Who is the Greatest Tennis Player of All-Time?

Roger Federer (currently participating as the #2 favorite in the ATP World Tour Finals) has definitely been one of the most durable and consistent players on the men's tour. Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, is missing yet another important tournament. He has skipped four Grand Slams over the last six years alone ('09 Wimbledon, '12 & '14 US Open, '13 Australian Open). The repeating trend in each of those four lost opportunities due to injury was the notable fact that he reached the final in each of those Grand Slams the previous year, including his 2008 Wimbledon and 2013 US Open titles. Because of his failure to defend major titles, Rafa has never won two consecutive Grand Slams, except for the French Open of course. Nadal has also failed to play in two of the last three ATP year-end championships in London, and has never won the ATP World Tour Finals, with runner-up finishes to Djokovic and Federer in 2013 and 2010, respectively.

Federer has competed in every Grand Slam since 2000, a string of 15 consecutive seasons! In addition, he has won half of the last 12 Year-End Championships (Masters Cup or World Tour Finals), where he has qualified and played every year since 2002. Roger's perpetual dominance landed him five straight US Open AND Wimbledon championships, a ridiculous feat unmatched in the history of tennis. He also captured the Australian Open three times in a four year span (2004-2007), losing only once in an epic five-set semifinal match to 2005 champ Marat Safin. If not for Safin's heroics, Federer likely would have won four consecutive Australian Open titles as well. All these facts point to Roger being anointed the greatest player of our generation, and arguably the best ever.

The problem arises when we compare Nadal and Federer head-to-head (23-10 record, a big edge for Nadal), and also when we examine how each has performed against other opponents in every tournament. To put it simply, if I had to win one match (assuming both players are at the top of their game and healthy) I would pick Nadal on any surface (except maybe grass). Rafa's youth (Federer is 5 years older) has helped him in later years against Roger (since 2008 Nadal is 15-4 versus Federer, while he had a more even 8-6 record between 2004-2007), and he always seems to have the upper hand or a slight psychological edge when facing Roger. Even if they had played more grass-court matches (Federer is 2-1 here, all at Wimbledon) and fewer clay-court matches (Nadal is 13-2 here, and 9-6 on hardcourts), Nadal would probably still have an overall winning record against his rival, although the gap would not be so wide.

Nadal also enjoys a healthy record against Djokovic (23-19) and Murray (15-5), the next best players of this era. Roger Federer is even with Andy Murray (11-11) entering their upcoming matchup in London, and practically tied with Djokovic (19-17), though he did score a brilliant victory over Novak in the semifinals at Shanghai this year. Murray has said that Nadal is the toughest opponent he has faced, and I agree with him.

In conclusion, I would probably choose a healthy Rafa over anyone if I wanted to win one match or one tournament. But if I wanted to win the most titles over a given year, or consecutive stretch of seasons, I would always chose Federer. Therefore, the question of "Who is the Greatest Tennis Player of All-Time?" is not really a matter for debate as it is a decision on what attributes you value more. My rating accounts for all of them and spits out nearly identical ratings for the two best players ever - 10.12 for Nadal and 10.05 for Federer, a trivial difference that may change minimally pending the outcome of this year's final spectacle (Federer's rating could go up to 10.11 if he goes undefeated in London). Both of these two tennis greats have already cemented their legacies, and anything they achieve in the future will not drastically affect their numerical evaluation. They are the two perfect '10' tennis players, the best left-handed racquet wielder and the best right-handed shot maker.