Why Rafa Nadal is the G.O.A.T

With the French Open 2014 title win over Novak Djokovic, Nadal is close on the heels of Federer’s Grand Slam haul of 17. The G.O.A.T discussion is alive again.

Rafa Nadal already has arguably the greatest resume of titles for any tennis player in history. With 14 Grand Salms, 27 Masters Series titles, 4 Davis Cups, 1 Olympic Gold medal and 141 weeks at no. 1 as of now, Rafa can rightly stake claim to being the greatest tennis player of all time.

If we look at various factors that need to be considered in judging an all time great, Rafa qualifies on most of them.

Rafa has won Grand Slams on all surfaces and can complete a 2^nd career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open 2015. He has faced top level competition in the form of Federer and Djokovic throughout his career and defeated them to win most of his Grand Salm titles. He also holds a positive, dominant head to head against all his top rivals.

Comparing this to his 3 rivals in the G.O.A.T debate, we can argue Rafa’s superiority over all of them.

1    Pete Sampras

Pete won 14 Grand Salms, but never could win anything on significance on clay. That is 1 out of the 3 playing surfaces. Comparatively Rafa is an all surface great.

Apart from that, Sampras didn’t have to face the greatest ensemble of tennis players ever in form of Federer, Djokovic and Murray that Rafa had to face throughout his career.

Above all, his lack of success on clay leaves him behind Rafa in the G.O.A.T debate.

2    Rod Laver

Laver played most of his tennis on grass and clay, with 3 of the 4 slams being played on grass in the 60s. Just imagine how many slams Rafa would have if 3 Grand Slams were played on clay!

Also, when we talk of his rivals, no such all time greats come in the picture compared to Rafa who has had to contend with Federer and Djokovic his entire career. Rafa arguably has a much tougher competition. Also, the competition hadn’t reached its peak in the 60s with tennis still limited to a few centres  during Laver’s time. 

Add to this , Laver never played on hard courts to win Grand Slams, the physically most demanding surface. All these indicate Rafa to be better than Laver.

3     Roger Federer

One statistic brings the real picture here. 10-21 ! Such a negative head to head against a fellow player puts a big question mark over Federer’s claim as the G.O.A.T.

Also, during his peak years from 2003-2007, when he won most of his Grand Salm titles, the level of competition wasn’t great. Almost all of his rivals including Hewitt, Safin, Roddick lacked the skills as well as the dedication to become a great rival.

Ever since Nadal and Djokovic matured, Federer’s domination has crumbled, and especially Nadal has bullied and dominated him on all surfaces. He holds records of 12-3 on clay &  8-2 on outdoor hard courts against Federer. That’s where 3 of the 4 Grand Slams are played.

If Federer isn’t the best player of his generation, which these stats clearly show, how can he be considered the greatest of all time?

All these point to the conclusion that Rafa indeed is the G.O.A.T and with 14 Grand Salms already at the age of 28, he can shatter the GS record of 17 held by Federer and be universally proclaimed the greatest ever tennis player of all time in 3 years from now!

That would put to an exclamation point on this G.O.A.T debate with Rafa rightfully assuming this mantle.

Rafa: My Story