On that occasion, the Spaniard came out on top, overcoming Federer in a rain-disrupted five-set epic that ended the silky-smooth Swiss’ run of five consecutive titles at SW19. Now, it appears Nadal may have got one over his old rival once again. Asked by Netflix Sports to compile his list of the 10 greatest athletes of all time, Nadal opted not to include Federer – instead giving the nod to the other member of tennis’ Big Three, Novak Djokovic.
“Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Novak Djokovic, Muhammad Ali, Michael Schumacher, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, [Diego] Maradona, Pele,” the 40-year-old said.
Nadal’s selection is likely to reignite the never-ending debate over who deserves to be called the greatest men’s tennis player of all time. Between them, Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have amassed a staggering 66 Grand Slam titles, earned more than £350million in prize money and spent a combined 947 weeks ranked world No.1.
Federer was the trailblazer of the legendary trio, winning his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003 before becoming the first man to surpass Pete Sampras’ long-standing record of 14 major titles. He hung up his racket in 2022, but many of his records have since been overtaken by his two great rivals.
Djokovic now sits alone at the top with a men’s record 24 Grand Slam titles, followed by Nadal with 22 and Federer with 20. He has also won Olympic gold, claimed a record 40 Masters crowns and remains the only player is history to complete a Triple Career Grand Slam.
Unlike Federer and Nadal, who retired in 2022 and 2024 respectively, Djokovic is still competing at the very highest level. And the chase for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title goes on.