There’s a woodpecker, wolf and bear as well
Over the recent past there has been (almost) unanimous consensus that Roger Federer is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in tennis. Records of 17 major titles, 302 weeks as world number one and many others are flaunted to present Federer’s case as the GOAT. Everything seemed well wrapped up and in the pocket until the goat met the shepherd: Rafael Nadal.
Last Sunday Nadal won his 14th major title at Roland Garros and is three short of Federer now. He also leads the overall ATP Masters 1000 titles with 27; Federer has 21. Nadal also has an Olympic Gold medal and four Davis Cup titles to Federer’s zero each. Most crucially for the goat-shepherd rivalry, the Spaniard has beaten the Swiss 23 times in their 33 meetings and has won 9 of their 11 Grand Slam meetings. The goat’s “goatness” comes into serious question here.
Furthermore, it needs to be considered that most of Federer’s 302 weeks as world number 1 and 17 major titles came between 2003 and 2007, where his toughest competition was Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, an aging Andre Agassi and a teenaged Nadal, who was still finding his feet outside clay. Case in point: A much improved Andy Roddick barely clung on to the top ten after 2008, while he won a major and was the World Number One in 2003.
The shepherd meanwhile has had to deal with the goat throughout his career, not to mention the likes of Novak Djokovic (Woodpecker) and Andy Murray (Wolf). The goat has a losing head to head record against the wolf, and might have one against the woodpecker as well once his career is done.
With Wimbledon coming up next Sunday, the tournament has a lot of bearing on not only the goatness and shepherdness, but also the peckerness and wolfness of tennis. Especially since pecker now has Becker, and has been without a major for a year and a half. The wolf is the defending champion.
The shepherd’s nine French Open titles seem to skew his number towards clay (but apparently the goat’s nine hard court majors don’t). A third Wimbledon title would make Nadal the only man in the history of the sport to win at least three majors on all three surfaces.
Four of the woodpecker’s six majors have come Down Under. Although a title at Roland Garros to complete a career grand slam is what he really craves, he would need majors elsewhere as well, to bolster his credentials as one of the all time greats of tennis.
The wolf would want to add to his two major titles and a third would put him among the contemporary best players. A successful Wimbledon defence would give him three out of the recent eight majors, with three other held by the shepherd, one each by the woodpecker and bear (Stan Wawrinka).
The bear would want to prove that he is not a one slam wonder, and that he can be successful on surfaces other than hard and clay as well. A Wimbledon triumph for the bear would maybe see him usurp the goat’s place in a new Big Four of tennis.
For the goat, this might just be the last chance to add to his record major titles. A win over the shepherd en route to Wimbledon title might put the GOAT debate to bed. 18 majors might be too many for the shepherd to chase down. A win for the shepherd, though, would make his case even stronger. 18-14 or 17-15, those are the numbers we are looking at in case of a goat or a shepherd win respectively.
The writer runs a Facebook page called I Hate Federer and has never picked a tennis raquet in his life. All side effects of reading The Horizontal Column are the readers’ own headache.
Why Nadal Is The Greatest Tennis Player Ever.
The majority of mainstream media has projected Federer to be the best ever tennis player. However, we must NOT judge greatness based only on the number of Grand Slams won. The 3 most important criteria are: Head to head record, Level playing field & Quality vs Quantity.
H2H record: Unlike team sports, tennis is a one-on-one game. So if you are suppose to be the "Greatest of All Time" then you MUST necessarily win more than 50% of your matches against your greatest rival — you need to win when it matters most. To date, Nadal has won aprox. 70% of his matches against Federer. Furthermore, Nadal has won 80% of his matches against Federer during the all important grand slam events — it includes winning 3 of 3 matches on the grand slam hard courts. Isn't hard court suppose to be Federer's preferred court ? So why was the "Greatest Player of All Time" NOT able to beat Nadal during the 2009 Australian Open even though Fed had one extra day's rest and Nadal having just completed a semi final on a record 5 hour match against Verdasco ? Going into that 2009 GS, Federer was heavily favored to win the match — but it wasn't to be because it was against the true Greatest Player of All Time 🙂
Level Playing Field: There is only one slow court grand slam and three fast court grand slams on grass and hard court. Historically, players good in hard court are also good in grass but not good in clay in part because both hard courts and grass courts are fast courts. Imagine if we have a level playing field for grand slams: two grass and two clay Grand Slams. You would see Fed with around 16 Grand Slams and Nadal with around 22 Grand Slams.
Quality vs Quantity: A 'Greatest Ever' player must NOT be defined by numerous wins againt historically insignificant players like Mark Philippoussis, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis, Fernando González and Lleyton Hewitt. 11 of Fed's 17 Grand Slams were during the weak Era from 2004-2007 against average players. At age 22, Nadal finally mastered the fast court game and thus the Golden Era began. During the Golden Era, Fed has only 6 GS titles and Nadal has 11.
Nadal has won four more Davis Cups than Federer's zero. Or that Nadal has won Olympic gold in singles and Federer hasn't.
Now Rafa has become the only player to win at least one Grand Slam for 10 straight years — more consistent that Federer.
Finally, the 2008 Wimbledon Grass Court Grand Slam is considered by most to be the Greatest Tennis Match Ever — and who won this greatest tennis match ever ? Of course, none other than the Greatest Tennis Player Ever — Rafa Nadal !! 🙂
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