Roger Federer is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and in the eyes of many, he is number one all-time.
The Swiss clinched a total of 103 ATP titles, which ranks second in history behind Jimmy Connors’ tally of 109.
Of that sum, 20 were captured by Federer at Grand Slams, including a record eight Wimbledon championships.
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In addition to his success at majors, he clinched 28 ATP Masters 1000 crowns, six ATP Finals titles, and an Olympic gold medal in doubles.
Despite recording one of the most legendary careers in sports, Federer does not get into Rafael Nadal‘s list of the top 10 athletes in history.
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Asked to name his list in an interview with Netflix Sports, Nadal excluded Federer, but included his other longtime rival, Novak Djokovic.
He said: “Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Novak Djokovic, Muhammad Ali, Michael Schumacher, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, [Diego] Maradona, Pele.”
Nadal’s rivalry with Djokovic was just as iconic as his one with Federer, with the Serb and the Spaniard clashing 60 times on the ATP Tour.
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Djokovic ultimately led the head-to-head 31-29, though Nadal led 11-7 at Grand Slam competitions.
Their last match came at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where Djokovic advanced past Nadal comfortably en route to the Gold medal.
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It feels as though Federer is third on most people’s all-time list these days, and his record against both Nadal and Djokovic certainly backs that up.
Federer trailed 23-27 against Djokovic, and 16-24 in his rivalry with Nadal, which was fairly one-sided for most of their careers.
Prior to 2015, Nadal led Federer 23-10, having emerged victorious more often than not when they faced off.
Six of their first seven bouts went the way of Nadal, with the ‘King of Clay’ winning their first two Grand Slam matchups.
Nadal went on a five-match winning streak against Federer twice; once from 2008 to 2009, and once from 2013 to 2014.
Federer finally put a string of wins together in the rivalry towards the end of his career, triumphing in six of their last seven meetings.
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