Greatest Tennis Player

Tenderness and Girth

Who is it?

In my opinion it's Federer, If Nadal wins a few WTFs and a few more non clay slams I might change my opinion.

There are other good candiates too, namely Borg, Sampras, Connors, Lendl etc.

Rob2D

There's too many you could name, and still be considered right. No point arguing it IMO.

whiterebel

Point was made today about Borg retiring so early at 26. If he'd have gone on, there may not have been a discussion....

mickmackey1

At the end of the day no player has completely dominated on all surfaces so there's no unanimous answer... Rod Laver did win the calender Grand Slam both as a pro and amateur, which nobody has matched since.

Presumably the 'all-time' tournament would be held on a hard court as it is the most widely-used surface, and personally I think the winner would be... Sampras.

clappyhappy

I think Pete Sampras,!!'

Greywolf eating cookies

Federer for me, 302 weeks at number 1, 17 slams, 6 WTFs, the list goes on.

Pighead

Greywolf eating cookies wrote: »

Federer for me, 302 weeks at number 1, 17 slams, 6 WTFs, the list goes on.

Federer's claim for best ever is diminished slightly by his head to head record with Nadal. Even peak Federer struggled against Nadal and more often than not Nadal came out on top in matches between the pair.

walshb

Very difficult question to answer but it's hard to look past Federer's longevity and consistency. Yes, he has a losing record vs. Nadal, but clay makes up almost 50 percent of their matches. On hard and grass it's razor close.

Pighead

walshb wrote: »

Very difficult question to answer but it's hard to look past Federer's longevity and consistency. Yes, he has a losing record vs. Nadal, but clay makes up almost 50 percent of their matches. On hard and grass it's razor close.

Indoor makes up almost half of Fed's victories. On hard outdoor courts Nadal has a much better record than Fed which is kind of surprising. Indoor and grass are probably Fed's optimal surfaces whilst clay and hard courts are Nadal's favourites.

Da Shins Kelly

Roger Federer for me simply because of the beauty of his game. At his very best, he is a player of vision.

AlanG

Pighead wrote: »

Federer's claim for best ever is diminished slightly by his head to head record with Nadal. Even peak Federer struggled against Nadal and more often than not Nadal came out on top in matches between the pair.

If Nadal had been good enough to meet Federer more often the stats would be different. Often Nadal was knocked out before he earned the right to play RF. The fact that Federer got to play Nadal so often on Clay shows how a great player he is, possibly one of the top 3 clay players of all time.

In my opinion greatest is between Rod Laver and Federer.

Alfred Borden

Federer for me too. Watching him in full pump was probably one of the greatest sights in all sport. Truly awesome player.

metrosity

Tenderness and Girth wrote: »

Who is it?

In my opinion it's Federer, If Nadal wins a few WTFs and a few more non clay slams I might change my opinion.

There are other good candiates too, namely Borg, Sampras, Connors, Lendl etc.

Pete Samprass - he was the first of the drone variant - the machine that couldn't lose. Federer et. al were later upgrade cyborg models.

tomdempsey200

metrosity wrote: »

Pete Samprass - he was the first of the drone variant - the machine that couldn't lose. Federer et. al were later upgrade cyborg models.

and then came the Nadal V Djokovic freakshow..

King Kong v Godzilla

walshb

AlanG wrote: »

If Nadal had been good enough to meet Federer more often the stats would be different. Often Nadal was knocked out before he earned the right to play RF. The fact that Federer got to play Nadal so often on Clay shows how a great player he is, possibly one of the top 3 clay players of all time.

In my opinion greatest is between Rod Laver and Federer.

I don't see where Nadal was knocked out all that much from say 2007 onwards? The score is 23-10 in Nadal's favour. I agree with your point about Roger and clay. One of the best ever on the surface. 5 FO finals. Nadal has beaten Federer on all surfaces on a consistent basis.

Reclining Chair

walshb wrote: »

I don't see where Nadal was knocked out all that much from say 2007 onwards? The score is 23-10 in Nadal's favour. I agree with your point about Roger and clay. One of the best ever on the surface. 5 FO finals. Nadal has beaten Federer on all surfaces on a consistent basis.

Not on indoors.

walshb

Reclining Chair wrote: »

Not on indoors.

Indoors is not a surface.:) Anyway, 4/1 in Roger's favour, but 9-6 on hard court total.