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Tennis Magazine Proclaims Federer as the Greatest of all Time

NEW YORK, NY — The question has been lobbed back and forth without resolve for many months, but on the heels of his stunning victories at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, in it’s September 2009 issue with Roger Federer gracing the cover, the editors of TENNIS Magazine are in agreement — Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time.

TENNIS Magazine states the case for Federer over the likes of Rod Laver, Don Budge, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal by debunking the four main myths often held against Federer.

1. Federer never won a calendar-year Grand Slam - He came close twice but fell to one of the greatest clay court players ever. Also Laver won his Grand Slam’s without beating any Hall of Famers who were banned during those years.
2. Laver would have won more Grand Slams if he were allowed to play in them from 1963-’67 - Hard to argue with, but the bottom line is that no one knows what would have happened to Laver in the 20 majors he missed. What If can’t be imported into the greatest-ever debate, where the only thing we have to go on are the statistics in front of us.
3. Grand Slam titles alone should note decide the greatest ever - Federer’s other accomplishments stack up with anyone who ever played. He has reached the finals in 10 straight Grand Slam events. And, his 2006 season with a 92-5 record, reaching the finals in 16 of 17 events and winning 12 titles is historic.
4. Federer can’t be the greatest with a 7-13 record against Nadal - The numbers do not tell the whole story. Federer is actually penalized for his success at Roland Garros where he lost to Nadal in the finals three times. In contrast Nadal has never played Federer in the finals at the US Open. The argument for Nadal as the greatest can begin in a few years if he continues to win Grand Slams.

“We will not tip toe around this issue like others or play the game of splitting players into pre-Open era and Open era,” said James Martin, Editor of TENNIS Magazine and Tennis.com. “We’re not hedging our bets. We are firm in our belief that Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player ever. Period.”

About Miller Publishing Group: MPG publishes TENNIS Magazine and SMASH Magazine. TENNIS, published 10 times annually, is the world’s largest tennis title, with a circulation of more than 600,000. MPG also owns TENNIS.com, the world’s leading tennis website, plus SMASHtennis.com and the blog Peter Bodo’s TennisWorld (peterbodostennisworld.com).

Posted on August 10, 2009
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