TENNIS PLAYER ROGER Federer is on the cover of this month’s GQ Magazine.
As you can see, the cover describes him as both a “sports legend (and extremely stylish man)”. High praise indeed.
Earlier today, GQ tweeted a link to the their cover story by hailing Federer as “the greatest tennis player of all time”.
Bold statement. Especially when there’s another very obvious contender for that title.
Ahem.
The reaction to GQ’s tweet was swift.
#TeamSerena doesn’t mess around.
Here’s the thing: Roger Federer can justifiably claim to be the greatest male tennis player of all time, but the stats don’t lie.
Roger Federer has won 18 Grand Slams. Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slams.
Roger Federer has a poor record against rivals like Roger Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Nadal has a 23-12 lead and Djokovic has a 23-22 lead. Serena on the other hand? She’s routinely dominated rivals like Sharapova, Azarenka, Hingis, Clijsters, Capriati, Henin, Kerber and, of course, her sister Venus.
Serena has held all four Grand Slams at once on not one, but two occasions. Federer has never successfully pulled this off.
Since 2012, Federer has only managed to win 2 Grand Slam. Serena? She’s won 10.
Sure, one could argue that Federer has faced stiffer competition in the form of Nadal, Djokovic and Murray, three all-time greats in their own right. (At 29, Djokovic could even surpass Federer’s 18 Grand Slams at some point.)
Equally, one could argue that Serena was just so damn superior to the rest of the field that nobody could seriously challenge her.
Either way, the stats don’t lie. Roger Federer may be the greatest male tennis player of all time. (For now, at least.) He has won the most Grand Slams and has frequently outclassed the field when it comes to flair and style.
But surely there’s something to be said for Serena’s insane dominance and longevity? Look.
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Maybe GQ will think twice before definitively declaring Roger Federer to be the ‘greatest of all time’ next time.
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