So if Rafa decided he'd had enough and retired today (which would suck for the sport like when Borg went out early) where does he land on the goat list? I think I put him around 3rd or 4th-ish, below Federer, Laver and Sampras.
There's always specific stats and records you can cherry pick out to bump him a bit higher or lower, but I'd say the story of his career is he was able to play tennis at a higher level than anyone in history for a few years, but paid for it with his body. It's a bit like Gretzky vs Lemieux, where there were seasons Mario was playing better than Gretz was ever capable of, but in the end his back betrayed him and cost him his shot at goat.
Now let's hope we don't actually have to make this a real debate anytime soon. It already feels like the US Open's a bit of a downer, even though the other 3 front runners will be giving us some epic battles.
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