Third Serve
Talk Tennis Guru
I don’t think Djokovic is necessarily overrated at the AO (he’s overrated at Wimbledon), just that Fed is underrated at Wimbledon relative to Djokovic at the AO.
Like it or not, Djokovic is pretty legit at the AO. Some excellent runs in his prime and although they fall on the weaker side of things, his post-prime AO victories hold up better to scrutiny than something like 2019 or 2021 Wimbledon. You can still poke some holes in 2020, 2021, and 2023 AO but not as many as in his Wimbledon runs which were relatively low in level.
Fed's record at Wimbledon is basically similar except his prime was more condensed (and imo higher of quality) and his post-prime a bit less consistent.
You have a few top level runs that stand out as being some of the greatest you'll ever see at those respective Slams:
Fed - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 W
Djokovic - 2008, 2011, 2016 AO
You have a few other runs that aren't quite as excellent as the above but still demonstrate a standard of tennis that would be hard... though possible... for most all-time great players to match.
Fed - 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 W
Djokovic - 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 AO
(The placement of 2019 AO in this tier rather than the one above may be controversial here; I'll address this if someone asks me about it but not in this post. I will say that I could conceivably swap 2008 for 2019 though.)
Then you've got other runs that certainly demonstrate a good standard but are definitely far closer to earth and beatable by several all-time greats in their primes.
Fed - 2001, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019 W
Djokovic - 2014, 2020, 2021, 2023 AO
And then some other runs that are worthy of a footnote but nothing more:
Fed - 2010, 2016, 2018 W
Djokovic - 2007, 2009, 2010, 2024 AO
The rest are just throwaway early round losses that don't really mean anything, plus Wimbledon 2021 where Fed was very very fortunate to reach the QF given his form. Every player has these, except maybe for those who retired too early in their careers to accumulate very many of them.
Fed - 1999, 2000, 2002, 2013, 2021 W
Djokovic - 2005, 2006, 2017, 2018 AO
In general, I prefer Fed because I think he was better in that very top tier (the most important one imo) but aside from that, both players are pretty similar at these respective Slams and any difference in title count is purely due to the quality of opposition faced.
Like it or not, Djokovic is pretty legit at the AO. Some excellent runs in his prime and although they fall on the weaker side of things, his post-prime AO victories hold up better to scrutiny than something like 2019 or 2021 Wimbledon. You can still poke some holes in 2020, 2021, and 2023 AO but not as many as in his Wimbledon runs which were relatively low in level.
Fed's record at Wimbledon is basically similar except his prime was more condensed (and imo higher of quality) and his post-prime a bit less consistent.
You have a few top level runs that stand out as being some of the greatest you'll ever see at those respective Slams:
Fed - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 W
Djokovic - 2008, 2011, 2016 AO
You have a few other runs that aren't quite as excellent as the above but still demonstrate a standard of tennis that would be hard... though possible... for most all-time great players to match.
Fed - 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 W
Djokovic - 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 AO
(The placement of 2019 AO in this tier rather than the one above may be controversial here; I'll address this if someone asks me about it but not in this post. I will say that I could conceivably swap 2008 for 2019 though.)
Then you've got other runs that certainly demonstrate a good standard but are definitely far closer to earth and beatable by several all-time greats in their primes.
Fed - 2001, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019 W
Djokovic - 2014, 2020, 2021, 2023 AO
And then some other runs that are worthy of a footnote but nothing more:
Fed - 2010, 2016, 2018 W
Djokovic - 2007, 2009, 2010, 2024 AO
The rest are just throwaway early round losses that don't really mean anything, plus Wimbledon 2021 where Fed was very very fortunate to reach the QF given his form. Every player has these, except maybe for those who retired too early in their careers to accumulate very many of them.
Fed - 1999, 2000, 2002, 2013, 2021 W
Djokovic - 2005, 2006, 2017, 2018 AO
In general, I prefer Fed because I think he was better in that very top tier (the most important one imo) but aside from that, both players are pretty similar at these respective Slams and any difference in title count is purely due to the quality of opposition faced.
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