Unfair, the Djoker is the clear number 1 imo
I stand by it. There can't be a big 4 if there wasn't a big 1 first.
The mid-30s don't seem to be bothering Djokovic's defence at the moment Thrawn.
He has been the best player by far since 2018 - but in my opinion that is the weakest era we have seen in tennis for a while. Won 10 grand slams in that time and if you take out the one win against Rafa at 2019 AO the rest have been against 9 players with a combined one GS at the time of the match (and it was Del Potro who won US Open 9 years earlier). Federer for me always had to play a younger Novak and Rafa and was still competing with them even when he was 37-38. Head to head only shifted Novak's way when Federer turned 36 and Federer has shown an ability to beat Novak at his peak (after his massive winning streak in 2011). Federer is still the GOAT for me. Would have Novak as a close 2nd with Rafa 3rd.
I’d argue the start of Federer’s dominance was in an equally weak era. Federer won slams against the likes of Baghdatis, Philippousis, Gonzalez, Soderling, old Agassi etc
This is such a subjective non-argument.
I hear that argument a lot but players like Roddick, Safin and Hewett were at least Grand Slam winners and world number 1s. Players that Novak is beating now haven't done that. And I'd also argue Djokovic never really beat Federer at his peak, largely due to the age difference of course, whilst Federer did beat a peak Djokovic. For instance in 2011 Federer ended Novak's 41-match winning streak. Even in 2019 when Federer was 37 he took Djokovic to 13-12 in a 5th and beat him at the ATP finals in that year. Their head 2 head also only favoured Novak when Fed had turned 36. It's always going to be hard to compare as they were never facing each other when both were at their peaks but I still believe a prime Federer is the best tennis I have seen and is the only player that could beat a peak Djokovic.
What about winning slams during Federer and Nadal's peak years?
It is difficult because of the age difference but Federer was dominant Grand Slam wise between 2004-2010 at which time Djokovic had won one. For me that has to be classified as his "peak years". Djokovic started dominating 2011 when Federer was already 30. It would be so interesting to see who would come out on top if both played at their peak in some simulated match - I just think the aggressiveness of Fed combined with his variety of shots makes him the most complete player I have seen and would be the only player I'd put up against prime Novak.
What about soccer?
Who cares?
But you're basically arguing that Djokovic had to be beating Federer consistently at 19-22 years of age, which is just a ridiculous expectation. Federer didn't win his first major until he was approximately 22 years of age.
No not at all I was just replying to the question about peak years. I've said multiple times there wasn't really a time when they played each other at their respective peaks so of course it is hard to compare. I just think Federer is the most complete tennis player and his peak was the best tennis I have seen. However, what Novak and Rafa have done has been ridiculous - I just don't think if he wins another five slams it makes much of a difference to the GOAT race because personally I don't see any of the current crop even close to them. Hopefully someone like Alcaraz can give them a run in the next few years to make it interesting. But at the moment Novak is the easy favourite at every slam he plays at.
Djokervic and Nadal have winning records against Federer.
That's fine, but it's a completely subjective argument.
I just found this on Wikipedia
They do. With Djokovic specifically however, he only started leading once Federer turned 36. Like I said age difference makes the comparison hard as Fed had like a 13-6 lead before he was 30, and then Djokovic went 21-10 of their next lot of meetings when Fed was >30. I see Nadal as Federer's biggest rival and had his number for a long time. Federer surprisingly evened it up a bit in the last 5 or so years post 2017 Aus Open. I still see Djokovic as a better overall player than Nadal purely because he has been more dominant at 3/4 of the grand slams. Nadal on clay but is as close to unbeatable as you can get in sport.
