The GOAT list (Updated)

Who is the GOAT is the greatest debate in the tennis world today, and it's not going away. A lot of people say that one era is more difficult than another, so only people from that era can be considered the greatest of all time. Then there are other people who say that you can't compare eras, so you can't determine the greatest of all time. My belief is that you can't compare the difficulty of eras. Everyone in each era played by the same rules, so nobody can definitively say that one era is better than another. However, that doesn't mean that you can't determine who the GOAT is.

For me, the GOAT is the person who dominated their era the most. I began researching who I thought was the GOAT two years ago. I sort of already had an idea who I thought was the best off all time, but I wanted to be able to have a logical explanation. So I created a formula to determine the GOAT, and I got Ivan Lendl. Since then I have drastically edited, updated, and improved my formula. I used the formula to determine the 25 greatest players since 1973 (the year computer rankings began). So here is a look at my newest top 25 list.


25. Andy Roddick- The last American to win a grand slam spent 13 weeks atop the rankings, won 32 titles, and ranks 16th all-time in win percentage (74.2%).

24. Michael Chang- The former world No. 2 won his only grand slam title when he was only 17. Even though he never won another major, he did collect 34 titles and 51 wins against top 10 opponents.

23. Ken Rosewall- As part of a golden era in Australian tennis, Rosewall was known for his slice passing shots.The former world No. 2 would be higher on the list if the peak of his career wasn't before the Open Era. He still won four grand slam titles and 445 matches.

21. Andy Murray- With his win over Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, the two-time grand slam champion cracked the top 25 for the first time in his career. This formula is meant to prevent ties, but we have a tie at No. 21.

21. Thomas Muster- If these were clay court rankings, he would be top 10, but he spent six weeks as the top ranked player in the world and won 44 titles.

20. Arthur Ashe- The player whose name is on the center court at the US Open is best known as a humanitarian, but the former world No. 2 won three grand slam titles and 623 matches in his career.

19. John Newcombe- At 30-years old, the Australian finally reached world No. 1. Newcombe won five majors in the open era and won 31 tournaments.

18. Yevgeny Kafelnikov- When you look at the former world No. 1's stats, nothing really jumps out at you, but the Russian did a little bit of it all. He was atop the rankings for six weeks, won two majors, knocked out 46 top 10 opponents, won 26 titles, and was victorious in 609 matches.

17. Jim Courier- The American spent over a year as the best player in the world, winning four grand in three years. Courier is one of the only Americans to have success on both clay and hard courts. Although most fans would rank Courier between 10 to 15, his inability to dominate lower ranked opponents hurt his ability to rack up titles. Courier won only 23 titles and lost 164 matches to players outside the top 10.

16. Rod Laver- Laver is the one of the greatest tennis players in all of tennis history, but the bulk of his career came before the Open Era, and since computer rankings didn't begin until 1973, he was never ranked higher than three in the world. However, Laver still won five majors and 42 titles in the Open Era, including the last calendar slam in tennis.

15. Ilie Năstase- The Romanian was the first person ever ranked No. 1 according to the computers. The two-time grand slam champion is another player who would have been higher on the list if his whole career was in the Open Era. He still won 750 matches and 56 titles, dominating the ATP World Tour when it first began.

14. Guillermo Vilas- The Argentine was the third winningest player of all time notching an incredible 923 match wins as well as 63 titles, including four grand slams. However, that is where the former world No. 2's list of accomplishments ends. Aside from failing to reach world No. 1, he only had 29 wins over top 10 opponents. Vilas is widely considered the best No. 2 player in tennis history, but failing to reach world No. 1 knocked him several spots down on this list.

13. Lleyton Hewitt- As a young Aussie, Hewitt spent 80 weeks as the top-ranked player in the world, but failed to live up to his potential, winning just two majors and 28 total tournaments, while suffering countless injuries. Aside from being the best player in the game for 80 weeks, his top accomplishment was his 61 match wins over top 10 foes. Although Hewitt is still competing, he is far from the player he was over a decade ago.

12. Mats Wilander- The Swede made his way this high on the list for one reason and one reason only. The guy knew how to win majors. Seven of his 33 titles were at the slams. That is the third best ratio of any player on this list. His win percentage was 7.5% higher in majors. Wilander only spent 20 weeks as the world No. 1 and only won 571 matches. Those numbers are good, but they are way below average for a top 15 player on this list. Wilander consistently rose to the occasion when it mattered most at the majors, winning seven grand slams in the span of seven years.

11. Novak Djokovic- Just over two years ago, Djokovic wouldn't have even been considered for the top 25 tennis players since 1973. However, the Serb has had one of the greatest 25-month stretches (from the 2011 Australian Open to the 2013 Australian Open) in tennis history. During that span, Djokovic won five of the nine majors, reaching seven finals. Djokovic also went from No. 3 to No. 1 in the world, where he currently is after 74 weeks at that position. Djokovic also won eight of the 18 1000 events and now has a total of 36 career titles. With no end to his success in sight, Djokovic could potentially crack the elite eight on this list. Since the last update, Djokovic has added two more titles and remained the world No. 1. He is behind Becker on this list, but is just a few big wins away from the top 10. He could pass Becker before going to the US Open if he can do well in the US Open Series.

10. Boris Becker- If 713 wins wasn't enough for the six-time grand slam winner to crack the top 10 on all GOAT lists, then maybe I should remind you that 121 of his wins were against top 10 ranked opponents. That is the third most in tennis history. Becker also won 49 titles and was the world No. 1 for 12 weeks. Becker was a model for consistency, winning at least two tournaments every year for 12 consecutive years. At just 18 years of age in 1986, Becker reached nine tournament finals and won Wimbledon for the second consecutive year. Becker went on to win one more Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open twice.

9. Stefan Edberg- When it comes to Edberg the numbers speak for themselves. 72 weeks as world No. 1, six grand slam titles, 41 tournaments won, and 801 match wins. However, what may be most impressive was the way he handled the other legends of his era. Edberg totalled 47 combined wins against Becker, Lendl, Chang, and Wilander. Edberg's biggest weakness was his clay court game, but he made up for it with two major titles at each of the non-clay slams.

8. Andre Agassi- The American may not be the statistical leader in any category, but he was one of the most well rounded players to ever play. Agassi dominated on every surface and is one of only two male singles tennis players to achieve the career golden slam. Agassi finished his career with eight grand slam titles and 60 tournaments won over the span of 19 years. The former world No. 1 won 870 matches and spent over 100 weeks atop the rankings.

7. Björn Borg- A lot of fans would put Borg in the top five, but he is getting any bonus points from me for quitting when he was just 25. However, his dominance in just eight years on the world tour is still enough to place seventh on this list. In that short span, he won an incredible 64 tournaments, including 11 majors. Borg also spent 109 weeks as world No. 1 and won over 70% of his matches against top 10 opponents. Even more impressive than that is his 89.8% win rate at the slams. His numbers are astonishing, but we can only wonder how good he could have been if he continued playing for another eight years.

6. John McEnroe- Known more for his tirades than actually playing tennis, McEnroe truly is one of the greatest players in tennis history. The five-time Wimbledon finalist ranks fifth in the Open Era in weeks at No. 1, titles, and wins. In 1984, the American won 13 titles and only lost three matches in the entire year. McEnroe finished his career with 77 titles, which ranks third in the Open Era. Along with seven grand slam titles, he spent 170 weeks as the World No. 1. McEnroe finished his career with 875 match wins. Where McEnroe made his mark in tennis was in Davis Cup ties. McEnroe led the United States to five Davis Cup titles. McEnroe also won eight year-end Championships. Five at the WCT Finals and three at the Masters.

5. Rafael Nadal- With his victory at Roland Garros in 2013, the 27-year old Spaniard has moved up to fifth on this list. He now has the third most grand slam titles at 12. A return to world No. 1, where he spent 102 weeks of his career, would strengthen his chances at one day becoming the GOAT. However, a knee injury that sidelined him for seven months could prove costly. Despite, a great clay season, the knee appears to still be an issue on other surfaces. Nadal is widely considered the greatest clay court player in tennis history with eight Roland Garros crowns. However Nadal has also had plenty of success on the hard and grass courts with two Wimbledon titles, a US Open win, an Australian Open triumph, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold Medal for the golden slam. Nadal is currently ranked No. 4 in the world with almost no points to defend for the rest of the year. As he battles for a return to world No. 1, Nadal keeps moving up this list.

4. Jimmy Connors- The American is the winningest player of all time with 1243 match wins and 109 titles. When the first set of computer rankings came out, Connors was listed as No. 10 in the world. At 38 years of age in 1989, Connors was still ranked in the top 10 in the world. It wasn't until 1996 that Connors finally left the top 500 for good at the age of 45. However, the Americans only accomplishments weren't just the length of his career. Connors won over 80% of his matches, eight majors, and spent 268 weeks as the No. 1 in the world. Connors dominance is often overlooked, because it was stretched over a span of 20 years, but looking at the whole body of work, Connors is clearly among the four greatest tennis players in the Open Era.

3. Ivan Lendl- In my opinion, the most underrated player of all time, Lendl was the greatest player in the Open Era when he retired in 1994. When you look at the GOAT lists of other tennis fans, some list him as eight or nine or don't include Lendl in the top 10. That is nuts when you see that Lendl is in the top five for the Open Era in major titles, weeks at No. 1, titles, wins, and win percentage. Most fans rank him so low, because he lost 11 grand slam finals. However, I think that reached 19 grand slam finals is yet another reason to rank him in the top three of all time. Lendl won eight grand slam titles and was the No. 1 player in the world for an incredible 270 weeks. Lendl also won 94 titles and 1071 matches, while maintaining a .818 win  percentage.

2. Pete Sampras- The American is considered in the top 3 on almost every GOAT list in tennis and rightfully so. Sampras absolutely dominated the grand slams from the 1993 Wimbledon to the 2002 US Open winning 14 of the 41 majors, including a stretch of seven Wimbledon titles in eight years. Sampras knew all about playing his best when it mattered most at the slams. Sampras's win percentage in slams was 9.0% higher than in the rest of his matches. Sampras also had a stranglehold on the title of No. 1 player in the world in his career, holding the top ranking for 286 weeks. Sampras ranks second all time in wins over top 10 opponents with 124 and has 64 titles to his name.

1. Roger Federer- How this isn't case closed boggles my mind. Federer is the leader in majors won, weeks at No.1, wins against top 10 opponents, and he is still going. Federer's records at the slams shatter those of any other player in the Open Era. Federer has spent over 300 weeks as the world No. 1. Federer was the tyrant of the ATP rankings from early 2004 to the summer of 2008. From 2004 to 2006, he lost a total of just 15 matches. Federer has won 17 grand slam titles. Federer has reached the final of each grand slam tournament at least five times, and at one point, reached 10 consecutive finals. Some people like to argue that Federer played in a weak era from 2004 to 2008, but Federer really just dominated the era so much that it seemed like there were no other good players. If you look at how Federer performed against the players who were ranked No. 1 in the world before him, you can see that he dominated even against the best opponents. Federer had a .770 win percentage against Agassi, Hewitt, Ferrero, and Roddick combined. Federer dominated the sport more so than any other player and did so for a longer amount of time than any other player. Therefore, he is the GOAT.

Vengeful Djokovic

In the last 11 months of his career, Novak Djokovic has become a vengeful player, and Wednesday is Djokovic's chance to get some revenge on Tomas Berdych. The No. 6 player in the world defeated Djokovic in Rome almost seven weeks ago in their quarterfinal clash. Now the pair will meet in the quarterfinals again at Wimbledon tomorrow.

Since the Olympics last year Djokovic has been ruthless when he tries to get revenge on the court. The Serb has lost eight matches during that stretch, but never lost to any of them twice. When playing against a player he has lost to since the Olympics, Djokovic has a record of 9-0.

Following the London Olympics, Djokovic's next loss came when he got routed in the Cincinnati final by Roger Federer. The next time the players met was in the final of the Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals, where Djokovic took out Federer for the title in straight sets.

Djokovic's next loss came at the hands of Andy Murray in the US Open final. After that loss, the world No. 1 had more than his fair share of revenge on Murray. He defeated the Scot in the Shanghai final, the round robin stages of the year-end finals, and the final of the Australian Open.

The only match Djokovic lost for the rest of the season was a shocker against Sam Querrey. After bageling the American in the first set, Querrey came back to send Djokovic packing early. Djokovic was cruel in his revenge against Querrey, bageling him in front of his home crowd in southern California in the first set of a straight sets victory. The bageling wasn't done yet, as Djokovic had a love-set to put the final stamp on a four-set Davis Cup victory on US soil.

Tommy Haas was the next victim of the vengeful Djokovic. After dismantling Djokovic in Miami, Djokovic returned the favor with two straight sets victories at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

The most recent defeater of the Serb that had to pay the price was Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian fought his way through cramps to knock Djokovic out of Madrid in a hostile environment. Just three weeks later, Djokovic got his revenge on Dimitrov, demolishing him in the third round in Paris.

Now, it is Berdych's turn to see the vengeful side of the world No. 1. However, Berdych already knows how Djokovic can be when he is out for revenge. After the Czech got the better of Djokovic in the 2010 Wimbledon semifinal, Djokovic defeated him 11 consecutive times, only dropping five sets in that span. This will be the first time since their 2010 Wimbledon match that the two will meet again at SW19, so that match along with the match in Rome will be on Djokovic's mind as he goes for revenge against Berdych.

Can Murray, Nadal, or Federer EVER overtake Djokovic in the rankings?

It is the my favorite thing to talk about, especially at the slams, when so many ranking points are at stake. The race for the year end No. 1 title is heating up and it has taken another twist in the last week. The latest twist has many tennis fans wondering if we will see someone besides Novak Djokovic ranked No. 1 in the next three years or more. Even greats like Pete Sampras think Djokovic could have a stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking.

“I do [think Djokovic can remain No. 1 for years]. I was thinking about that when he won Monte Carlo. He could stay No. 1 for quite a while, five or six years in a row. Realistically, if he stays healthy, he could very well do it.”

So here is a look at each players chances of ever getting back to the No. 1 spot, or being ranked No. 1 at all in Murray's case.

Roger Federer: I doubted Federer once before and he made me look pretty dumb for it, but this time, a run at No. 1 is out of the question. In order to reach the No. 1 ranking last year, Federer didn't just play some of the best tennis of his life, but also entered into a lot of tournaments. Federer played 83 matches in 2012, which was his most since his incredible season in 2006. This year, however, Federer has a lighter schedule. When Federer announced that he would not be playing in Davis Cup, Miami, or Basel, his chances to ever return to No. 1 became very slight. Mix that with his disappointing 27-8 record (his worst start since 2001) and his chance of ever reclaiming the top rank of the sport is gone.

Andy Murray: Murray's window of opportunity came and went with five championship points against Djokovic in Shanghai. If he had won the match, he would have accumulated 5,310 points over a span of four months. That would have been the perfect base to build a ranking on. Instead, he gave away his 400 points to Djokovic, who took that momentum into London and won the year-end championships. Now Murray has to defend the 4,910 points that he did amass in that span, but wasn't able to do anything with, which means his ranking is going to be dropping soon. The bigger issue that Murray will have to address when he makes is next run for world No. 1 will be his clay court ability. This year, the Scot won a grand total of three whole matches on clay, which has always been his worst surface. Considering that his competition earned 1910 points on clay this year, just managing three wins is not going to get the job done. This was without doubt Murray's best opportunity. Djokovic isn't going to do any worse on clay any time soon, and Murray may never be able to repeat the run he had late in the summer of 2012 (the Olympics won't come around again for another four years). That was Murray's best chance, and it came and went. I don't think he will ever be the No. 1 player in the world in his career.

Rafael Nadal: Nadal is the one who actually has a legitimate shot at stopping Djokovic. Heading into Wimbledon, Nadal was ahead of Djokovic in the Race Rankings by almost 2000 points. However, that lead will be completely erased if Djokovic wins the title at Wimbledon, because of Nadal's first round loss to Steve Darcis. A lot is still up in the air in terms of determining the Spaniard's ability to perform at his highest level. It is clear that the knee is an issue still. Nadal sited the knee as his reason for skipping Miami and Halle, and the knee was clearly an issue in his loss to Darcis. Now, the question is if the knee will stop him from succeeding in the hard court season. If Djokovic wins Wimbledon, though, it may not matter how Nadal does on hard courts. Djokovic was very successful after the Olympics in 2012 and a win at Wimbledon could propel him to do the same this year, making Nadal's chances of returning to No. 1 even more difficult. As of right now, Nadal's window of opportunity begins in the Asian swing and ends after the Australian Open. If Nadal is not the world No. 1 at the conclusion of the 2014 Australian Open, he never will be again.

So what happens if none of these men ever do become the No. 1 again? Who will pass Djokovic in the rankings? He can't be No. 1 forever. I don't think Del Potro will ever be a serious contender for the No. 1 ranking. Grigor Dimitrov, Bernard Tomic, and Jerzy Janowicz all seem like they could be grand slam contenders very soon, but it will be a while before they are actually competing for the No. 1 ranking. It seems like they are the only three who can surpass Djokovic in the ranking. The only man who can stop the Serb is himself.

Can Djokovic break Federer's record for most consecutive weeks as the world No. 1 at 237? Djokovic's current streak is 35 and he just turned 26 years old. That means Djokovic would have to hold onto the No. 1 ranking until around his 30th birthday in order to break Federer's record. That shows you how incredible Federer's run was and why he is considered the GOAT. It seems like the possibilities are endless for Djokovic. Could we call him the GOAT some day?

Ferrer actually has a chance to become the World No. 1

As it stands right now, the biggest threat to Novak Djokovic's No. 1 ranking is none other than David Ferrer. Yet even that seems impossible since Ferrer is almost 1000 points behind Djokovic in the Race Rankings. His best chance to pass Djokovic will be at Shanghai, which means he has three and a half months to close a 4,610-point gap between himself and the world No. 1. In that time, the Spaniard has to defend 1340 points, while Djokovic has to defend 5290. That means that Ferrer only has to be better than Djokovic by 661 points over the next 15 weeks and he will be the highest ranked tennis player in the world.

Still that is a huge task for Ferrer, who at 31 years old, now has his best shot at claiming the No. 1 ranking. Ferrer had many struggles in his first week at Wimbledon as he reached Middle Sunday by the skin of his teeth. Yet now that he is here, Wimbledon presents a huge opportunity. Being better than Djokovic by 660 points will be extremely difficult for Ferrer, but if he takes it one step at a time, it is possible. If we learned anything from the first week of Wimbledon, it is to not overlook anybody.

The first step for Ferrer will be a big one, and it is to reach the final at Wimbledon. It seems very unlikely, but if Ferrer can do it, he will have done 480 points better than Djokovic in just the first week of this 15-week stretch.

The three tournaments that are very important for Ferrer after that are Montreal, Cincinnati, and Shanghai. Ferrer struggled at all three of these tournaments last year. He lost in the first round at Cincinnati and didn't even show up in Canada or Shanghai. He has to accumulate at least 1000 points total at these three tournaments. Last year, Djokovic won two of the tournaments and reached the final in the other. If Djokovic does that again, Ferrer will be in trouble, but Paris, Madrid, and Rome showed us that Djokovic is vulnerable in he early rounds.

The other big step for Ferrer will be at the US Open. What draw he gets there will be crucial in determining how he does. Potentially, Ferrer could be the No. 2 seed at the US Open, which would guarantee him being on the opposite side of Djokovic. Besides that, he will want to see Nadal, Del Potro, and Almagro in his section with Federer, Tsonga, and Murray on the other half. If he can get this dream draw, he has a very good chance of reaching the final at the fourth slam of the year.

There are a lot of "if's" involved in Ferrer's chances to surpass Djokovic in the ATP Emirates Rankings, but there is no doubting that this is the best chance Ferrer will have in his career. I don't believe that Ferrer will be able to become the world No. 1 in his career. However, as a Djokovic fan, Ferrer is the one who makes me the most nervous in the immediate future. Any chance Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray have to be the world No. 1 are not realistically possible until late in October.

Seppi vs Istomin: Wimbledon first round rematch

In one of the most exciting first round matches at Wimbledon in 2012 Denis Istomin defeated Andreas Seppi 6-7(2), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6. The pair met again in the second round of this year's Australian Open where another five-set epic unfolded in Seppi's favor this time 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 6-2. Now, the two will square off again in another first round match at Wimbledon in what has quickly become the best rivalry of any pair of players ranked outside the top 20.

Prior to their most recent five-set matches, they had met three times before. All three matches were in the first round of the event, and Seppi came out on top each time. It is rare in tennis for two players to draw each other in a first round twice in their career. Wimbledon 2013 marks the fifth time however that these two have drawn each other in the first round of an event.

Last year, both players came into Wimbledon playing the best tennis of their career. Seppi won in Belgrade, reached the quarters in Rome, finished runner-up in Eastbourne, and had a two-set lead over Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of Roland Garros in the months leading up to the third slam of the year. Istomin was coming off of a rough clay court season, but was dominant on the hard courts. He came up through qualifying to reach the semifinals at Sydney, defeated Andy Roddick to reach the final in San Jose, and knocked out David Ferrer at Indian Wells for his first top ten win.

This year, both players have struggled to regain their form from 2012. Istomin has lost eight of his last 12 matches, while Seppi lost in the first round of all three of the master series events on clay as well as at Bucharest and Nice. Seppi reached a career-high ranking of 18 earlier this year, but is in danger of finishing the year outside the top 30 if he doesn't get another big result before December.

When making predictions for this match, one thing is certain. This match is going the distance. John Isner has been nicknamed the "Marathon Man," but that name could easily be applied to Seppi as well.

The Italian has already played five five-set matches this year, and been victorious on each occasion. After defeating Istomin in Melbourne, Seppi played another five-set match two days later, defeating Marin Cilic. Seppi then defeated Canada's Vasek Pospisil as he came back from a two-set deficit in Davis Cup action. At Roland Garros, Seppi won both of his first two matches in five sets before losing to Nicolas Almagro. Even last year, Seppi played three consecutive five-set matches in Roland Garros.

This is the best rivalry in tennis of any two players outside the top 20, and it is sure to be another epic encounter in the first round at SW19.