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Hall of Fame
Which was the better version of Roger Federer: 21/22-year old 2003 Federer or 37/38-year old 2019 Federer?
They both had the same winning percentage of 82.8% with 2003 Fed winning 77 matches, losing 16 and 2019 Fed winning 53, losing 11.
The numbers below reflect seeding, not ranking.
2003 Fed won his first major, Wimbledon, beating unseeded Mark Philippoussis, but lost in the 4th round of the Australian Open to #10 David Nalbandian, lost in the 1st round of the French to Luis Horna (who?), and lost in the 4th round of the U.S. Open to #13 David Nalbandian. 2003 Fed's other losses were to unseeded Franco Squillari in Sydney, unseeded Max Mirny in Rotterdam, unseeded Gustavo Kuerten at Indian Wells, #9 Albert Costa in Miami, unseeded Felix Mantilla in Rome, #3 Jiri Novak in Gstaad, #6 Andy Roddick in Canadian Masters, #14 Nalbandian in Cincinnati, Lleyton Hewitt in Davis Cup, #1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in Madrid, unseeded Ivan Ljubicic in Basel, and unseeded Tim Henman in Paris Masters.
2003 Fed won the Masters Cup beating #5 Andre Agassi, taking out #1 Roddick, #8 Nalbandian, #2 Ferrero, and #5 Agassi again on the way. Other top seeds whom Federer beat during the year were #5 Roddick at Wimbledon, #5 Younes el Aynaoui at Halle, #4 Gaudio in Gstaad, #3 Novak to win Dubai, #2 Ferrero in Rome, and #2 Moya to win Vienna.
2019 Fed lost in the 4th round in Melbourne to #14 Stefanos Tsitsipas, lost in the semis at Roland Garros to #2 Rafael Nadal, lost in the final at Wimbledon to #1 Novak Djokovic, and lost in the QF of the U.S. Open to unseeded Grigor Dimitrov. 2019 Fed's other losses were to #7 Dominic Thiem at Indian Wells, #5 Thiem at Madrid Masters, #8 Tsitsipas at Rome Masters, #5 Alexander Zverev in Shanghai, and to #5 Thiem and #6 Tsitsipas in the Tour Finals.
Top seeds whom 2019 Fed beat were #5 Tsitsipas to win Dubai, #3 Nadal at Wimbledon, #3 Tsitsipas in Basel, and #2 Novak Djokovic in the Tour Finals.
2003 Fed won more important tournaments, but lost to a lot of journeyman players. 2019 Fed didn't lose to a single journeyman player and arguably beat better top players.
They both had the same winning percentage of 82.8% with 2003 Fed winning 77 matches, losing 16 and 2019 Fed winning 53, losing 11.
The numbers below reflect seeding, not ranking.
2003 Fed won his first major, Wimbledon, beating unseeded Mark Philippoussis, but lost in the 4th round of the Australian Open to #10 David Nalbandian, lost in the 1st round of the French to Luis Horna (who?), and lost in the 4th round of the U.S. Open to #13 David Nalbandian. 2003 Fed's other losses were to unseeded Franco Squillari in Sydney, unseeded Max Mirny in Rotterdam, unseeded Gustavo Kuerten at Indian Wells, #9 Albert Costa in Miami, unseeded Felix Mantilla in Rome, #3 Jiri Novak in Gstaad, #6 Andy Roddick in Canadian Masters, #14 Nalbandian in Cincinnati, Lleyton Hewitt in Davis Cup, #1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in Madrid, unseeded Ivan Ljubicic in Basel, and unseeded Tim Henman in Paris Masters.
2003 Fed won the Masters Cup beating #5 Andre Agassi, taking out #1 Roddick, #8 Nalbandian, #2 Ferrero, and #5 Agassi again on the way. Other top seeds whom Federer beat during the year were #5 Roddick at Wimbledon, #5 Younes el Aynaoui at Halle, #4 Gaudio in Gstaad, #3 Novak to win Dubai, #2 Ferrero in Rome, and #2 Moya to win Vienna.
2019 Fed lost in the 4th round in Melbourne to #14 Stefanos Tsitsipas, lost in the semis at Roland Garros to #2 Rafael Nadal, lost in the final at Wimbledon to #1 Novak Djokovic, and lost in the QF of the U.S. Open to unseeded Grigor Dimitrov. 2019 Fed's other losses were to #7 Dominic Thiem at Indian Wells, #5 Thiem at Madrid Masters, #8 Tsitsipas at Rome Masters, #5 Alexander Zverev in Shanghai, and to #5 Thiem and #6 Tsitsipas in the Tour Finals.
Top seeds whom 2019 Fed beat were #5 Tsitsipas to win Dubai, #3 Nadal at Wimbledon, #3 Tsitsipas in Basel, and #2 Novak Djokovic in the Tour Finals.
2003 Fed won more important tournaments, but lost to a lot of journeyman players. 2019 Fed didn't lose to a single journeyman player and arguably beat better top players.