Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer: 5 reasons why it's not outrageous to suggest Nadal is the greater player

Nadal and Federer - two of the best ever

#3 Completed his Career Grand Slam quicker

The Career Grand Slam is a unique feat which has only been achieved by a handful of tennis players. As you'd expect, both Nadal and Federer have achieved it in their respective careers.

But what is interesting is the time they both took to get there.

1999 was the year when Federer first started playing Grand Slam tennis. It took him 40 Majors to finally get the Career Grand Slam when he defeated Robin Soderling (who had knocked out Nadal) in the 2009 French Open final.

Nadal, who started playing in Grand Slams in 2003, took only 26 tournaments to get his Career Grand Slam in 2010 when he beat Novak Djokovic in the US Open final.

So despite starting four years after Federer, Nadal managed to complete his Career Grand Slam just one year after the Swiss did it. To add to this, along with Andre Agassi, Nadal is the only male player to win the Career Golden Slam - the Career Grand Slam plus the Olympics singles gold medal.