What If Roger and Rafa End Their Careers with the Same Number of Slams?

hoodjem

hoodjem

G.O.A.T.
20? 21? More?

Right now it is Fed's 20 to Rafa's 18, (with Djokovic five behind Fed). But with Nadal only two slams behind Fed and his being five years younger, Fed could retire leaving Rafa years to make up that two slam difference. But, at the same time, Rafa's body is breaking down and injuries are taking their toll. Who knows when Nadal will retire?

With all the emphasis on total singles slam count being the best measure, the debate will never end.
Will we move on to talking about total weeks as world no. 1 or total number of Masters 1000s titles?

Co-GOATs?
 
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Gazelle

Gazelle

G.O.A.T.
The slam record will belong to Roger in that case, as he was first (I suppose). Nadal will need at least one more slam than Roger.
 
Phoenix1983

Phoenix1983

G.O.A.T.
Should they tie, Federer shall remain GOAT.

However, should Novak Djokovic and Federer tie - *shudder* - we may have to give it to the Serb.
 
J

Jonesy

Legend
If that were to happen there would never be a consensus, because: Fed has more time at 1#, but Ned would have the H2H advantage; while Fed would have more WTFs, Ned would have more masters; while Fed would have more HC slams, Ned would be the only one with at least 2 slams in all surfaces.
 
TennisLBC

TennisLBC

Professional
If Federer remain the GOAT even if Rafa equals the Slam record; Nadal will be simply known as the GOAT Slayer.
 
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ollinger

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
If this happens Lew II, perhaps Lew III by then, will devise a calculation that takes into account the career records of all of the other 127 players in each slam so that each win can be adjusted with a weighting coefficient. But all of them ending up with the same number of slams would be the best outcome, so these pointless arcane debates can go on forever.
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
If they end their careers tied on Slams then no doubt the entirety of their accomplishments will be evaluated to decide who comes out on top.
 
BeatlesFan

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
mbm0912 said:
Djokovic will still be the more complete player.
Click to expand...

Cool story.
giphy.gif
 
P

papertank

Hall of Fame
It's very easy to say Federer is the answer to this question. As of now he has the advantage in many categories, but let's unpack exactly what them finishing at the same # of slams would mean.

It means that at some point in the next few years, Rafa has packed on achievements at a faster rate than Fed. If Rafa gains this ground in the right areas, the question of who is greater becomes much more difficult to answer. For example, if he wins three more RG while Fed wins another RG then it's clear that Fed is greater. However, if Nadal were to win say 2 more Wimbledon and 1 more AO, and Federer got one more Wimbledon, the choice would be much harder. Also, the fact that Rafa will have to win at least two more slams than Fed does to make this comparison happen means that there is a large chance Rafa is in good form, and adds to other metrics such as weeks at no.1 or Masters titles. Who knows, if he is playing well he could even finally win the WTF.

I think this scenario could go either way depending on how the cards fall.

Also for the record, if we include Djokovic in this, I think he clearly becomes GOAT if he matches Fedal in slam count.
 
R

rmontro

Rookie
If they both end up with the same amount of Slams, things will likely be as they are now:
Some people will think Federer is the GOAT, and others will think Nadal is the GOAT.
 
K

KG1965

Legend
hoodjem said:
20? 21? More?

Right now it is Fed's 20 to Rafa's 18, (with Djokovic five behind Fed). But with Nadal only two slams behind Fed and his being five years younger, Fed could retire leaving Rafa years to make up that two slam difference. But, at the same time, Rafa's body is breaking down and injuries are taking their toll. Who knows when Nadal will retire?

With all the emphasis on total singles slam count being the best measure, the debate will never end.
Will we move on to talking about total weeks as world no. 1 or total number of Masters 1000s titles?

Co-GOATs?
Click to expand...
If Federer 20, Nadal 20, Djokovic 20...
The media is also ready for this eventuality ... obviously forgetting (hiding) Tilden, Gonzalez and Rosewall. ;)

Federer GOAT
2° Laver
3° Nadal
4° Djokovic

Popularity >>>> achievements
 
N

Nole_King

Hall of Fame
This scenario will work very well for Novak and we may see him ending very close to Fedal tally. Add to that he would be holding weeks @ #1 and YE #1 records as well.

The reason is that it is very unlikely that Roger would be able to add another, this Wim being possibly his last chance. For Rafa to tie with Roger it means he stops at 20. This would definitely include one more FO. So if Rafa is only going to win one more GS outside French, honestly I don't see anyone else consistently winning majors except Novak. This would add to his GS tally, weeks and YE #1.

So in the end Novak may end 1-2 slams less than Fedal but owning most of the other records. So the logic that Federer fans put in front today to place Roger higher than Nadal (even in the case of them tying or Rafa winning a slam or two higher), the same logic Novak fans are going to turn against Fedal fans. It will be kind of an epic fan war.
 
T

Tennisgods

Hall of Fame
hoodjem said:
20? 21? More?

Right now it is Fed's 20 to Rafa's 18, (with Djokovic five behind Fed). But with Nadal only two slams behind Fed and his being five years younger, Fed could retire leaving Rafa years to make up that two slam difference. But, at the same time, Rafa's body is breaking down and injuries are taking their toll. Who knows when Nadal will retire?

With all the emphasis on total singles slam count being the best measure, the debate will never end.
Will we move on to talking about total weeks as world no. 1 or total number of Masters 1000s titles?

Co-GOATs?
Click to expand...

Ok, let’s be honest...if either Djokovic or Nadal wind up level with Fed, they will have monumentally screwed up their arithmetic. They know exactly what they are chasing. The field is there for the taking.
If they don’t overtake, shame on them.
Nobody will end this level.
 
canta_Brian

canta_Brian

Hall of Fame
Jonesy said:
If that were to happen there would never be a consensus, because: Fed has more time at 1#, but Ned would have the H2H advantage; while Fed would have more WTFs, Ned would have more masters; while Fed would have more HC slams, Ned would be the only one with at least 2 slams in all surfaces.
Click to expand...

Quite right. You can cherry pick stats to support any position.

You also have the situation where Fed and Rafa have won a lot of one slam. Haven’t done the maths but how would the race look if you took
1 x favourite slam
2 x second slam
3 x third slam
4 x fourth slam

Overall total will flatten a one surface bias and reward being versatile. Nadal gets 12 x 1 but also is the only one to multiply more than 1 x 4.
 
Spanglish72

Spanglish72

Rookie
cluckcluck said:
Even with zero WTF titles?
Click to expand...

How many singles gold medals does FedEx have again?

Daveydenko and Dimitrov have both won the WTF for God's sake!

If Djoker passes Rafa & FedEx in slams he should probably be considered the GOAT for having a better head to head against both of them (I'm a Rafa fan).
 
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