Quote:
Originally Posted by $ven27
General question here. Who's the greatest ever male tennis player? Federer? I asked my father but he was quick to dismiss Federer.
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We've all been getting along so well recently in here...why you have to wreck stuff?
Honestly it's how you choose to measure greatness. Probably the majority of analysts use grand slam wins as the measuring stick, which means Federer (for now). A growing segment point to Nadal's dominance of their head to head record as evidence to the contrary, plus he may end up passing Fed in slams anyways which would close the debate.
Still others give it to Rod Laver who was much further ahead of his peers than anyone else from any era, but never got the chance to pad his slam resume due to the separation of amateur and professional tennis during his career. I've even seen a claim that Jimmy Conners was the greatest, based on accumulated wins and maintenance of rank over his long career.
In short, it's whatever you choose as your criteria, so long as it fits your personal preference. Go to the wiki page for any of these guys and they all have a set of their own records so long it will make your head spin. As CP's #1 Fedfan, you know what my vote is.