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| Photo by AFP |
The GOAT argument- greatest of all time. A timeless discussion among all fans on the greatest in a particular sport. For most professional leagues, these debates have potential for a couple viable options. On the tennis front, I personally don't think this is a discussion anymore. That title has been officially earned by Rafael Nadal.
After claiming his 14th French Open last month, the Spaniard is alone atop the list of most men's singles Grand Slams with 22-- two ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The twenty year ATP veteran has an impeccable 1062-212 record, good for fourth most wins of all-time behind Ivan Lendl (1068), Federer (1251) and Jimmy Connors (1274). He should undoubtedly reach third on that list before the end of his career, but at the ripe age of 36 it seems unlikely that he'll be able to surpass Connors or his longtime rival.
Rafa's career will forever be aligned with two of the previously mentioned stars above: Djokovic and Federer. Beginning his career in 1998, Roger stormed onto the scene as the most dominant tennis player of the 2000's, seizing control from greats at the time Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. The main blemishes on his resume during this decade were his matches vs. Nadal, whom he went 7-13 against- accounting for roughly 10% of his losses. For almost ten years, Rafael was the only consistent kryptonite to Federer's greatness and completely owned him on clay.
The rise of Djokovic has added the most difficult challenger for Nadal to overcome throughout his career. Making his pro debut in 2003, Novak went 3-7 vs. Rafa in their first ten showdowns. Their next ten matches would keep that same pace before 2011 saw the Joker victorious in seven straight matchups. Djokovic currently has the edge over the Spaniard in overall record 30-29, with a 15-13 record in tournament finals matches.
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| Photo by Christophe Ena- AP |
Nadal Career Records
| Clay Court | Hard Court | Grass Court | Overall |
Vs. Federer | 14-2 | 9-11 | 1-3 | 24-16 |
Vs. Djokovic | 20-8 | 7-20 | 2-2 | 29-30 |
So why does Nadal deserve the GOAT nod over Novak when the records clearly show it to be closely otherwise? Longevity, first and foremost. This one is currently fluid, given how much longer each player decides to compete for, but two more top tier years under his belt boosts Nadal's resume. Rafa also owns the record for most majors won without dropping a set, with four (Wikipedia). Combined with the Spaniard's absolute dominance at Roland Garros, a 112-3 record on the clay courts, it's hard to find more consistently dominant player when in his element.
Despite some of the aforementioned greats like Connors, Agassi and Sampras, the top three all-time tennis players hail from this most recent "Golden Era" of tennis. Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are undeniably the cream of the crop in the ATP record books. I would argue Novak has had the more dominant stretches over time, specifically 2010-2011, but Nadal has the stronger overall resume, making him the greatest to ever swing the racket, in my eyes anyway. Feel free to tell me otherwise.
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@Choppinglines
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