FedererIsBetterer

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗧𝗙𝟬𝟯-𝗪𝗧𝗙𝟬𝟳: Looking at it through his opponents’s tennis. Genius can elevate the ordinary. It can also make the best look ordinary. Federer’s play during his peak did the latter. A thread.

12: Tsonga, Kiefer ('77), Gonzo 11: Nalby, Robredo, Raonic 10: Saf, Blake ('79), JCF, Malisse, Cilic, Monf, Goff The 33 players includes w/o overlap – 6 multi-slammers 4 single-slammers 1 MS finalist 6 slam finalists 4 MS SFists 6 MS QFists The Maestro was a marvel. 🎩🪄 2/2

Fed defeated 33 players ≥ 10 times. 27 of them were born during 1980-1990. 23: Djo, Stan 21: ARod 20: Berdy 19: Denko 18: Hew, delPo 17: Youzh, Ferrer 16: Rafa, Soders 15: Nieminen 14: Seppi, Kohls, Murr, Step ('78) 13: Lopez, Haas ('78), Ivo ('79), Ljubi ('79) 1/2

Did you know? Federer is the ONLY player in the history of tennis to win ≥ 10 slam FINALS vs players of the NEXT gen. Baggy: 1 Rafa: 3 Djo: 1 Mur: 3 Soders: 1 Cilic: 2 5 of these players became multi-slam finalists. 4 became slam winners. 3 became multi-slam winners. The 👑.

@JohnGue77413749 A sport, if it's very lucky, will get a chance at being incarnated ONCE. In tennis's case, Fed is that incarnation: a never-before-never-again phenomenon who simultaneously redefined tennis's shotmaking and aesthetics. How lucky we are that he arrived in the time of video! 😍

@incontextfed I agree that Fed is the pinnacle of tennis stroke style, but why does no one else come close to this level of elegance?

A nice analysis of Fed's serve. It's hard not to believe Fed was BORN to ELEVATE tennis, since virtually every one of his strokes was a Platonic Ideal *and* was basically fully formed by the time he turned pro. The Maestro ↔️ the greatest player who'll ever play tennis. 👑🙏🏾

Here's the link to the original Instagram video, by James Ludlow. instagram.com/reel/DYuGbkEMS…

2004-06: Fed's W-L vs SWs: 𝟰𝟬-𝟳 all: 𝟮𝟰𝟳-𝟭𝟱 2008-10: Rafa's W-L vs SWs: 27-10 all: 219-35 2011-13: Djo's W-L vs SWs: 34-13 all: 246-33 2024-26: Sinn's W-L vs SWs: 14-9 all: 168-15 Modern sport's ONLY Maestro. 👑🙏🏾 *SW = slam winner

Federer meeting Djo at AO 2020 may the best illustration of his relentless ANTI-opportunism. He beat Millman in a super TB, beat Sandgren in the QF saving 7 MPs, & came into the SF with a thigh injury in match #1513. Meanwhile, Djo in 2017: 🦗🦗🦗

By the way, only three other players have even played ≥ 50 slam matches as Top 10 vs Top 10 in their careers. Their W-L record in the first 50 matches was – Rafa: 37-13 (74%) Djo: 32-18 (64%) Lendl: 30-20 (60%) One can see why people said Djo reminded them of Lendl. 💡

As Top 10 vs Top 10, Fed in slams started with 𝟰𝟬-𝟭𝟬 (𝟴𝟬%). That is by far the highest win% in the OE. Curiously, the winning began at Wim03 & went up to AO10. In the 10 losses, Fed had MP once, was 2 points away once, & won >50% points once. The magical Maestro. 👑🪄

@sixloveee It matters because, taken together, the numbers show that Fed was the only one of the two (three actually, including RN) who was IRREPLACEABLE & IRREPLICABLE. Fed did what Djo couldn't have dreamt of doing vs Fed's peers. Then he outdid Djo vs Djo's own peers.

@incontextfed Why does Djokovic's h2h vs safin hewitt and roddick even matter?

In slams vs Saf+Hew+ARod Fed: 𝟮𝟬-𝟭 (𝟵𝟱%) Djo: 5-3 (63%) In slams vs Rafa+Mur+Stan Fed: 𝟭𝟲-𝟭𝟮 (𝟱𝟳%) Djo: 20-17 (54%) Total Fed: 𝟯𝟲-𝟭𝟯 (𝟳𝟯%) Djo: 25-20 (56%) Djo NEEDED an ACTUAL weak era. Fed CREATED (the ILLUSION of) a "weak era". 👑

In the AO09 final, Fed won more points despite losing (2-6 in the 5th). And Fed's ROUTE to the final? It would've been worth ≥ 2 slams in the late 2010s or 2020s. R32-SF: Saf-Berd-delPo-ARod Fed was so great, he made winning seem meh. Truly tennis's "only genius".

Fed could do everything Djo did but never the opposite. Here's what I mean. At the Big 5 (Slams+WTF) vs Hew+ARod (Fed's gen) Fed: 21-1 ✅ Djo: 6-2 vs Mur+Stan (Djo's gen) Fed: 18-3 ✅ Djo: 16-7 Total Fed: 39-4 (91%) Djo: 22-9 (71%) Djo made Mur & Stan multi-slammers. Lol.

Btw, Rafa missing Fed so often ALSO SHOWS the depth of the field in the 2000s. (Compare that with Sincaraz today.) It's why the idea of Fed's "weak era" is nonsense. The field wasn't weak; Fed is simply the greatest player who'll ever live. The Maestro. 👑 4/4

The Fedal rivalry was compelling, but it was NEVER balanced. In 2011, ND beat RN at IW & Miami. The consequence? He beat RN at Madrid & Rome. Now imagine if RN had met Fed at IW & Miami 2006. And at AO & Dubai 2007. The clay results would likely have been different. 3/4

From Cinci05-AO10 (end of RF's prime), Fed & Rafa played 58 tourneys as #1 & #2. Finals (HC, CC, GC) RF: 34 (20, 11, 3) ✅ RN: 26 (9, 14, 3) Titles (HC, CC, GC) RF: 20 (15, 3, 2) ✅ RN: 19 (6, 12, 1) H2H RF: 6 RN: 11 ✅ A great example of how misleading H2H can be. 1/4

Did you know? Federer is the ONLY player in the Open Era to win at least TEN slam finals in STRAIGHT SETS. Fed was & will remain the greatest winner in tennis history. No one won as easily as he did (& no one lost as "barely" as he did). The Emperor of tennis. 👑

Edit! It should be – vs ≤ 30 y.o SWs: 30-3 vs > 30 y.o SWs: 6-0 (Agassi)

Fed in 2004-05: 𝟭𝟱𝟱-𝟭𝟬 vs ≤ 30 y.o SWs: 28-3 vs > 30 y.o SWs: 8-0 (Agassi) Djo in 2014-15: 143-14 vs ≤ 30 y.o SWs: 25-3 vs > 30 y.o SWs: 7-6 (Fed) TEN YEARS & 802 matches later, Fed was going toe-to-toe with prime Djo. THE GENIUS MAESTRO.👑🙏🏾