8) Rafael Nadal
With apologies to Bjorn Borg, who does have one more Grand Slam than Rafael Nadal, I have to put the Spaniard ahead of him on this list because with a reasonable projection, Nadal could end up the best of all-time. Certainly, with the emergence of Novak Djokovic, Nadal’s dominance has taken a step back—Nadal has been runner up to Djokovic in three consecutive Slam finals—yet only 25 and still the king of clay, I believe Nadal has probably a handful of Grand Slam championships left in the tank.
When Nadal first burst onto the scene he was certainly fun to watch, but many thought he was just a clay-court sensation along the lines of a Gustavo Kuerten or Carlos Moya. While clay is undoubtedly Nadal’s premiere surface, he has won four Grand Slams off the red stuff, including two Wimbledons—grass the most alien surface compared to clay. Not to mention, he won those Wimbledons against the god of grass courts, Roger Federer.
It’s impossible to take in Nadal’s career without looking at what he’s done against Roger Federer, and I will detail said matchup when I reach Federer in the countdown. So for now let it suffice to say that Nadal has dominated his head-to-head battle with Club Fed.
Nadal won the French Open six times in a row, and from 2008-2011 won 7 of the 12 total Grand Slam championships, as well as finishing runner-up twice. His record at the French open is 45-1, and his overall grand slam record is 149-21, an 88% winning rate in the biggest tournaments in the world—a slightly better percentage than Federer (81%) has compiled.
With 10 total Grand Slams, and Federer seemingly unable to beat Djokovic or Nadal right now, Rafa has a chance to make a run at least to surpass Pete Sampras’ 14 Slams and maybe to reach the golden number of 16 currently held by Roger.
To conclude, what makes Rafa so great is his mental toughness. So often tennis is a sport where a player will win the first set 6-2 and then lose the following set. There’s a natural ebb and flow for most tennis players, and momentum fluctuates easily. Nadal, on the other hand, creates his own momentum. Seizes it, and never lets it go. He never relaxes, never gets comfortable, and never gives away even a single point. Nadal is perhaps the best player of all-time at chasing down impossible balls, and not only returning them, but hitting winners. I have never seen a player that could run 50 feet to retrieve a ball and then have the balance, strength, and focus to carve out a perfect forehand winner down the line.
Rafa’s conditioning, athleticism, and mental fortitude are what make him the 8th-greatest tennis player ever, and will also likely move him up this list with time.
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| #8 Rafael Nadal |
7) Serena Williams
I can’t help but start with the negative here. What’s tragic to me about Serena Williams is that she is perhaps the most athletically gifted tennis player I have ever seen, but she has never loved the sport enough to dominate it to her fullest potential. If she was as committed as Federer or Martina Navratilova or Chris Evert, perhaps we have her at the top of our list. For now she sits at 7.
In terms of singles Grand Slam titles, Williams has 13—behind only Margaret Court, Steffi Graf, Evert, Navratilova, and Hellen Wills Moody—and plenty of time left in her playing career. Williams’ 12 Grand Slam doubles titles and 2 mixed doubles Grand Slam championships also speak to her versatility and enormous talent.
Williams is probably the strongest, most powerful woman to ever play and is capable of dominating in a fashion that no other player could, in men’s or women’s history. I compare her a little bit to Shaquille O’Neal. Physically, both were probably the most impressive athlete their respective sport has ever seen, but mentally from both you get excuses, distractions, endorsements, and the allure of being “bigger than the sport.” Serena wants to be an icon, a celebrity as much if not more than she wants to be great at tennis, saying most recently that she doesn’t even love the game. Given all that, her accomplishments are incredible, and it just would have been fun to see what a fully committed Serena could have been.
Another interesting dynamic to Serena’s career has been the presence of her tremendous sister Venus and their overbearing father Richard who casts a shadow over every event in which the ladies participate. Serena vs. Venus finals always were awkward, and some felt almost pre-arranged. Such a dynamic always bothered me; the family seemed to interfere instead of letting Serena and Venus’ career arcs play out naturally.
From 2002-03 she completed the “Serena Slam,” winning the French, Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open consecutively. It didn’t happen in a single year, but winning all four big tourneys in a row is a great accomplishment no matter how the calendar divides it.
In 2002 Serena won the US Open and Wimbledon both without dropping a set. This is the kind of domination I always felt Serena could have sustained had she truly committed to tennis and nothing else. Perhaps though, much like other physically dominant athletes, Williams relied on her ability more than her technique, which inevitably leads to inconsistency. And as those types of players age, they don’t have the bag of tricks, the guile, or the variety in their game to continue to thrive.
Serena makes this list because at her best she may have been the most dominant force a tennis court has ever seen. She’s merely seventh because she hasn’t committed to being that force for her whole career.
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| #7 Serena Williams |
--from @AdamHocking
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