There are perhaps no bigger modern-day greats in the sport of tennis than Roger Federer and Serena Williams in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively.
While the former is third on the list of men with the most Grand Slams with 20 of his own, he changed the course of the sport like very few did.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have 22 and 24 Grand Slams, respectively, and they are undoubtedly great players. But they have not captured the imagination of the public as much as Federer did during his playing days.
In the women’s category, Serena Wiliams is head and shoulders above all other challengers, having retired in 2022 with 23 Grand Slams. The closest anybody has come to her in the number of titles earned is Steffi Graf, who had 22 titles of her own.
Margaret Court currently has the most number of women’s singles titles with 24 Grand Slams, but since she competed for a few years outside of the Open Era, the results are debatable.
For those of us joining in late, the Open Era began in 1968 when professional tennis players were allowed to compete alongside amateurs in the four Grand Slams.
Both Federer and Williams Were Liked by the Tennis-loving Public
Both Federer and Williams have changed the way tennis has appealed to the masses and drawn thousands of supporters to the courts to witness the special brand of magic that only they were capable of.
While Federer was the artist who liked to paint with his racquet instead of a brush, Williams was the enforcer, always hungry to go for the kill whenever she sensed her opponent slowing down and giving her an inch of space.
Both were competitors of the highest order and were ranked at the number one spot in their respective categories for long durations of time in their careers.
For Federer, the challenges were a tad more worrisome as he had to unsettle the legendary Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi when he was coming of age, while the fearsome duo of Nadal and Djokovic seemed hell-bent on catching up with him when he matured.
It was with Nadal that he arguably formed the greatest on-court tennis rivalry ever known. The Spaniard was also Federer’s doubles partner in his last-ever match as a professional in the Davis Cup in 2022.
Nadal shed tears of sadness as Federer walked away into the sunset, relaying the fact that the duo, despite being rivals and opponents, respected each other immensely.
Williams, on her part, did not have to deal with as many challengers as Federer did in his career, although she did face difficulties going up against her older sister Venus, who won seven Grand Slams.
Graf, Chris Evert, and Martina Navratilova, who are veritable legends of the sport in the women’s category, had all retired by the time Williams came onto the scene.
Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova were perhaps the only other contenders Williams had to deal with, but if looked at from another perspective, it is clear that the dominance the latter had is unimaginable. In other words, Williams is simply irreplaceable in tennis.
Comparing the two — Federer and Williams — may not be the easiest of tasks since both of them had challenges, which they converted into opportunities. Both worked extremely hard on their game and were known to be mentally strong beyond measure.
While Federer had a lot of challenges and opponents of a similar level of competence to deal with during his career, Williams’ single-handed supremacy will go down as a lesson for budding tennis players.
Asking who truly led the revival of the sport in their respective categories may be beside the point — they both did. What is true is that the sport has been left the poorer without either of them playing.
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