Federer-Nadal legend

Federer-Nadal

Gran Slam tournaments

 

Federer and Nadal are the two best players in Gran Slam tournaments, as Nadal played more finals than Sampras. Surprisingly, they don't have the biggest winning percentage, but the difference is insignificant. See Connors-Borg description for the winning explanation.

 

Ranked: 1

Year-End Championship

See McEnroe-Lendl description for the losing explanation. See Agassi-Sampras description for the winning explanation.

 

Ranked: 2

National Representation

See McEnroe-Lendl description for the winning explanation.

 

Ranked: 1

ATP Masters 1000

They are far ahead of the others pairs in this category winning 46 times together. In 2005, when Nadal was only 19, they managed to win 8 tournaments out of 9. Simply amazing! See McEnroe-Lendl description for the winning explanation.

 

Ranked: 1

Career statistics

They only won 126 tournaments compared to the 147 of Connors-Borg, and 143 of McEnroe-Lendl. But they would probably have won 140-150 tournaments if they played during the 70s or 80s. The current level of competition is very high and physically demanding nowadays. Connors-Borg and McEnroe-Lendl played a lot of small tournaments easy to win. Federer-Nadal focused more on big events. So it's hard to say. Let's have a look to the big tournaments only for a definitive answer on this one (Gran Slam, Master, Masters 1000).

 

Connors-Borg (19-3-36.5) = 58.5

McEnroe-Lendl (13-7-37) = 57

Federer-Nadal (29-5-46) = 80

Even if I take into account the fact that Connors-Borg and McEnroe-Lendl didn't play all the big events, the difference is big. And overall Federer-Nadal are only about 1% behind in winning percentage. And as only the big tournaments matter when you compare the very best (even Masters 1000 could be left out). Federer-Nadal are clearly number 1.

Ranked: 1

Conclusion:

In every category Federer-Nadal are the best, except for the Master. The most talented player of all time pairing with the best clay-court player of all time make an all time winning team. How could it be different with such a technically gifted (Federer) and physically gifted (Nadal) players?

Ranked: 1