Winning his first tennis major at Wimbledon back in 2003, 39-year-old Swiss tennis player Roger Federer has since proved to be the best male tennis player of all time. He has shown his dominance over the past 20 years, winning his most recent major 15 years after his first one in 2018 at the Australian Open. 

During his professional career, he has collected 20 grand slam wins along with having placed runner-up at a grand slam eleven times. Federer has won the Australian Open six times, the French Open once, Wimbledon eight times, and the US Open five times, showing his versatility as a player. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both tied for their number of grand slam titles, but Roger has proved he can win any of the tournaments a number of times, whereas thirteen of Nadal’s 20 wins are just from the French Open, proving he just isn’t as versatile in different situations and conditions.

Another factor that adds to Federer’s greatness is his ability to come back from his injuries. Back in January of 2016, Federer suffered a knee injury from a torn meniscus. After surgery and rehab took him out for almost a year, he was able to not only come back and play in the 2017 Australian Open, but he won the tournament as well. Unfortunately, his knee injury reoccurred this past year, causing him to miss two tournaments this year.

It is very rare for Federer to miss one of the four major tournaments. In fact, from his first major tournament in January of 2000 to right before his knee injury in January 2016, Roger consecutively attended every major tennis tournament, totaling 65 in a row. He has the second-longest streak for consecutive grand slam appearances, just falling two short of Fernando Verdasco’s streak of 67 appearances. Along with not missing a grand slam for 16 years, Roger has never retired during a match, unlike many other professional players.

Having played a total of 1,513 matches in his career, winning 103 tournaments, having 20 grand slam titles to his name, and never once retiring during a match, Roger Federer has the versatility, persistence, and statistics to prove he has what it takes to be named the best tennis player of all time. Although he now has a wife and four kids and some ongoing knee issues, Roger probably has a year or two left before he retires from his tennis career.

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