John McEnroe says Roger Federer Is Atop All Others in History
February 10th, 2010 – Written By John Ritter
Roger Federer recently won his 16th career Grand Slam singles title by way of the Australian Open just weeks ago. He further extended the career record for most major titles won, now holding the lead over Pete Sampras by two. It has been a point of argument for several years now on where Federer ranks among the greats in tennis history, but if you ask John McEnroe, he’s at the top.
McEnroe, who is also considered one of the great tennis players in history, believes that Federer deserves to be ahead of even Rod Laver, the only player to ever win all four Grand Slam Titles (Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open, U.S Open). He also ranks Federer ahead of Sampras, who won Wimbledon seven times throughout his storied career.
“I think we can all appreciate how incredible he is even more lately, because he’s shown a bit more emotion on court and he’s become a father so he seems a bit more human, more relatable,” McEnroe said of Federer in an interview with the World Tennis Magazine. “That makes what he’s doing seem even more amazing.”
For his career, Federer has averaged winning two major titles per season, a feat McEnroe labeled “phenomenally consistent and amazing.”
Federer sports a career singles record of 688-162, which equates to over an 80 percent winning percentage. He has won 62 career singles titles.
McEnroe was asked if any one achievement stood above the others throughout Federer’s career.
“It’s difficult to pick out one of his achievements as the best because they’re all so incredible,” McEnroe remarked.. “But I would probably say the 23 semis or better in a row is the best record of them all. There’s probably not another player in the top 20 who’s even played 23 straight majors in a row. Then throw in the fact that he got to 18 out of 19 finals and that he’s averaging two Grand Slam titles a year, it’s just phenomenally consistent. It’s amazing.”
Federer held the ATP No.1 ranking for 237 consecutive weeks before surrendering it to Rafael Nadal a year ago. He has since regained the top position and it appears he will remain there for a duration. However, McEnroe cited the fact that no player remains on top forever.
“When you’ve won as much as he has you have to wonder how he will react when he starts losing regularly at major events — not reaching finals or semis,” McEnroe said. “That’s not going to be easy for him. But, he seems to take great care of his body, the way he moves doesn’t put a lot of strain on the body so you would think he would be able to play at this top level a few more years. I hope so, because we are lucky to have him.”
Oddsmakers are fielding multiple bets relating to Roger Federer this season, one of which is a Grand Slam title count at Bodog Sportsbook. According to the Online Tennis Betting Lines, the leading favorite installed is that Federer will capture two Grand Slams this season.
Roger Federer 2010 Grand Slam Wins
Exactly One- 23/10
Exactly Two- 6/5
Exactly Three- 7/2
All Four- 7/1
Related posts:
The God of Tennis, RF.