There is no doubt that tennis is a sport associated with poise, control, accuracy, endurance, and downright talent. The combination of so many factors is part of the reason why very few players have ever been mentioned in the “greatest of all time” discussion.
However, there are still a handful of names that have risen to the top of the pack. One of those is Rafael Nadal. Basically everyone agrees that Nadal is the best clay-court player in history, but what about the best in history regardless of surface?
Is there any merit to the latter assertion? Let’s take a quick look at why Nadal could very well be the GOAT.
The Tennis Mentality
Nadal is certainly no stranger to the tennis court. He has been playing on the pro tour and even at 34 years old he is showing no signs of slowing down. It is important to note that a player’s mental approach may be just as important as raw talent, especially for Nadal. The 20-time Grand Slam champion seems to be able to hone in on the moment in question in order to devote his undivided attention to what needs to be done. He rarely becomes frazzled in the pressure-packed moments. Such a cool head has often made the difference between victory and defeat.
A Highly Competitive Streak
Many experts have compared Nadal and Roger Federer throughout their careers, and for good reason. They have been chasing each other in the slam title race for many years (currently tied) and their head-to-head matchups—at leas ton surfaces other than clay—are often riveting. One edge the Spaniard may have in addition to his clay-court prowess is his competitive mindset on key points. Just one example is the 2008 French Open final, in which Federer had a whopping17 break-point chances and managed to convert on only one occasion. Nadal eventually prevailed in four sets in what was probably the Swiss’ last decent chance to beat his chief rival at Roland Garros.
As the saying goes: when the going gets tough, the tough get going. That certainly applies to Nadal.
The Power of Statistics
What defines a good online casino? Statistics such as payouts, RTP percentages, and a generous welcome bonus often come to mind. However, the best virtual gaming portals also have something to provide the fans. In the online community, this involves a kaleidoscope of games and second-to-none levels of entertainment. After all, this is a highly competitive environment.
Nadal boasts many of these same qualities. He has won no fewer than 86 main-tour titles throughout his illustrious career—as mentioned above, 20 of which have been majors. Furthermore, we never exactly know exactly what kind of breathtaking tennis the current world No. 3 will produce whenever he steps on the court. Similar to online casinos, fans simply keep coming back for more.
Is Nadal truly the best player of all time? This question is naturally debatable and the answer will also depend upon the perspective of the fan in question. However, it is an undeniable fact that Nadal remains a force to be reckoned with at the top of the game.
I’d lean toward Djokovic in the slam race
Yep
Same. I feel like Djokovic, Federer and Nadal are in a league of their own, but I would actually might say that all around when he is at his best, Djokovic is a tiny bit stronger all around on all surfaces except for clay, which obviously is Nadals surface without a doubt, and on clay Nadal is the best of all time I believe, but on all surfaces together, I would say Djokovic.
Djokovic learned from Nadal and Federer so some credit has to go to those guys for setting a benchmark.
It’s much easier to emulate when others have set a standard than it is to create it on your own.
And Djokovic is much younger than Fed. Fed at his best would’ve dealt with Djokovic at his best more often than not.
The more you understand about the game the more you realise making comparisons is a silly exercise.
when we look back in a decade or so, it will be Fed as THE GOAT.
Ricky is rattling the cage 🙂
It will be always very hard to pick between Federer and Nadal, even if the Spaniard wins significantly more slams in the end. They are very different and will always divide people depending on which qualities each of us admire most. So even if the H2H and slam count will favour Rafa, many will still say that Federer was better and find the statistics to prove it. People will say that Rafa destroyed his body to achieve his records (although his knee and back issues are entirely due to his congenital foot bone issue). I admire Rafa more than I admire Roger, but I admit that it’s a matter of taste. Considering what the Spaniard achieved having a problem that should have stopped him from playing competitive tennis in the first place, against formidable foes (two other GOAT candidates), I can say that for me Rafa will go down as the best tennis player in history.
For the same subjective reasons, Djokovic will probably not be mentioned in GOAT discussions after his career ends regardless how many records he breaks, same as Lendl. People (except Eastern Europeans) usually just don’t like him becuse they feel that he’s not genuine.
Both Nadal and Federer beat Djokovic when at his best on hard and clay, and I’m pretty sure that Novak could never have beaten Federer at his best on grass. So basically Nadal is the only one of the three to beat the others on their favorite surface when they were at their best.
Actually Djokovic’s raise started with Federer’s fading on hardcourts. So IMO Djokovic was never better than Federer on ANY surface, he just took advantage on Roger’s age and health issues. He was better than Rafa on hard and just about the same level on grass. The Serb’s GS records are also mostly due to both Nadal and Federer (actually Murray as well) having health issues and no real competition coming from behind. Hell, even Wawkinka on his day is better than Novak on both hard and clay, so what are we talking about here?
Now, will Djokovic end up winning the slam race? I’m not that sure. There’s a good reason why he did not win the ATP Finals lately: the young guns are ready to challenge him on hard. Thiem, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Zverev (and the list is growing) are able to knock him out on hardcourt anytime – although it may be more difficult for them to do that in a GS final (except for Thiem). He may win this Wimbledon as the NextGen don’t seem to like the grass, Federer isn’t getting any younger and Nadal has only 2 weeks to recover after the clay season (having just 2 weeks between RG and Wimbledon until recently is the main reason why Rafa has only won twice at SW19). After that, next year’s AO maybe, a big maybe.
Most experts say that Djokovic made the most of the qualities he has. As he’s naturally losing speed and flexibility and his joints keep deteriorating, he is already fading. I think that he’s out of options, unlike Roger and Rafa which found ways to compensate for losing physical abilities.
I’d lean towards Rafa in the slam race…
Btw…likes yor analysis Cristian P..👍
I also like Christian’s analysis. However, as I have said many times in the past, I do not believe in the GOAT argument. There are tennis greats from every era in this sport and each of them made special and unique contributions to the sport. It is a travesty to omit them for the sake of anointing one player the supposed GOAT. There will never be a consensus about a GOAT. People will have their preferences and opinions.
Rafa has already carved out a place for himself as one of the greatest players of all time. I remember Fed fans saying that he would never match Fed’s slam titles. He has triumphed over a congenital foot injury that could have ended his career early on. He has fought back from injuries throughout his career. Rafa’s records may stand forever. His greatness is a fact. No one can take it away from him. It has been the privilege of my life to be his fan. I do not need the title of GOAT to celebrate and acknowledge him.
I also respect the contributions of Federer, Djokovic, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras and Rod Laver. They have all given us great memories and their records and achievements will stand the test of time.
Agree Nny!…I also respect other GOATS very much!..They’re all very special in their own ways!
Hello there darling Mira.❤😘😊
Agree with you: all special.
And so nice to see you still making the picks in the bracket challenge. Nice to see the regulars like welshwitch and Backhanpass. Pure tennis class we are 🙂
Hey hey hey RC!…Miss u!miss u!miss u!💗😘…
Oh boy!…very very glad to ‘c’ u here & in Bracket!..hehehe…it’s been a long time huh?Really hope u’re ok RC!
I really love doing Bracket RC!…That is our special place to meet & teased each other(u,me,margot)..like now,u’re kicking my backside in MC u know that?😁…and whooo!!…on top in WTA too!…AWESOME!!..Keep it up RC!
Me too, AM!❤😁
Damn, I really needed your approval to know I was right and feel good about myself.
Who are you? You don’t annoy me because you sound like “someone I used to know” humming the song to myself.
You basically spent hours re-writing what I said in a few sentences. Well done. No wonder your country is an utter mess with all your politics, hidden agendas and trolling behavior. can’t goa day without trying to get an emotional reaction from someone that’s smarter than you.
Why don’t you get lost! What a moronic comment! Leave my country out of this discussion!
You are no tennis fan and have absolutely nothing respectful to contribute.
Actually, it’s not a country; It’s an extreme nationalistic cult with an obsession for money and power.
Love you, Nny. Hope you are well! Rafa looked like candy in that purple shirt and pink shorts. I have no emojis on my new laptop yet.
Elizabeth,
Hi! It’s been a while! I had a tough time getting the vaccine, but finally I got my first shot on February 15 and then second one on March 15. What a relief!
I texted my sister and said Rafa looks like a cake! 😀
Hope you are doing well! 😍
Ive said before, on achievements alone, Djoko is the hard court GOAT, Fed the Grass, and Rafa the clay .
However, we can then argue about an indoor GOAT.
And , who’s game would translate best through the eras ie the overall GOAT .
Nope. I do not agree at all. It’s your opinion. Not a fact. That’s the problem with this GOAT argument.
It’s absurd to talk about whose game would transition best through the eras. Nobody gets to decide what the criteria is for this idea of a GOAT.
People are entitled to have their opinions and that is the reason there will never be any consensus about a GOAT.
And why does that criteria annoy you so much ?
Im just using simple logic, ‘greatest of all time’ must have the best all-round ability to beat players from any era on whatever surface .
Overall Goat is a tortuous and premature opinion if thrown to the masses.
Hard to argue about Rafa, King of clay courts! He is the best.
HELLO to Big Al 😀
Thanks RC! Its great to be able to watch clay court tennis at the proper time of year again.
Indeed, Big Al. I woke up at 3 am to watch Monte Carlo. Quality tennis in every match by at this point in the week. But my early-round picking and WTA picking, in general, is very bad.
First set for Stef. He has to remain sharp.
The WTA in particular has got really unpredictable.When you consider so many matches seem to have been won from match point down,they really could have gone either way.
Indoor tennis is a new-fangled abomination! It has its place for exhibitions, like Laver Cup and the WTF and the new-fangled Davis Cup but it’s not *serious*. Real tennis is played outdoors.
Djokovic, the “GOAT of hard”, is narrowly leading Federer on the surface, 20-18. While Roger was in his prime he was massively leading Djokovic, but one can argue that the Serb improved in the mean time. All things considered, the two were not at their best at the same time so you can’t easily compare them. I still think that Federer was better than Novak, hard court included.
Also Federer has 10 more hard court titles than Djokovic, so what achievements are we talking about? Nine AO titles but just three USO titles when even Nadal has four of those! Sure, these numbers can still improve, but probably not enough to justify a GOAT of hard claim.
IMO Djokovic would have been a journeyman in the era of really uneven clay/grass and faster hardcourt. Not to mention that his “allergy” would have been “untreated”.
I am not sure how Federer would have fared say 30 years ago. Probably same on hard and grass but worse on clay. Nadal maybe worse on grass and the same on clay and hard, although since Borg did a good job at Wimbledon I don’t see why Rafa wouldn’t have done the same.
They are a cut above, from my vantage point. I’d add Andy Murray as well. My personal list is long for both ATP players and WTA unforgettable players.
What I do forget is the ugly and painful rumors and vitriol we used to toss around. It all seems silly in hindsight. It’s tennis which is something I love getting to watch again. 👍
Christian,
While I choose not to join the discussion about one GOAT, I will say that I agree with your thoughts on Fed versus Novak on hard courts. I think you stated the reasons quite clearly, so no need for me to repeat them.
As far as how their respective games would have transitioned to different eras, I just don’t think it’s reasonable to hypothetically make any definitive decisions. The all time greats played in their own eras. That is where they made their mark. Enough said!
As others have noted the GOAT is a mythical beast, living only in individual imaginations. At least until someone (and who on earth would have the right?) decides to award a goat-shaped trophy to someone. I love Rafa the best and always will. That makes him the “greatest” for me because he brings me joy, as has this amazing era of tennis, which will always be the “greatest” for me. (Four players, all amazing in their own way at the same time?) Statistically Rafa is, and always will be, for the rest of my time here, the king of clay. No one’s going to break his records or repeat his feats! Years ago Rod Laver wisely said that you can’t compare across different eras. No one gets to compete on level terms with 30 (or more!) years age differences.
🐐 Ramara,
Hope you are well and enjoying Monte Carlo.
I am both! Thank you for the kind wishes and it’s gRRRRReat so see you posting here again.
Sympathies on Djoker’s tough loss today. He fought hard but just wasn’t his day. Weather certainly not to his liking.
I’ve been enjoying the WTA lately. Unpredictability can be a good thing.
Thanks, Ramara
I’m not too concerned about Nole. It was not to be for him this tournament. Nole fought but nothing he did today helped. He was playing an opponent he did not know. Evans did his homework. He looked ready and happy to crush. I say congrats to Evans. Evans v Goffin should be a lively match. Both will be ready to fight.
WTA beyond me. Seems I used to have a clue about who I could count on at least to win. Hard to keep up with WTA is an understatement!
Loving the RBA and Rublev match right now. Batista is out to win the second set after Ruby won the first set. Three sets are fine with me! It’s a good one so far. Probably a painful match for both, although RBA tries not to show emotion.
It’s definitely impossible to compare player achievements across different eras. This is why a GOAT title is basically impossible to be awarded. We are struggling to compare Federer and Djokovic, which are just 6 years apart, so how can we realistically compare say Nadal or Federer with Laver?
However it is an interesting exercise to imagine how a current player would have fared many years ago or how an all time great would fare these days. For sure shorter guys like Laver, Rosewall and Santana would be doomed now and most of today’s big hitters would have been nobodys back then. It is also clear to me that Roger’s shotmaking and Rafa’s grit and ability to overcome any adversity are skills which would make them great in any era.
Agree. Excellent post.
The game was so different in Laver’s era. There were no hard courts. They had indoor wood hard courts. Grass and clay. When I watch YouTube videos of Laver now, it looks like they are playing in slow motion. I watched Laver as a child and grew up with him. I idolized him. But now I watch and it’s just a totally different type of tennis. Also there was a struggle between those who wanted to keep tennis and amateur sport and those who wanted to make it professional. That affected everything. Laver agreed to play as a pro, but suffered consequences for it. He was banned from playing in certain tournaments. I think he couldn’t play at Wimbledon. It was a very difficult time. The players made nothing money wise. I am just grateful that tennis was ultimately a professional sport as the Open Era began in 1968.
I believe that there is no real way
to reasonably transition players games through the different eras. Of course people can have fun discussing it, but it is hypothetical. I just choose to celebrate the great players from every era.
And funny enough, Djokovic would be the only one who wouldn’t be great in other eras?
Interesting…
Your bias against Djokovic is unreal. Djoko has 5 Rome titles and 2 Monte Carlo, Fed has 0 combined. Djoko has beaten Rafa 7 times on clay, including ending his 8 year Monte Carlo unbeaten streak, while Fed has only won twice. Therefore Novak is undoubtedly Rafa’s toughest rival on clay. Sure Fed has more Madrid titles but that doesn’t outweigh the rest of Djoko’s superior clay achievements. So under what measure is Fed a better clay court player than Novak?!
Also to say Fed is greater because he has 10 more hard titles is an insignificant stat. That’s like saying Margaret Court is the GOAT because she has the most titles. Djoko could end his career today and he still has more hard majors than Fed as well as more Masters titles. Fed hasn’t been able to beat Novak in a Wimbledon Final or at any GS since 2012 but has beaten Rafa on hard and grass during this time. So it’s even arguable that Djoko matches Fed on grass.
Also how was Djoko’s success due to injuries of his rivals?! He played in the toughest era of Men’s tennis and had to beat peak Andy, Rafa or Roger in most of his major wins. Fed beat an aged Agassi, Hewitt, Safin, Baghdatis, Philippoussis and Roddick to win his first 7 Major finals! Fed is the one that has benefitted from a weak era and Novak undeniably had much tougher competition to win his majors.
I admire the big 3 and all their achievements are incredible. I prefer Novak and Rafa with Rafa being my favourite and at the moment I believe Rafa is the GOAT. But as soon as Novak matches him on Majors it will be difficult for me to make a case for Rafa due to Djoko’s superior all round achievements. He already has a superior head to head record, more weeks at Number one and masters than the other two despite most of Fed’s success coming when competition was easier. I don’t think there is any balance for Novak here so I thought I would give this perspective.
approved
It’s so sad when players get so full of themselves that they can’t help but act like an ass. In this case, I am talking about Rulev, unfortunately. I tuned into tennis in time to catch the second set of Rublev v Rafa. Thankfully Rafa put the boy in his place and won the set but it was embarrassing for me to see Rublev behaving like a spoilt child. I thought better of him. Not a fan of Rublev now.🤦♀️
I’ll watch tennis tomorrow.
I think to call someone the ‘King’ of any surface, that player must be better than his competition significantly, not marginally.
Nadal – the King of clay. Approved. Djokovic- the King of hard- disapprove. Nor can I call Federer the King of grass or hard. He’s a well rounded player on both of them and generally a very decent player on clay by having played multiple finals there. So, expect from Nadal on clay, there is any king on other surfaces. Sure, Djoko and Fed seem superior to Nadal on hard and grass. But that’s it.
I cant see anyone being better than Fed on grass in any era.OIr Nadal on clay.The hard court one is hard tyo argue against Djoko. There cant be an overall GOAT, but IMO Feds game would translate the eras better than the other two.
Ummm, Sampras? Becker? Borg? (Shortish career for him, by choice, but if he’d played longer he might have bested both Rafa on clay and Fed on grass! Maybe. We’ll never know. Never won a hard court slam though…but hard court was a newish American thing back then and Borg didn’t play on it that much. He did make at least one USO final, losing to Connors).
Borg definitely deserves a big place in the GOAT argument. He was unmatched in doing the clay-grass Slam double. I dont remember a player quite like him , his aura was amazing apart from his skill with a small wooden racquet.
Do you think Becker or Sampras was better on grass than Fed? For a start,Becker admitted his best on grass wasnt as good as Sampras, both of them had the benefit of playing on fast grass which Fed didnt apart from the time he beat Sampras at age 19.
Borg in fact made four US finals .Shame he never won
No point doing a poll on this we all know who would win…;)