I would rather listen to, read the opinion and agree with Ivan Lendl than agree with the majority of completely biased and popularity based Federer fans. But after further analysis, I have noticed that he is a cheater: He frequently distracts the opponent by telling him that he is not ready. In 2018 and 2019, Halep won her first two Grand Slam singles titles and also reached the … Rod Laver would have won the most Grand Slam titles of all time had professionals been allowed to play in Grand Slam tournaments from 1963 to 1968. Who can forget his epic battles with Andre Agassi that made the 1990s a great decade for tennis? They have been doing that for their whole careers, regardless of whether they play the best players in the world or qualifiers who they beat easily. With the likes of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, and others, there were plenty of personalities to fuel the rivalries that took place on and off the court. If I were a professional tennis player as good as those 3 players, the only evidence I need is Grand Slam singles titles won. If we divide the No of GS on hard courts by 2 then Nadal is GOAT, but it is only the intelectual game. Yesterday, I read in my local newspaper and I quote that "Had Djokovic won the US Open he would have moved to 18 Grand Slam titles, one behind Nadal and two behind Roger Federer in the battle for all-time greatness". Granted he has two Olympic Gold Medals, but his results, while good, do not place him in my top ten all-time. Nadal, Djokovic and Laver are the greatest tennis players of all time. Seven Grand Slam singles titles plus an amazing seventeen Grand Slam doubles titles are pretty impressive. The Tennis Code of Conduct committee believes there is absolutely no case to answer for both Nadal and Djokovic. He is not the greatest. I only care about who will end up winning the most Grand Slam singles titles. What they have achieved over a tougher and shorter Grand Slam tournament career is far more impressive than Federer. Should be some great tennis in the years ahead. It reminded of the Federer v Nadal match ups where Zverev was the Federer with the all court game and Thiem was the Nadal with the great ground strokes and amazing fighting spirit. That will make the happiest person in the world. That's why I think Nole has a slightly more chances specially if he develop his attack game near the net like "late" RF did. Spanish tennis player Enrique Lopez Perez was banned for eight years on Tuesday for fixing matches at tournaments in 2017. Gonzalo, you are just trying to make ridiculous excuses for Federer losing to Nadal and Djokovic in Grand Slam tournaments. Answer: When their careers are over I think Novak will have the most Grand Slams and will be considered the great of all-time. But, without a French Open title, or even a final, how do we decide where he belongs in the list of best ever. 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 4 Australian, 2 French, 2 US Open, 15 Pro Majors: 2 US Pro, 5 Wembley Pro, 8 French Pro, 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 4 Australian, 1 French, 2 US Open, 1 Wimbledon, 7 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 3 Wimbledon, 4 US Open, 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 1 Australian, 2 Wimbledon, 5 US Open, 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 2 Australian, 3 French, 3 US Open, 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 6 French, 5 Wimbledon, 14 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 2 Australian, 7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open, 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 3 Australian, 2 French, 2 US Open, 4 Wimbledon, 9 Pro Slam Singles Titles: 3 US Pro, 4 Wembley Pro, 1 French Pro, 1 Wimbledon Pro, 17 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 8 Australian, 5 Wimbledon, 3 US Open, 1 French Open, Resides: Manacor, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, 20 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 1 Australian, 13 French, 4 US Open, 2 Wimbledon, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist - Beijing Summer Olympics, 20 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 6 Australian, 1 French, 5 US Open, 8 Wimbledon. There were a lot of great players who have come and gone, many who definitely deserve to be remembered and talked about. Answer: Novak is certainly making a case to be considered among the top three all-time players. It was before my time, but it sounds like he could match it with Connors and the like. I won't lose sleep over it since it means so much to Federer fans. He missed more GS tournaments during 2012-2016, than he did from 2006-2011. As far as Rod Laver is concerned, he can be named the GPOEOAT, Greatest Pre Open Era Of All Time! To date, Laver remains the only player to have twice won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments during the same calendar year. Anyone who says otherwise is talking complete nonsense! Ian, I read that interview with Ivan Lendl too. Federer has lost the biggest matches in Grand Slam tournaments to Nadal and Djokovic in the past, because Nadal and Djokovic have played better than Federer. Federer is only number 1 on polls because he is the most popular. I agree that No of GS is the most important (from the tennis point of view) factor but staying at No 1 for additional 2 years is a great achivement and should be seriously take under consideration when we talk about GOAT. Question: Don't you think there are some older players we don't talk much about like Arthur Ashe or even older, Rene Lacoste? Here’s how to avoid the ticket touts and see live tennis. He was the world’s top-ranked player for four years, and held the number one ranking in the world for 270 weeks, a record in that day. Show that to any person in the sports media, and you’ll be laughed at. Answer: I think without a doubt that Rafael Nadal is the best player to ever play on clay. Roger certainly had his chances to secure Grand Slam number 21, a loss that will haunt him with limited opportunities remaining, but he is setting a new level for excellence at an age when most players have long since retired. Even Novak Djokovic also has shown unprofessional conduct by appearing extremely tired and therefore distracting purposely the opponent. All I have been saying is I want Nadal to end up winning more Grand Slam titles than Federer. Answer: At Wimbledon 2018 Roger Federer let a two set lead over Kevin Anderson get away from him and wound up losing in five sets in the quarter-finals. When Nadal, Djokovic and Murray started their careers, they had to play each other at their peak, as well as Federer. Here is my list of the top 10 female tennis players of the Open Era. Ivan Lendl is RIGHT. Actually, Serena Williams is the best When considering who deserves to be named as “the best tennis player of all time,” gender should be left out of the discussion (although it usually isn’t). Proportion 1Y=2GS gives approx. I strongly believe you can only go by who ends up with the most Grand Slam singles titles after all 3 have retired. I do think that the five-set match is a fair determination of who is better in a head to head match, and certainly, a player's level of physical conditioning is an important part of how good a player they are. Good try but you will NEVER change my mind. We'll also looks at some honorable mentions and best players by position. At 34 years of age, the fiery Spaniard, known as Rafa and “The King of Clay,” already has 20 Grand Slam titles and certainly has the potential to pass Roger Federer. Roger only 1 French Open. Nothing you or any other Federer fan will say will convince Nadal and Djokovic fans otherwise! Really, you are living in a fantasy world. Dominic, why not? Question: If Nadal has beaten Federer more than the reverse, how can you justify Federer as the best player? He has a losing head to head record to Nadal and Djokovic. Winning the 2018 Australian Open after his outstanding 2017 season that saw him win Wimbledon and the Australian Open prove without a doubt that Roger Federer is indeed the greatest of all-time. AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili Arguably the best player in tennis today, Simona Halep has been a pro player since 2006 but started to really dominate the game in the past few years. THE END. Answer: If Djokovic stays healthy and continues to play the way he is capable of playing I think he will exceed Nadal's GS titles and will eventually find himself as Number 2 all-time. Also, although Nadal leads in head-to-head matches 23-15, 13 of those wins came on clay where Nadal is very much at home and is the best on that surface. Certainly the one who wins them in shorter period of time. He made an audible obscenity to a female umpire during the Australian Open and got a warning. 335 tennis records compared to 164 for 2nd place Nadal. It is the greatest test of all, with best of 5 set matches. It’s just not fair! Example: Rafa Nadal has 10% more GS than Nole and at the same time Nole has 33% more weeks as a world No 1 than Rafa. IT IS MY AND IVAN LENDL’S OPINION ONLY. Top 25, perhaps. Nadal’s 12 Grand Slam titles on clay currently is in front of both Djokovic and Federer’s combined 11 Grand Slam singles each on hardcourt, from 2 Grand Slam tournaments in the US Open and Australian Open for Djokovic and Federer. He really looked like being the next big thing and an injury free Del Potro definitely had the ability to win at least 21 Grand Slam singles titles in the same era as Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. Question: If Federer is the greatest men's tennis player, why was he never able to beat Nadal on the clay? Rod Laver, who won the calendar Grand Slam twice and missed 6 years at his peak between 1962 and 1968 having been banned from playing Grand Slam tournaments as he had turned professional and he probably would have ended up with 25 Grand Slam singles titles overall, had he played in Grand Slam tournaments from 1962 to 1968 inclusive. His injuries started not long after he beat Roger Federer in the US Open singles final of 2008, aged 20 at the time. Of course, Rod has always been a model when it comes to professional values. Maybe from his point of view GOAT is not worth to argue about, because GS statistics is much more important to him. Federer holds the advantage on hard courts and grass. Djokovic should've at least held an edge over Nadal, on his best surface (HC). I only care about the Grand Slam singles ladder, rather than the so called, still don’t believe in it, GOAT rankings. There's no point rushing. Mats was a great player, but I don’t think he belongs in the top 10 all-time. I still have and shall only care about who ends up winning the most Grand Slam singles titles AFTER all 3 of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have retired. Both had long careers, well over 100 titles, and were ranked number 1 in the world for many years. Ever found yourself wondering how the men's tennis ranking works? If you want you can laugh at my ideas. I typed that it is not real because underestimates Nadal. Federer is not the greatest. Question: Why is Marcelo Ríos missing from the list of top 10 greatest men's tennis players of all time? It’s an unfair advantage. Serena Williams is arguably the best female professional tennis player in the history of the game. In fact, Nadal recorded more GS than Djokovic did on all 3 surfaces, by 2010. There are no prizes or trophies for the GOAT but there are trophies for Grand Slam titles. Novak also used to have other aggressive actions such as breaking apart his shirt, etc. Question: What do you think, if Novak gets the same number of Grand Slams as Federer, should we consider him the best of all time? Given that Laver was ranked number one in the world during this five-year period, it’s likely he would have won many more Grand Slam titles. Question: If Rafa and Federer end up retiring with the same number of Grand Slam Championships, who would be considered the GOAT? He has shown that he is capable of beating anyone including Federer and Djokovic. Year end number 1 or a great number of weeks at number 1 is nice for the top players, but they would happily trade it for an extra Grand Slam singles title. That’s just the nature of tennis! With a strung of 10.4 ounces, this racket is perfect not only for middle-level players but also for special beginners who need a good tool to learn the game. The committee believes that individuals like yourself are entitled to their opinion like anyone else but Federer has been asked his opinion and more importantly, he accepts the behaviour of both Nadal and Djokovic. His career faded way too early for me to consider him top 10. You can hate them. I would argue that Federer would not have won as many Grand Slam singles titles as he did, had both Djokovic and Nadal started their careers at the same time. He achieved some great results at a young age at a time when the level of competition was quite high. i think rafael nadal is the best or djokovic if pick 1 i pick nadel. Rafa is head and shoulders above Federer. Question: Why is Ken Rosewall not on this list? Both Nadal and Djokovic are ACHIEVERS only. With those killer ground strokes and returns of serve, no top-10 list would be complete without Andre Agassi. Answer: Boris Becker was a great tennis player, just not top 10. You may not be the greatest, but you are still great. Pure GS numbers suggest that Rafa is close to RF, but in my opinion he needs at least 22GS to surpass RF. Yes he is! No one dominated tennis more during the mid-1970s than Jimmy Connors. Rod Laver is the Greatest Tennis Player of All Time. Plan ahead to get fairly priced tickets for next summer's Wimbledon championships. Ivan Lendl’s opinion means much more to me or than yours or anyone else. Laver was the greatest player of the pre 1970s Open era. What makes moving up for him difficult is that Rod Laver, who many people have never seen play, was really a great player and one of the few from that era that I think would give today's greats a run for their money. Nadal and Djokovic have won their Grand Slam titles in a much quicker timeframe than Federer. Let the race for the most Grand Slam singles titles begin and continue! Your logic is pathetic! But here we discuss about GOAT which is a kind of intellectual game for fun. © 2020 ESPN Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Wimbledon’s tennis’s biggest prize. Congratulations Rod Laver on being named The Greatest Male Tennis Player of All Time and may the Stadium named after him, The Rod Laver Arena, continue to go from strength to strength. Ivan Lendl, I agree only with you. In my book Bjorn Borg could have been a top five all-time had he continued to play and not retired while seemingly in the prime of his career. Nadal has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles from 59 Grand Slam tournaments played. Nadal is the best. Question: How many Grand Slam singles titles has Roger Federer won? Hhfan, your statistical data are purely based on assumption. The Master Series Events are compulsory for the top players and although they like to win, many of them would rather play less of them, as it’s a very long season, especially pre the Coronavirus pandemic. At 33 years of age and in the late prime years of his career, Djokovic is clearly the best player in the world at the moment and has the potential to win many more Grand Slam titles. Based on his body of work to date, he has certainly made the case that he is deserving of a top three all-time. He was briefly ranked number 1 in the world in 1998, but he failed to win a Grand Slam championship and has only 18 career titles to his resume. When Pete retired in 2002, he was considered to be the best player of all-time although some would dispute this. In the end, it won’t matter what anybody says about who is the greatest male or female tennis player of all time. Some of them say that GOAT doesn't count at all because No of GS singles titles only counts. As the one and only Ivan Lendl said, he’s not at all interested in the polls and who people vote for as the Greatest of All Time, he’s only interested in the Grand Slam singles results and who will eventually end up with the most Grand Slam singles titles. He admitted that Federer is currently leading the race but said it won’t be decided until they have all stopped competing in Grand Slam tournaments. When you least expect it, good things can happen. IMHO Weeks at ATP No 1 is one of the biggest advantages of Federer against Nadal. From 2004 to 2008, Federer went 237 consecutive weeks being ranked number one in the world, a record that may never be surpassed. Serena Williams could not care less how many WTA tournaments she has won or how long she was Number 1. By Suyk, Koen / Anefo via Wikimedia Commons. She is only 17 years old and won 6 sets against the current best female tennis player in the world (in my books anyway) right now (BIANCA ANDREESCU) at the US OPEN. Gonzalo, Federer always has the crowd cheering much more for him. I say Rod Laver is the greatest player of all time for having won the calendar Grand Slam twice. Don’t forget that Rafa would have had at least 22 to 23 Grand Slam singles titles by now, if not for injuries prior to and during Grand Slam tournaments. Ivan Lendl and I are only interested in who ends with the most Grand Slam singles titles. With 17 Grand Slam titles already under his belt, he certainly has the potential to surpass Nadal’s and Federer’s total of 20. In tennis you can go for games without seeing something truly outstanding. Gonzalo, you’re a very bad sport. Answer: Following completion of the U.S. Open, I plan on updating both the men’s and women’s top 10. Wilson Blade Team Tennis Racquet-(Best Lightweight Tennis Racquet) Wilson offers racquets with fast performance, playable spin-capability, and controllable energy. Few grand slams to Djokovic and few more wins vs. Fed and Nadal (so the score can be even better), and for me, he is the goat with no doubt. The competition from other aspirants from many countries is of the highest possible standard. Although he’ll be 32 in the next few weeks, he’s younger than Murray, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. I have had a lifelong passion for the game of tennis from my days as a competitive youth player to now following the world's top players. Game set and match to Nadal and Djokovic. Answer: Absolutely. The 1990s really was a great time for tennis. It has absolutely nothing to do with cheating. Yet, Federer still loses the majority of the big matches to Djokovic and Nadal for most of his career. Gonzalo, your logic is absolutely ridiculous. It is not the reason Federer loses to them. There will be another. That is not acceptable at all because Rafael must get ready within a few seconds. With a career that started in the early 1950s and ended with his retirement in 1980, the quick and agile Aussie was renowned for his backhand and crisp and accurate volleying. Presumably, Federer will be retired by then, possibly also Nadal, but we will have to wait and see. Believe me, the top tennis players only really care who wins the most Grand Slam singles titles. I used to be for Rafael Nadal. Tyran, you seem to take delight in mentioning what Federer did when he was younger. It was only 2 years ago he was ranked than 3 in the world and made the semi finals of the French Open 2 years ago. To me, those factors made Djokovic's path towards his greater success was easier than that of Federer and Nadal. As both players are still competing for things could certainly change, but for that to happen, I think Nadal needs to prove his head-to-head dominance on hard/fast surfaces. Although 21 Grand Slam singles titles is way out of range for Del Potro now, he could yet win his 2nd Grand Slam singles title, should his body hold up. Federer is a CHEAT. With the fact that Novak is much better than Rafael on hard courts and grass courts, Novak makes his point. Novak Djokovic is on top of the tennis world. And yes, there are other famous tennis players that have behaved really bad on court. Mike McCune, CC BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Tough call. via Wikimedia Commons. Improving: The best surface to improve as a tennis player. As a massive Rafa fan, I just want him to end up with more Grand Slam titles than Federer, because he deserves it in a 5 year less Grand Slam career than Federer. His dominating performance at the 2020 Australian Open and his epic 5-set win against Roger Federer at the 2019 Wimbledon Championship makes it clear that Djokovic is the best player in the world at the moment. This behavior has never EVER seen from Roger Federer. Answer: Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles as of the end of 2019. I would probably place him in the top 20, maybe even top 15. Gonzalo, You Cannot Be Serious! 2) Bjorn Borg retired very early - it was his decision, not injury. His eight Grand Slam titles combined with 15 Major Championships undoubtedly qualifies Rosewall a place in tennis immortality. At least in fairness, Roy Emerson, who cashed in on winning Grand Slam singles titles in Rod Laver’s absence, was not named in the Greatest Of All Time List. Of course future is unnown, but I can try to draw some conclusion. Both Nadal and Djokovic are greater tennis players than Roger Federer. Answer: I think the edge would go to Roger Federer. Of course, Juan Martin Del Potro won the US Open in 2009 when it was least expected. The Security Guards at future tennis matches between the pair will be more vigilant. Even Ivan Lendl. Mr Djokovic has complained about the crowd behaviour towards him in matches against Federer, which he claims is unfair advantage to Federer.