Before Roger Federer, Martina Hingis and Stan Wawrinka, Marc Rosset was the biggest tennis player from Switzerland. He won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, while reaching the world No. 9th position in the rankings. The former star is still involved in tennis, and he recently shared his thoughts on the greatest of all time debate and how Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have all arguments to claim the title.
“It all depends on what being the best means. If we look at Grand Slam numbers, then Nadal and Djokovic are better,” he said to Tennis Magazine in 2024. “If we consider the player with the greatest influence in the sport, for me, it’s Roger. Much of what makes up this sport now, like the attention or the prize money, we owe to him. In basketball, there was a before and after Michael Jordan,” he explained.
However, he then explained that it is all subjective. “People who love Federer will say Federer is the GOAT, but those crazy about Novak will tell you it’s Novak. Those who support Nadal will outright say he has won everything,” he said.
With Federer and Nadal officially retired, Djokovic has the chance to extend his record as the player with the most Grand Slams in the Open Era. With 24 titles, he stands alongside Margaret Court, who won half of her titles when tennis was still amateur.
Novak Djokovic has the record of most Grand Slams in the Open Era (24) (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Serena Williams, who also retired in 2022, is the second player with the most major titles in the Open Era with 23 titles. Nadal won 22 Grand Slams, tying Steffi Graf, while Federer ended his career with 20 major titles.
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Roger Federer is still one of the most famous tennis players
Apart from being an effective player and winning 103 titles in his career, Federer is often credited, alongside the Williams sisters, with drawing millions of new fans to the sport. As President of the Player’s Council, he also helped negotiate significant prize-money increases at the Grand Slams, from the first round to the final
According to YouGov, in 2023, a year after his retirement, Federer was still the most popular tennis player in the world alongside Nadal, with 29% of tennis followers selecting him and the Spaniard as their favorite player. Meanwhile, Serena Williams, with 19%, was the most famous female tennis player.
Roger Federer is one of the most famous tennis players in the world ( Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, in the United States, for 2024, according to YouGov, Federer is fourth in fame (68%) across all adults, only besides Serena, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova. Nadal (65%) and Djokovic (65%) follow him. Meanwhile, when it comes to popularity, he is now sixth (42%) behind all mentioned players.
