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Federer, Woods two of a kind in best-ever debate

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Michael Rosenberg


Updated Jul 6, 2009 7:32 PM ET
     
 
Roger Federer is the best tennis player of all time. He clinched this title by winning Wimbledon over the weekend, which is to say that he eliminated the last fair argument against him. And in doing so, Federer established a standard for another weekend winner: Tiger Woods.
What does it mean to be the best ever? We usually measure this in Grand Slam championships; Federer now has 15, one more than Pete Sampras for the most all-time in tennis, and Woods has 14, four behind Jack Nicklaus in golf. But this should not be as simple as simply counting trophies. Federer is the best ever not just because he has won the most Slams, but because he has played at a consistently higher level than anybody ever, on every surface. Sampras never made the finals of the French Open and only made the semifinals once. Federer has played in the last five French finals, winning one, and has made it to the semifinals of an astounding 21 consecutive Grand Slam events. Grass, hard court, clay — it doesn't matter. They could play a Grand Slam event on ice and Federer would skate to the final weekend. He is the best ever. I don't see how anybody can even argue the point now. Yes, Rafael Nadal has a 13-7 career edge over Federer. But 11 of those matches were on clay, Nadal's favorite surface. Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash recently told S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated that since Nadal is the better clay-court player and Sampras (in Cash's opinion) was the better grass-court player, it is hard to say Federer is the best ever. It is an interesting argument, but I don't buy it. Let's switch sports for a moment. I don't think Michael Jordan was the best shooter in basketball history, and he certainly was not the best rebounder or passer, and as great as he was defensively, I don't think he was the best defensive player ever. But Jordan was the best overall player. He did everything exceptionally well. In an all-time draft of players, most NBA executives would take Jordan No. 1. Federer and Woods are friends and fellow Nike shills, and for a few years now they have compared career tracks. And if you accept my premise that Federer's all-around dominance and consistency makes him the best tennis player ever, we should then ask if Tiger lives up to the same standard in golf. Golf's four majors, like the four tennis majors, provide different tests. The British Open, played on links courses, is the equivalent of the clay courts in Paris — it emphasizes skills that players might not use in the other three Grand Slam events. The U.S. Open golf tourney requires the most patience and discipline. The Masters is on the same course every year, where the rough is scarce and the greens appear to be made of glass. And the PGA is ... um, none of those things. Tiger conquered all four majors before he turned 24. He has won each major at least three times (and has won four Masters and four PGAs). If he wins one more U.S. Open and one more British Open, he will be the first player ever to win every major four times. That, to me, would be even more impressive than tying Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 total majors. It shows an almost-complete mastery of a game that is impossible to completely master. Woods just won his own tournament, the AT&T National, and this seemed appropriate, almost obvious — like he reached into his mailbox and pulled out a trophy. He wins so often, people seem surprised when he doesn't win — which is absurd in a sport as fickle as golf. But do you realize how often he wins? Tiger has played 245 career tournaments and won 68 of them. Jack Nicklaus played 594 tournaments and won 73. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if Tiger tees it up in another 349 events, he'll win more than five of them. And if he wins 15 more — another safe bet — Tiger will pass Sam Snead in all-time PGA Tour wins. Tiger is going to blow past Snead. The only argument against Tiger is that Nicklaus finished second in 19 majors, while Tiger has only finished second five times. But can you make a whole case for Jack based on that? If Tiger just wins one major every other year, he will still pass Nicklaus at age 42. More likely, he'll catch Jack sooner. And when he does it, Nike can immediately start the ad campaign: Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, both the best ever.

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