Tennis legend Roger Federer has unveiled his top five greatest of all time list of tennis players – however, his first choice may not be popular with all fans.
The legendary career of Federer concluded with his retirement in 2022 after he ruled the men tennis sport in a record 237 consecutive weeks and won 20 Grand Slams. The Swiss master won 8 Wimbledon titles, which he adored, and won all the Grand Slams at least once, making his career total Grand Slam in the 2009 French Open.
Today, the 42-year-old has presented the players that he believes are the best of all time.
Stefan Edberg
At the top of Federer list is his childhood idol who is Stefan Edberg. The two even collaborated through Edberg becoming a coach of Federer in 20142015. Edberg was famous in his elegant serve-and-volley style, and he had won six Grand Slam titles except the French Open.
Federer liked Edberg with his style and elegance, referring to him as the coolest. I required my GOAT, those who were on the wall at home, he said. In my case, it was Stefan Edberg who does everything to attack the net and is extremely graceful.
Boris Becker
Second is the long time rival of Edberg, Boris Becker. In tennis, in 1985, the German amazed the tennis world by winning Wimbledon at the early age of 17 years, the youngest among men in history. Becker proceeded to win three Wimbledon, two Australian open, and a U.S Open titles, and an Olympic doubles gold medal.
His bang bang serve and offensive play made him gain the title of Boom Boom Becker. Federer has also commended Becker as an innovator who contributed to the modern all-court tennis.
Pete Sampras
The fifth and the final person to be included in the list of Federer as the top player is Pete Sampras, the person whose he later overtook at Wimbledon. In the 1990s, Sampras won 14 Grand Slams, seven titles at Wimbledon, and had 286 weeks in the number one spot.
He was called Pistol Pete, and he was considered as a booming servant, and accurate volleyer, which contributed to the era of serve and volley. The competition with Andre Agassi emerged to be one of the most interesting narratives in tennis and contributed to the increase in popularity of this sport in America.
It is also important to note that Sampras retired in 2003 when Federer was starting to climb to the peak.
Rafael Nadal
This comes as no surprise because Federer has his closest competitor Rafael Nadal on the list. The final of 2008 Wimbledon is regarded as the greatest match in tennis history, with Nadal terminating the five years-long dominance of Federer over the grass courts.
Nadal is unbeatable on clay with 14 Grand Slams in his 22 Grand slams and 14 of them in the French open. The King of Clay, as he is better known, has an Open Era record of 81 consecutive surface wins and a career Grand Slam of his own by the age of 24.
Novak Djokovic
Federer also added the name of Novak Djokovic who is now regarded as the greatest of all times. The Serbian is the most successful in the history of tennis with 24 Grand Slam titles and is the only player who has won all of the majors at least three times. Djokovic is also the record holder of 428 weeks as the world No. 1 and No. 1 at the end of the year eight times.
Federer also admitted the incredible consistency and longevity of Djokovic and said that his records speak it all.
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