Federer no less a GOAT even if Novak takes Calendar Slam

MyGOAT
Djoker Talk

When Serbia’s Novak Djokovic meets German Daniil Medvedev in the US Open Final to bid for his 21st Grand Slam title and the Calendar Grand Slam, he will be refuelling the GOAT (Greatest of All-Time) debate all over again.

It’s a debate that does not get sidelined by age or era. It was there when Don Budge won The Grand Slam in one Calendar Year in 1938, it was there when Rod Laver was setting the court on fire in 1962, sweeping all the slams with his golden touch.

It has raged ever since Novak Djokovic was growing up alongside his elder player Rafael Nadal on the court at a time when an unbeatable Roger Federer was stunning his opponents in court and wowing the audience in the stands with his famed backhand smashes. So, whether making the winning of all Slams in one calendar year should be made the sole criterion for earning the GOAT title is a combustible and arguable issue.

How is Roger Federer, winner of 21 Grand Slam titles thus far, a player who showed consistency by appearing in 11 more Slam Finals which he lost, be lesser than Djokovic and the Serb’s impending feat of all Slams in the pocket in one calendar year?
Depending on who you support, the narrative can convincingly change. Because you see, statistics can be used manipulatively to tell a different story.

It is unfair to compare the court competence of Federer when he is 40 and battling age and fitness issues with surgeries on his knee and wrist, to a relatively young Djokovic.

Legends are not made by quoting one statistic, in this case, calendar Grand Slam achievement. Legends are more often made in the minds of the audience, in the longevity of play like that of Tendulkar, in the craft and execution of the sport and last, but not least, in the public perception of the player himself.

Federer is a maestro, a slick magician who can bring delightful rabbits to the stadium by his unparalleled array of shots, his pleasing personality and his long stay in the middle.

Djokovic, on the other hand, is a typical factory worker, toiling away for perfection and gathering steam bit by bit. He is still to reach the heartbeat of the public though many would give their bow to him for being a tenacious player who has worked so hard on his mediocrity that he chiselled a near chinkless stay on the court, a task impossible for many to be achieved.

He may be a smiling assassin, he may be chinkless, he may be fighting fit and he may have the doggedness of not conceding till the bitter end of any match.

So was Rafael Nadal. So has Federer been but Roger’s tenacity is so cleverly hidden in the poise and polish of his game that the undying hard work he puts into his play comes across as natural acumen, sublime form and a celestial gift from God.

So if Federer has passed the age of seriously bidding for a Calendar Grand Slam, it does not make him a no-GOAT or a lesser-GOAT than Djokovic. One may argue that the Swiss did not achieve it when he was younger and despite being totally dominant in the sport.

This observation can find an answer only in the ifs and buts of the game of lawn tennis, as also in the fact the clay was his Achilles’ heel which he could not conquer by the time Rafael Nadal came along. No wonder, once, the maestro famously declared: “I am trying to get a Cup here and there before Nadal comes along and starts taking them all.”

So let’s just say, even if Djokovic does not get the calendar year to his name, he will still be a GOAT, like the fab trio he grew up within the syrupy world of tennis. But while Federer will always be the people’s GOAT, Djokovic will at best be a toilers’ GOAT.