena.
Rohan Bopanna reached his first final of the season along with Great Britain's Colin Fleming after outclassing Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek in straight sets at the ATP Open 13, in Marseille.
Paradorn Srichaphan overcame a fighting Tomas Zib 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to enter his fourth successive ATP Chennai Open final.
Russia's Daniil Medvedev remarkably reached his ninth final of the season as he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 7-5 at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza said she is excited to be part of same team as Swiss veteran Roger Federer in the upcoming International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
Somdev Devvarman extended his excellent run at the ATP Shanghai Challenger by reaching the singles finals with a hard-fought win over Italy's Luca Vanni.
The Indo-Croatian pair defeated Kristian Pless of Denmark and Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in straight sets in the semi-finals.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi suffered their third defeat in an ATP Masters series final this season, losing the summit clash of the Cincinnati event 3-6, 4-6 to second seeds Mike and Bob Bryan.
World number one Novak Djokovic earned his 1,000th tour-level victory by beating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Italian Open final.
Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi reached their third ATP World Tour final of the year together, beating fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach in straight sets in the Cincinnati Masters Tennis Tournament.