{"id":1879751,"date":"2026-04-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1879751"},"modified":"2026-04-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T08:00:00","slug":"roger-federer-came-this-close-to-ending-the-goat-debate-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1879751","title":{"rendered":"Roger Federer came this close to ending the GOAT debate for good"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Roger Federer was three points away from being the greatest of all time. Still, he likely reigns supreme in a tennis universe where the players who saved match points on their way to winning Grand Slams didn’t.<\/p>\n

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Roger Federer was three points away from being the greatest of all time. Still, he likely reigns supreme in a tennis universe where the players who saved match points on their way to winning Grand Slams didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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Forty-eight times in tennis history, players won majors despite facing a match point sometime during the tournament. What would tennis history look like if all those players lost all those matches?<\/p>\n

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Forty-eight times in tennis history, players won majors despite facing a match point sometime during the tournament. What would tennis history look like if all those players lost all those matches?<\/p>\n

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For starters, Federer would have the most men’s major titles in this revised version of tennis history. We’d have a tie for most women’s majors. Jannik Sinner, not Carlos Alcaraz, would be the young player on track to shatter records. <\/p>\n

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For starters, Federer would have the most men\u2019s major titles in this revised version of tennis history. We\u2019d have a tie for most women\u2019s majors. Jannik Sinner, not Carlos Alcaraz, would be the young player on track to shatter records. <\/p>\n

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Greatest of all time status for Roger Federer<\/h2>\n

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Greatest of all time status for Roger Federer<\/h2>\n

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You’d be shocked to see who we’d remember as the best women’s clay court player of the early 2000s. That’s just a few of the big changes to the tennis records books if the players who saved match points to win majors all lost.<\/p>\n

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You\u2019d be shocked to see who we\u2019d remember as the best women\u2019s clay court player of the early 2000s. That\u2019s just a few of the big changes to the tennis records books if the players who saved match points to win majors all lost.<\/p>\n

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Poor Federer is the only player in tennis history to hold a match point against the player destined to win that major on three different occasions. The most memorable was Wimbledon in 2019<\/a>, when Federer couldn’t convert two match points on his own serve at 8-7 in the fifth set against Novak Djokovic. <\/p>\n

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Poor Federer is the only player in tennis history to hold a match point against the player destined to win that major on three different occasions. The most memorable was Wimbledon in 2019<\/a>, when Federer couldn\u2019t convert two match points on his own serve at 8-7 in the fifth set against Novak Djokovic. <\/p>\n

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Federer also failed to convert two match points in the fifth set in the semifinals against eventual winner Djokovic at the 2011 U.S. Open. A similar fate befell Federer in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals, when a between-the-legs shot on match point backfired, and Marat Safin went on to win their match and the tournament.<\/p>\n

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Federer also failed to convert two match points in the fifth set in the semifinals against eventual winner Djokovic at the 2011 U.S. Open. A similar fate befell Federer in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals, when a between-the-legs shot on match point backfired, and Marat Safin went on to win their match and the tournament.<\/p>\n

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If Federer wins those matches and goes on to win all three tournaments, he retires with 23 majors – the most in men’s tennis history. Two of those majors would have been at Djokovic’s expense, so Djokovic’s total drops from his current men’s record of 24 to 22. <\/p>\n

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If Federer wins those matches and goes on to win all three tournaments, he retires with 23 majors \u2013 the most in men\u2019s tennis history. Two of those majors would have been at Djokovic\u2019s expense, so Djokovic\u2019s total drops from his current men\u2019s record of 24 to 22. <\/p>\n

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(Or does it? Stan Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic in the 2016 U.S. Open final, had to save a match point along the way against Dan Evans in the third round. If Wawrinka hadn’t gotten past the first week in New York, would Djokovic have won the final, likely against Kei Nishikori?)<\/p>\n

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(Or does it? Stan Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic in the 2016 U.S. Open final, had to save a match point along the way against Dan Evans in the third round. If Wawrinka hadn\u2019t gotten past the first week in New York, would Djokovic have won the final, likely against Kei Nishikori?)<\/p>\n

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Other notable changes in this version of men’s tennis history:<\/p>\n

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Other notable changes in this version of men\u2019s tennis history:<\/p>\n

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