FedererIsBetterer @incontextfed

Though Safin was #86 when he played the AO 2004 final, he ended 2004 as world #4. Which is fitting, since that's what he was even in the AO 2004 final – a Top 5 player. IOW, Fed in 2004 beat FOUR early-20s Top 5ers in Bof5 finals across three surfaces. Simply incredible. 👑🙏🏾

In 2004, Federer beat a 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 opponent in a 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 final on each of hard, clay, & grass. He became the 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 player to do so in the OE. He remains the 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 player to do so. It's why he's the Maestro AND the GOAT.

By the end of 2011, Federer had – played 993 matches – won 16 slams – won 6 WTF titles – beaten Saf, ARod, Hew, Rafa, Djo, & Mur in a slam final For context, Sampras retired after 984 matches. It's why I dispute the 'Big 3' label. Fed alone redefined tennis excellence.

Slam finals won in straights. Fed: 10 Rafa: 9 Djo: 9 Slam finals won in straights when ≤ 30 y.o (& in his physical prime) Fed: 9 Rafa: 4 Djo: 2 Fed brought all-court, all-surface genius to tennis. Rafa & Djo brought 1-surface bullying & opportunism respectively. LEVELS.

The Big Three @Big3Tennis

a week ago

Career record down 2 sets 1 in slam finals: Djokovic: 2-9 Nadal: 1-7 Federer: 0-9 Researched using the Tennis Abstract Database

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4 4 71 21K 10

Just some Sunday stats. As Top 5 in slams vs Saf+ARod Fed: 12-1 (5-0 in finals) Djo: 1-2 (0-0) vs Mur+Stan Fed: 12-2 (3-0) Djo: 13-6 (5-4) Total Fed: 24-3 (8-0) Djo: 14-8 (5-4) Fed played (& won) on an entirely different plane from Djokovic. The Maestro. 👑🫡

P.S: DETAILS & CONTEXT like these are why fans say Fed >>> Djo. 30-31 y.o Fed got to MPs on SERVE all 3 surfaces vs 24-25 y.o Djo; then 37.9 y.o Fed reached MPs on SERVE at Wim19. Djo is 0-4 in slam finals vs (Stan+Alca) after winning set 1. (Didn't once reach MP.) LEVELS.

Not just did 29-30 y.o Djo MISS Fed from AO17-18, 37 y.o Fed REACHED Djo at Cinci18 & Bercy18, losing Bercy18 in 2 TBs. This made him vulnerable in TBs too. Otoh, here's how Fed with a "winning feeling" did vs Djo. Unperturbed at Wim12 by the USO11 fluke. 3/3

The SF & F at Wim19 were decided by Fed's "winning feeling". Fed was 4-0 vs Rafa in 2017. He closed out the Wim19 SF. Djo ducked Fed THREE times (IW17, Wim17, AO18). Fed didn't close out the final. This difference is OBVIOUS in Fed's play when he served for the match. 1/3

Fedole would next play a slam TB in 2019, in 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 #𝟭𝟰𝟴𝟳 for 37.9 y.o Fed. Fed would lose all 3 TBs; then lose the AO20 TB to make it 8-8 in slam TBs. The overall TB H2H would end 16-12 in Djo's favour, after he won 6/6 TBs vs 37+ y.o Fed. Opportunovic ftw. 😂

Federer is the greatest TB player in history. Here he is, in 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 #𝟭𝟮𝟳𝟬 at 33.9 y.o. He would lose the match, but by winning this TB, he got to – TB record in slams: 119-58 (67%) TB record vs Djo in slams: 8-4 (67%) Fed was a tennis genius.

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 👑.

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@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! 😍

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. 👑🪄