Why Roger Federer isn’t the GOAT

Roger Federer: Not the Greatest of all Time

Roger Federer is not the GOAT. He wasn’t the Greatest Men’s player of all time before Rafael Nadal has tied him on 20 Grand Slams last year and he isn’t now. Nor has he been for a long time. I realise this opening will upset a lot of people who have already angrily closed down this link, but for the rest of you willing to stick around, I will explore in this blog why that is.

Slams

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have been competing against each other for such a long time, and the race going on for so long, as the men either look to chase down or pull clear of each other that it can be easy to think it has always been like this and forget the time before Nadal won his first non-Roland Garros slam at Wimbledon in 2008, forget the time before Novak Djokovic won his first slam period earlier in the same year. A time in which Roger was playing and winning with huge regularity.

In fact, this time period was when Federer won the majority of his slams. Of his first 10 slams, 8 came against six opponents who won a combined 5 slams in their careers.  Mark Philippoussis,  Marcos Baghdatis, and  Fernando González never lifted a slam and for the latter two, facing Federer was the only final they played. The other 2 of Roger’s first 10 came against 35-year old Andre Agassi, who would appear in just 2 more slams after this final, winning four more matches, and a just turned 20-year old Rafael Nadal, playing in his first non-RG final.

This era coincided with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi coming to the end of their glittering careers, Federer won his final 8 meetings with Agassi in the final years of his career and only faced Pete Sampras once in 2001, he retired the next year.

Left to challenge Federer in this era was Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and in another early final, Marat Safin. In these 4 finals, Roger dropped a total of 2 sets and bagelled Hewitt in 2 of their 3 sets. These men were slam winners so all fine players, but Federer boasts a career head to head record of 21-3 over Andy Roddick, 10-2 over Marat Safin, and 19-8 (8-0 in slams) over Lleyton Hewitt.

Federer won 12 of his first 14 slam finals, the only defeats coming to Nadal on the clay. He notched his 12th slam title at the 2007 Australian Open in teenager Novak Djokovic’s first slam final, and by the time Novak had won just his 2nd slam at the 2011 Australian Open, Roger was sitting on 16.

That 2nd slam win of Djokovic truly marked his arrival at the top table of men’s tennis and he was joined by the runner-up in that final, Andy Murray. These two players firmly establishing themselves in what had become the big 4 of men’s tennis would make for the hardest and most barren years of Roger’s slam career. Federer played 22 finals before Djokovic won his 2nd slam and has appeared in 9 since. After beating Murray in the 2010 Australian Open final, Federer would make 5 more finals by the end of 2016, winning 1. Andy would make 9 finals in that time period and win 3.

18 of Roger’s 31 slam finals came in a period between Wimbledon 2004 and the Australian Open 2010. His record in non-final slam matches in that period was 113-1. The sole loss coming against a 19-year old Djokovic, the match before he won his first-ever slam. Federer had won 69 of his last 71 slam matches going into that semi-final and won 52 of his next 56 after it. This highlights just how hard it was for Djokovic to win his first slam.

Between Wimbledon 2012 and the Australian Open 2017, there were 17 grand slams that Roger didn’t win, Novak won 7 of them. Roger finally ended his drought in the first slam final of 2017 against Nadal, who was playing in his first slam final since 2014. Due to injuries, Nadal had gone 2 years in a row without reaching a final, after 10 years in a row winning one. So if ever there was a good time to face Nadal in a slam final, this was as close to it as you could realistically get.

Since that win, Roger’s 19th and 20th slams came against Marin Cilic, a player who has only reached 5 semi-finals since his slam debut in 2007. After winning 12 of his first 14 slam finals, he is 8-9 in finals since. In that time he is 1-7 against the other members of the big 3, his only win coming against Rafa in Australia. His slam final record stands at 20 won 11 lost (64.5%), with 3 final wins against Rafa and 1 against Djokovic in his slam final debut. 6 of his final losses have come against Nadal and 4 against Djokovic.

7 of Nadal’s first 8 finals were against 5 years older, Roger Federer. Rafa won 5 of the 7, and 6 of his first 8 finals in total. Nadal won 6 slams before Djokovic won his 2nd and became a fellow contender for every slam. Since then Nadal is 14-6 in the finals. 11 slams without a win is the longest slam drought of his career. He boasts the joint-most slam wins with 20 and the fewest slam final defeats inside the big 3, with 8 (71% win rate in finals). He has the best final record against other members of the Big 3, leading Federer 6-3 and Djokovic 5-4.

4 of the first 7 slams Djokovic won were against Rafa and Roger and two others came against Andy Murray, who would prove what a top player he was by beating Novak in slam finals in 2012 and 2013 and reaching more finals between 2011 and 2016 than any other player bar Djokovic. Novak leads Federer 4-1 in finals and 8 tournaments is his longest drought without winning one since established at the top. He has won 17 of his 27 slam finals (63%).

Best Slam

Federer’s best slam in terms of most titles is Wimbledon where he has won 8, as well as losing 4 finals. He leads Nadal 3-1 at Wimbledon but trails Novak 3-1. His best slam for final wins is the Australian Open, where he has won 6 and lost 1. Of those 6 wins, only 1 was against another member of the big 3, Rafa Nadal, who his 1 defeat also came against. He trails Nadal 3-1 at the Australian and Djokovic 4-1. Fed’s best slam for match win % is Wimbledon where he boasts 101 wins for 13 defeats (89%). The slam where he has the most wins however is the Aussie Open where he has 102 wins for 15 defeats (87%). Federer’s worst slam is of course the French, the only slam he has won less than 5 times, winning just once against Robin Soderling in 2009. His record there stands at 70 wins and 17 losses (70%).

Nadal’s best slam might be the French where he is 13-0 in finals and 26-0 when he reaches the semis. He leads Federer 6-0 at RG and Djokovic 7-1. His record there is 100-2, a 98% win percentage, which is reasonably healthy. His worst slam is Wimbledon for the number of matches won. Despite winning one more title there than his 1 at the Aussie Open, Nadal has won 53 matches at Wimbledon for 12 defeats (82%) which are 4 fewer victories than fellow two-time Champion Andy Murray (57-10).

Some will argue that Nadal winning 13 of his 20 slams at RG makes him too reliant on one slam, one surface to be the GOAT. But he has made 15 finals off the clay, winning 7 and losing 8. No one argues that Djokovic is too reliant on the Australian Open for his legacy and his non-AO final record stands at 9-10.

Novak’s best slam is the Australian Open where he is 8-0 in finals and 16-0 from semis onwards. He leads Nadal 2-0 at the Australian and Federer 4-1. He has a 90% win rate there, with 75 wins for 8 losses. Djokovic is the most consistent player across all slams, given he boasts a very similar number of wins at all slams. He has 75 wins each at the Australian and the US and Wimbledon with 72 is his lowest for wins. For win % his worst slam is the French at 83% (74-15), despite reaching at least the semi-finals on 10 occasions. Novak is the only man to have held all four slams on all three surfaces.

Rafa Nadal has the highest win % at slams with 88%, winning 282 matches and losing 39. Djokovic is 2nd at 87% with 296 wins for 45 defeats and Roger is 3rd with 86%, 362 wins and 59 defeats. All 3 men hold the record for most slam wins at their respective best slam, though unlike the other two Roger does not have the all-time best final record at that slam also, that’s Pete Sampras who won 7 Wimbledon finals without defeat.

Head to Head

Nadal leads Federer 24-16 overall. He leads him 10-4 at slams, 14-10 in finals, and 14-2 on clay. Roger leads 3-1 on grass and 11-7 on hard court. Nadal beat Federer in the final at his best slam, Wimbledon in 2008, whereas Roger has never won more than 1 set in 4 Roland Garros finals against Rafa.

Djokovic leads Federer 27-23 overall. He leads 11-6 at slams, 13-6 in finals, 3-1 on grass, and 20-18 on hard court. They are tied 4-4 on clay. Djokovic leads 3-1 in the finals at Roger’s best slam.

Djokovic leads Nadal 29-27 overall. He leads 16-12 in finals and 20-7 on hard court. Nadal leads 10-6 at slams and 18-7 on clay.

Of his 20 slam wins, Nadal beat Federer 9 times and Djokovic 9 times on the path to the title. Of his 20 slam wins, Federer beat Nadal 3 times and Novak 4 times. Of his 17 slam wins, Djokovic beat Federer on the way 9 times and Nadal 5 times. On three occasions, Nadal beat both Federer and Nadal to win a slam, Djokovic had to beat the other two once to win a slam, and Federer never has.

Nadal has recorded straight-sets wins at slams 3 times against Djokovic, and on another occasion was 2 games from the same until one of Djokovic’s many retirements in that time. He also has 3 straight sets wins over Federer. Federer has 3 straight sets wins over Djokovic but has never beaten Nadal in straight sets at a slam. Djokovic has beaten Nadal in straight sets twice and Federer 4 times.

Federer has gone 8 years without a slam win against Djokovic, he is 0-6 against him since beating him at Wimbledon 2012. He went 10 years without a slam win against Nadal from beating him in the 2007 Wimbledon final to the 2017 Australian Open final, where he also went 0-6.

Nadal has never lost 2 slam matches in a row against Federer, he has lost 3 slam matches in a row against Djokovic twice. Djokovic has lost 4 slam matches in a row against Nadal twice, including their first 4 slam meetings. He has lost 2 in a row against Federer, their first 2 slam meetings.

The Tour

Federer’s ATP tour record stands at 1,242 wins against 271 defeats (82.1% win %), Nadal’s stands at 999 wins v 201 defeats (83.3%) and Djokovic’s stands at 930 wins v 189 losses (83.1%). Federer has won 103 tour titles and lost 54 finals, Nadal has won 86 finals and lost 37 and Novak has won 81 and lost 35.

Of Federer’s 103 titles, 28 are Masters 1000 titles (27%), where his final record stands at 28-22 (56%). 35 of Nadal’s 86 titles are Masters 1000 events (41%) and his final record is 35-16 (69%). 36 of Djokovic’s 81 titles are Masters 1000 events (44%) and his final record is 36-16 (69%). In 2018 Djokovic became the first player ever to win all 9 Masters 1000 tournaments and 2 years later he became the first to win them all twice which is a remarkable achievement given no one else has yet won them all once.

Federer has won 49 ATP Tour 500 or 250 events for the loss of just 16 finals. As the number suggests, these are usually easier to win than 1000 events.  Djokovic has won 23 500 or 250 events with 7 final defeats and Nadal has won a combined 30 of them with 11 final losses.

Of the 49 Federer won, 25 were 250 events, which is 7 more than Novak and Rafa won combined, these 2 evidently deciding more often than Roger that 250 tournaments were not challenging enough to be worth their time.

Rafael Nadal has 1 Olympic Gold Medal in the singles, which neither of the other two have. He has never won the ATP Tour Finals, losing one time each in the final against Federer and Djokovic. Federer has won it 6 times, beating Agassi, Hewitt, James Blake, David Ferrer, Nadal, and Jo Tsonga in the finals. Djokovic has won 5 beating Federer 3 times (once in a walkover), Nikolay Davydenko, and Nadal.

Up to this year, all 3 men have been year-end number 1 5 times. This year Djokovic will make it 6. Federer’s 5 years ending on top came between 2004 and 2009, Nadal’s between 2008 and 2019, and Djokovic’s between 2011 and soon to be 2020. Federer’s 237 consecutive weeks at number 1 will never be matched, though it looks certain Djokovic will beat his record of 310 total weeks. Nadal sits behind these guys on a total of 209 weeks at number 1, so it’s fair to say he hasn’t dominated the tour in the same way the other 2 have and that could be used against him in the argument for GOAT.

Conclusion

I believe Roger Federer to be the most fawned over sportsperson of all time, the media treat him as more God than a man in my opinion. He regularly tops GOAT tennis lists and also regularly features near the top of lists for the greatest athletes ever, always above players such as Serena Williams, Rafa Nadal, Steffi Graff, and Novak Djokovic. I have put these facts forward to counter these media opinions and also because there’s no chance of knowing these facts just from following tennis in the media, as they love Roger too much. So I present facts here, so you don’t have to go to the trouble of searching yourself and of which I think to present a fair picture of their careers.

The purpose of this piece is not to hate on Roger or play down his career but fairly cover it. He’s been a fantastic player, undoubtedly one of the best careers and talents the sport has ever seen or will ever see. As a player, I like him a lot. But I think Nadal and Djokovic have been better and I believe the stats bear that out.

Because they are not from the same era, with Roger being 5 & 6 years older respectively it is in some way difficult to fairly compare them. But it is those who cover tennis in the media who never acknowledge that much of what Roger has won at slams came before this big 3 era. And though it is not fair to expect a late 30s, Roger, to beat an early 30s Nadal or Djokovic in a slam (though he had a brilliant go against Novak in the 2019 Wimbledon Final) for much of their careers, Roger being 5 and 6 years has been more of an advantage or at least, certainly not a hindrance. And even then he has never dominated the pair, not even when he was in his mid-20s and they were just entering their 20s.

I believe currently that Rafael Nadal is the GOAT, and his victory on Sunday to put himself 3 clear of the man who I believe is in 2nd place on the men’s all-time great list, Novak Djokovic, was an extremely significant one. Had Djokovic closed the gap to just one behind Nadal by beating him on his best surface, becoming the first man to beat Nadal in either a final or a semi-final there, I believe the gap between them for GOAT would have been undoubtedly the smallest it’s ever been. But Nadal’s dominant victory gives him more breathing room for now.

The best slam years of Roger’s career were between 2006 and 2009, where he reached 15 finals and won 9. In that period, Nadal reached 7 finals and won 5. Novak reached 2 finals and won 1. The best slam years of Novak’s career were between 2011 and 2015. Identical to Roger’s best years, he reached 15 finals and won 9. Nadal reached 9 finals and won 5. Roger reached 5 and won 1. Nadal’s best years were 2010 to 2014 where he reached 12 finals and won 8. Novak at this time also reached 12 finals, winning 6. Roger reached 4 finals, winning 2. This highlights that Nadal is the only one of the big 3 to keep winning plenty of slams during his rival’s best years.

Nadal has also come closest to being the first man to win all 4 slams at least twice. He first had the opportunity to do it back in 2012, and he has twice been one set away from doing it. Since winning RG in 2009 and 2016 respectively, and needing one more to become the first man to win every slam twice, Roger and Novak have reached one final each and won one set between them. Though in fairness, Djokovic’s victory over Nadal in the 2019 Australian Open final shows it is only marginally more likely that Djokovic’s grip over it will slip before Nadal’s does at the French, it is still more likely all the same. If one of Rafa or Novak can become the first man to do that, they will strike a huge blow for themselves in the argument for Greatest of All Time.

Nadal has not won a set against Novak on hard court since beating him in the 2013 US Open final, Novak has won 19 consecutive sets and the 9 consecutive matches played between the pair on the surface since. This is a run that Nadal certainly could do with ending as soon as possible as the key slam in the race to retire on top could be the US Open. Rafa will always be the big favourite to win RG and the same for Djokovic at the Australian and at Wimbledon. Given Rafa’s current lead of 3, who is able to pick up more US Open’s in the future could be significant. Nadal has so far won 4 and Djokovic 3. Djokovic is 3-5 in the US Open finals, whilst being the only man to beat Nadal in the final there. They haven’t met at Flushing Meadows for 7 years with Nadal leading the H2H 2-1. Nadal won the title in 2017 and 2019, Djokovic was champion in the middle of that and runner-up in 2016. He was also the overwhelming favourite to take the 2020 title, due to winning all 29 of his matches that year until he was disqualified for whacking a line judge in the throat with the ball.

Instead, Dominic Thiem picked up the title and there was finally a new slam champion from the younger generation. As Nadal and Djokovic get older, there have been some signs that some younger players, in particular, Thiem might also be able to have some influence over the final number of these two phenomenal champions. At this years Australian Open, he dumped Nadal out in the Quarters and led Djokovic 2 sets to 1 in the final before succumbing. Thiem has won 4 of his last 6 matches against Djokovic and 4 of his last 9 v Nadal, and as a slam champion, he is certainly the man currently best placed to challenge them, though not the only one. Daniil Medvedev came from 2 sets down against Rafa in last years US Open final to lose in the 5th and Stefanos Tsitsipas did the same against Novak in the semis of this year’s French Open. As these younger players continue to improve, and Nadal and Djokovic move into their mid-30s, perhaps they will be able to go to that next step and win a slam semi or final against these guys, as it finally starts to become a little more conceivable that they could lose at that stage against someone from that younger generation.

As for Federer who turns 40 next year, it’s a big ask for him to reach 21 but to write him off completely from doing so would be premature, in his last 4 slams he has reached a Quarter, two semis and a final. At Wimbledon especially he still has a chance, there is only one name he needs to avoid there: Novak Djokovic. Aside from him, on the grass, Roger can still beat anyone.

31 thoughts on “Why Roger Federer isn’t the GOAT”

  1. There’s no doubt that numbers don’t lie and Nadal is currently the goat and djokovic is 2nd Federer 3rd, why on earth would people still say federers the goatz its ridiculous and its in black and white that he’s not the goat and hes retired now so djokovic and Nadal will pull away even further, sick of media pretending Federer is goat just because they want him to be and Federer won most of his titles during an era where it was easier to win, Nadal and djokovic done it in a much tougher era so that makes them even better players than Federer, fed was never able to keep rallies going like the big 2 did, Federer just relied on serve and volley, so how is that having a complete tennis game?

  2. @haydnliam96
    Hi,
    How could you ignore ‘Time’ which is the core of any ‘GOAT’ argument? Moreover, I see this article is very much against Roger. You should have done a deep dive on each of the players Statistics, Playing Style, Age, Racquet Used, Favorable draws, Injury & Disease etc., before drawing conclusion.

  3. There are far too many variables to objectify the GOAT; be it Nadal, Djokovic or Federer. Hell, you could even make a case that Sampras is the GOAT because he played in an era full of other superstars, thus making slam victories harder to come by.

    Nadal, being left handed, hits forehands into Federer’s weaker backhand…does that make him a better tennis play? He has been more inconsistent than Federer in most aspects, against most opposition over many, many years. Yet, he holds a superior record against Fed.

    Maybe Djokovic is ahead because he is younger and peaked at a time when Fed was ageing? It’s all hypotheticals. Maybe you’re right and Fed is not the GOAT? You just can’t come to a conclusion when so many variables exist.

    However, in the eyes of the Tennis public, regardless of what Djokovic or Nadal achieves, Federer’s humility and grace (both on and off the court) make him the sentimental favourite. More people will hold Fed in higher esteem in spite of all the statistics to the contrary and really that’s the measure of a man; not statistics, more what his fellow man (or woman) think of him. In that regard, he will always be the GOAT!

  4. The Federer cult will keep the blinders tight and skew the discussion so their boy is the GOAT no matter what.

    For years I heard “all that matters is who has the most Slam wins. But as Nadal as tied Federer, and Djokovic to surely pass them both, that mantra will morph into some other non sequitor.

    It what cultists do.

  5. The Federer cult will keep the blinders tight and skew the discussion so their boy is the GOAT no matter what.

    For years I heard “all that matters is who has the most Slam wins. But as Nadal as tied Federer, and Djokovic to surely pass them both, that mantra will morph into some other non sequitor.

    It what cultists do.

  6. You addressed the age argument but didn’t even address it properly. In that 2014-15 period when federer made 3 slam finals and lost all 3 to Djokovic, he was 33-34 whilst Djokovic was 27-28, that is a huge advantage skewing their h2h in slam finals. Furthermore, their overall h2h got skewed during and after this period as well when Djokovic was in his prime of 25-30 and federer well over 30 yrs old.
    Then if you want to say that the era federer won majority of his grand slams was weak, then equally as weak in the 2018-2021 era Djokovic was won 7 slams and counting, zverev just comitted 20 double faults in one match (Wimbledon 2021 fourth round), he doesn’t have a serve, tsitsipas lost a 2-0 set lead in a slam final, Medvedev got easily beaten in 2021 aus open final and none of them are really consistent performers, thiem has dropped off as well. So don’t use a weak era argument when Djokovic is profiting as much as federer.

    And lastly, h2h with nadal is skewed because federer was good enough to meet nadal on multiple clay finals during 2005-09 whilst nadal never good enough to regularly meet federer on hard finals and the fact that there’s 3 clay masters but none on grass skews the h2h and masters 1000 count as well. So this all contributes to making an unbiased argument.

    1. Another factor here is that Wimbledon slowed down the courts to cater to players like Nadal and Djokovic, had they done that earlier Iven Lendl would have won a few Wimbledon as well.
      It would have been very difficult for both Nadal and Djokovic to have won Wimbledon had the grass stayed as fast as it was in the Sampras, Berker, and before that, era.
      Wimbledon has done a disservice to the tournament by slowing down the grass, it is a regular tournament now, no difference, the era of serve/volley players has been shot.

  7. You addressed the age argument but didn’t even address it properly. In that 2014-15 period when federer made 3 slam finals and lost all 3 to Djokovic, he was 33-34 whilst Djokovic was 27-28, that is a huge advantage skewing their h2h in slam finals. Furthermore, their overall h2h got skewed during and after this period as well when Djokovic was in his prime of 25-30 and federer well over 30 yrs old.
    Then if you want to say that the era federer won majority of his grand slams was weak, then equally as weak in the 2018-2021 era Djokovic was won 7 slams and counting, zverev just comitted 20 double faults in one match (Wimbledon 2021 fourth round), he doesn’t have a serve, tsitsipas lost a 2-0 set lead in a slam final, Medvedev got easily beaten in 2021 aus open final and none of them are really consistent performers, thiem has dropped off as well. So don’t use a weak era argument when Djokovic is profiting as much as federer.

    And lastly, h2h with nadal is skewed because federer was good enough to meet nadal on multiple clay finals during 2005-09 whilst nadal never good enough to regularly meet federer on hard finals and the fact that there’s 3 clay masters but none on grass skews the h2h and masters 1000 count as well. So this all contributes to making an unbiased argument.

  8. NADAL is the GOAT of CLAY and the French Open!

    DJOKOVIC is the GOAT at the Australian Open!

    FEDERER is the GOAT of all Time! About to be 40 and still playing and still in the top 10 and the oldest to reach the Quarterfinals ever at Wimbledon! Drop the Mic!

  9. NADAL is the GOAT of CLAY and the French Open!

    DJOKOVIC is the GOAT at the Australian Open!

    FEDERER is the GOAT of all Time! About to be 40 and still playing and still in the top 10 and the oldest to reach the Quarterfinals ever at Wimbledon! Drop the Mic!

  10. Good article. Hard to read as a Federer fan, but good, solid, relevant information. That said, I think part of what makes Roger recognized as the tennis GOAT is his personality and demeanor. He is very classy, and truly a gentleman. At no point in his career do I remember him being arrogant, rude, or mean toward other players, judges, reporters, fans, etc. He is just an all-around nice and likable guy. Both Djokovich and Nadal, on the other hand, have edges to their personalities, have at times appeared self-centered and rude, and generally unlikable. Nadal has become less so over the years, probably because of his friendship with Roger, whom I believe has been a type of role model and influencer in Rafa’s life. That relationship they have with one another is different than either of them have with Novak. So it seems like maybe Novak’s past arrogance was in response to the Roger-Rafa friendly rivalry, as a way of forcing himself into the mix.

    1. No point in roger’s career he didnt become a sore loser?? Really?? The media just portrays him to be classy and elegant lmfao. Go watch the post-match presscon he had after losing to novak at 2011 us open, despite having 2 match points.

  11. Good article. Hard to read as a Federer fan, but good, solid, relevant information. That said, I think part of what makes Roger recognized as the tennis GOAT is his personality and demeanor. He is very classy, and truly a gentleman. At no point in his career do I remember him being arrogant, rude, or mean toward other players, judges, reporters, fans, etc. He is just an all-around nice and likable guy. Both Djokovich and Nadal, on the other hand, have edges to their personalities, have at times appeared self-centered and rude, and generally unlikable. Nadal has become less so over the years, probably because of his friendship with Roger, whom I believe has been a type of role model and influencer in Rafa’s life. That relationship they have with one another is different than either of them have with Novak. So it seems like maybe Novak’s past arrogance was in response to the Roger-Rafa friendly rivalry, as a way of forcing himself into the mix.

  12. One thing you fail to acknowledge is that Roger Federer broke through the previous dominant set (Sampras, Agassi and all the other greats at the turn of the century) AND THEN continued to compete and raise his game to stay competitive with the newcomers. Most of the other main three players started after that breakthrough.

    1. Sorry but that’s just not true. Sampras retired in 2002 when Federer was yet to reach a slam semi, they only ever played 1 match. Agassi was still around but a long way past his best. And I’m not sure who counts as all the other greats at the turn of the century: Safin, Hewitt, Roddick? I wouldn’t consider them greats by a long stretch.

  13. Sometimes it is not all about stats. Discerning eyes can recognize greatness when they see it. At their respective bests, I think he would have beaten any other player in history. I think some people instinctively know that, hence the GOAT thing. It’s much like trying to convince me that Tom Brady is a GOAT because of his championships etc. I know he is not the greatest QB I have seen, but that’s my opinion and prerogative.

  14. One thing you fail to acknowledge is that Roger Federer broke through the previous dominant set (Sampras, Agassi and all the other greats at the turn of the century) AND THEN continued to compete and raise his game to stay competitive with the newcomers. Most of the other main three players started after that breakthrough.

  15. One thing you fail to acknowledge is that Roger Federer broke through the previous dominant set (Sampras, Agassi and all the other greats at the turn of the century) AND THEN continued to compete and raise his game to stay competitive with the newcomers. Most of the other main three players started after that breakthrough.

  16. Sometimes it is not all about stats. Discerning eyes can recognize greatness when they see it. At their respective bests, I think he would have beaten any other player in history. I think some people instinctively know that, hence the GOAT thing. It’s much like trying to convince me that Tom Brady is a GOAT because of his championships etc. I know he is not the greatest QB I have seen, but that’s my opinion and prerogative.

    1. Of course it’s about stats, Federer is getting left behind more and more now in titles numbers, they don’t lie and that’s because he’s not as good as the big 2

  17. Nadal is of the big 3 the one who has less weeks as number 1,no Atp finals,he has never defended one title out of Clay, Without Roland Garros he has won just 7 grand Slams,he is the goat of Clay,but not overall

  18. Nadal is of the big 3 the one who has less weeks as number 1,no Atp finals,he has never defended one title out of Clay, Without Roland Garros he has won just 7 grand Slams,he is the goat of Clay,but not overall

  19. Lets take e look at World Cup of Tennis (Davis Cup) ..
    When every athlete have the chance to rise his nation flag as the Best .no one can compare to Rafa .especially in Tennis..
    Rafa Nadal held the record for 34 winning streak in a row combine single and double game in Davis Cup .the result is he have 5 Davis Cup trophy .. (Federer & Djokovic each 1 trophy) .
    You cant argue that you have a weak partner ..
    Because if you have a weak partner then you have to win all of your game. But they dont..
    But Rafa Nadal will unbeatable play in single or double game for 15 years Davis cup competition .imagine that..
    Undefeated for 15 years whebever he play to represebt his country.
    This record never happen since Davis Cup history in 120 years ..
    Remember that.
    Undefeated for 15 years in a row i..

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