A first in the Royal Box at Wimbledon, the Holy of Holies, with Jack Nicklaus and Rod Laver side-by-side watching the men’s semis.
Oh to be a fly nearby.
Nicklaus captured 18 majors, was runner up 19 rimes, and finished third 9 times – just a few strokes away from winning 46 majors.
Tiger Woods is the closest with 14 majors, 6 runners up, and 4 thirds, but daylight behind Nicklaus with an overall 24. Woods hasn’t won a major since the 2008 US Open, 18 majors ago, and not much chance of improving on that stat.
That makes Jack Nicklaus the undisputed best golfer ever.
Rod Laver (75) is the best ever tennis player, as the only two-time winner of the Grand Slam in 1962 as an amateur, and 1969 as a professional. Unlike Nicklaus, there’s no level playing field for Laver, who missed 28 Slams while he was a flag-waver for professional tennis and the sport was still amateur, with pros ineligible for Slams.
It’s reasonable to assume Laver, as the then world’s best player, would have won half the Slams he missed, for a total of 25 – the 11 he won, and the 14 he would have won.
Roger Federer (32) has 17, with the possibility of 18 now he’s qualified for Wimbledon with Novak Djokovic. But that’s it, Federer has had a level playing field thanks to the likes of Laver, Ken Rosewall, Frank Sedgman, Lew Hoad, and a host of other Australians who were trailblazers for professionalism.
Special mention of Rosewall (79), who won 8 Slams, but missed 44. It would be fair to assume he would have won around 20 of those 44, taking his career tally to 28.
Roger Federer won’t win 28, so there’s a genuine argument that Rosewall can be rated the greatest tennis player of all time had there been a level playing field, especially as he was in 4 losing Wimbledon finals 20 years apart from the first to the fourth, 19 years apart from winning his first Australian to his fourth, 15 years apart for his two French, and 14 years apart for his two US.
No other internationals can possibly match that longevity – ‘Muscles’ is in a class of his own.
But there’s a strong argument the Grand Slam is the ultimate benchmark, with Laver the only one in history to win it twice, and Donald Budge the only other Slammer in 1938. There have been 11 occasions where a player has won three of the four in a calendar year, but couldn’t close the missing link.
Federer has done that three times, Gaston Gaudio denied him the French in 2004, as did Rafael Nadal in both 2006 and 2007.
Federer repaid Nadal by denying him the French in 2010. Nadal denied Djokovic the French in 2011, while the other three-time champions in a calendar year have been Tony Trabert in 1955, Lew Hoad in 1956, Ashley Cooper in 1958, Roy Emerson in 1964, Jimmy Connors in 1974, and Mats Wilander in 1988.
But all those amazing stats melt into the background compared to the historic sight of Jack Nicklaus and Rod Laver side-by-side in animated conversation while Djokovic and Federer earned the right to playoff for the Wimbledon 2014 crown.
Especially as the Golden Bear and the Rockhampton Rocket have been there, done that.
Two icons.
Former Wimbledon champion, double grand slam winner and Australian Open finalist Garbine Muguruza has announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 30.…
Rafael Nadal has hailed the brilliance of Alex de Minaur, calling him "a great player" after the Australian forced the Spanish legend to say…
The clay season promises to be one of high level and tight margins. With the Monte Carlo open just around the corner, it will…
In incredible scenes, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells was halted abruptly due to a "bee invasion." Less…
Marathon man Jordan Thompson has finally clinched his first ATP Tour title, with the Australian upsetting Norwegian Casper Ruud to lift the trophy in…
Alex de Minaur has earned the perfect 25th birthday present, booking a place in the final of the Rotterdam Open with an emphatic revenge…
