So you are taking money from jerksā¦ 
The era is also quite important in my opinion.
Rod Laver won the Calendar grand slam in 1962, but was also active at a time where the field wasnāt as competitive.
Serena vs Steffi Graf is a tricky one IMO. Steffi was more versatile, but Serena had tougher competition. Since Serena has more grand slams and the same number of Olympic golds, Iād give the edge to her.
One thingās for sure: The so called next gen of menās tennis is never going to be as good as the Big-3. These guys in their early/mid 20s are losing to 35 year olds consistently. Grand Slam Tennis will be very different once Djodal retires 
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18 out of the last 20 grand slams were won by Big-3, all in their early to mid 30s. The 2020 US Open was won by a non-big-3 player because Federer/Nadal didnāt participate and because Djokovic got defaulted in R4 for accidentally hitting the ball into the line judge. If you look at non-US Open grand slams, the record is even more insane.
The next gen is just sad.
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As much as I hate him, heās just a monster in grand slams, so hard to beat, and his defense and flexibility is just insane. Canāt help but appreciate the tennis he produces.
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His five set match record is ridiculous.
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true, but still an asshat.
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Based on GS numbers yes and you can pull his 1:1 stats up for discussion/debate with the other two and heāll always be regarded as number 3.
I think GOAT status isnāt really about stats though, itās the players accolades as well as what they bring to the sport.
Djokovic may one day capture the the most GS titles, but heāll never condone the respect that Federer and Nadal have from fans and other players.
Oh god, is that a phrase now?
Agreed, but I would argue itās not always about the stats, but I did love watching the heated rivalry between her and Justine Henin. Nothing else in womenās tennis grabbed my attention more than those head to heads.
I donāt know who the mod is for Sports, but they might need to be given a nudge because tennis GOAT discussions tend to go downhill rapidly.
I am, and I think we are very well behaved here.
I second, third or whatever Rod Laver based a lot on this but mainly on his playing. Wins the Slam, spends 8 years in the wilderness playing exhibition matches on the road in gymnasiums, which is like practicing for 8 years, and then comes back to major competition and wins another Grand Slam. Who knows how many majors he would have won in those years. Itās like Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, who lost seasons to WWII.
And he was up against strong competition in Rosewall, Gonzales, Newcombe , etc. Amazing serve and volley, emphasis on the volley, and topspin lobs. As a kid I saw him play in his later years and even then he was a wizard.
And a complete class act like all the Aussies of that time and Federer now. Didnāt know his wife died so long ago, thatās sad, another classy lady.
Of course in all GOAT debates comparing eras isnāt really possible and much so with tennis considering all the changes in equipment and court surfaces. But in his time I would vote Laver.
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The whole game has evolved incredibly as well. I read some insane stat the other day about how more than 90% of points in wimbledon finals pre-2000 used to be 4 shots or less due to āserve and volleyā tennis being the norm. In my opinion, the game is far more interesting now with longer rallies and different styles of play.
I actually liked the contrast of play back then. For example Edberg vs. Wilander.
Attack the net after almost every serve vs. almost never going to the net.
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Reminds me a bit of Henman and his matches against the new gen and the unseen opponent, racket technology.
Nadal, who despite having a career plagued with injuries, has never left the Top 10 since he entered it in 2005, at age 18.
This is a GOAT worthy stat. Thatās over 6,000 days at the top of your game.
Djokovic just won French Open 2023.
He is GOAT. Great for him, considering all heās been through in last 3 years. Now #1 again, too.
His victory speech is very impressive. Started off in fluent/near-fluent French. Rest of speech including congratulations to Ruud extremely nice.
Taiwanās tennis GOAT is certainly Hsieh Su-wei. 5 Grand Slam doubles wins.
Totally missed her win a the French open last weekend, paired with Wang Xinyu.
What an odd and fun couple those two are. Great to see some successful and happy cross-strait teamwork for a change.
Hsieh is quite a character.
At 20, Alcaraz is the third youngest player to win the Wimbledon menās singles title, behind only Boris Becker and Bjƶrn Borg. His second grand slam title means he is the first new male player to win multiple major titles since Stan Wawrinka in 2015. By halting Djokovicās four-year dominance at Wimbledon, he has denied the 36-year-old the chance of equalling Roger Federerās record of eight Wimbledon titles.
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Steffi Graf would have lost by the number 100 of the menās ranking.
So if your definition of GOAT is āthe greatest female tennis player of all timesā you maybe right.
Djokovic has just won from two sets down. He is definitely the most mentally strongest player of all time.
His record over five sets is incredible
.
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Djokovic is the GOAT, but to be honest his opponent today is known for being one of the most mentally weakest players on tour. His game literally nosedived after the second set. He missed a ton of easy rally balls and had dozens of unforced errors each set.
Over their careers, his opponent has won fewer matches from 2 sets up than Djokovic has won from 2 sets down. This stat was insane to me.
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