Forget Rafa... Is Roger greater than Serena? Statistical comparison of the two

They call this the ‘Golden Generation of Tennis’ with fans being privileged to see the race for all-time greateness between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Tennis fans across the world are divided between Federer and Nadal when it comes to the ‘Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T.) status in the men’s game. But with the Spaniard missing the ongoing U.S. Open due to injury, there’s another race underway in New York. That is between Federer and the women’s world no. 1 Serena Williams. Both are chasing their 18th Grand Slam singles title. Here’s our breakdown of the numbers for the two players. And for all the Rafa-philes out there, we throw in his stats as well just for good measure.

#1 Grand Slam titles

Federer and Williams are both tied at 17 Grand Slams, with the Swiss being stuck at that number since the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. Federer’s 17 Slams is the most by any male player in the history of tennis (the Swiss has a 17-8 record in Slam finals) and comprises of 7 Wimbledon titles, 5 US Open titles, 4 Australian Open titles and a solitary French Open title.

Williams with her 17th Slam title at the 2013 US Open Championships

Serena has been stuck at 17 Slams since the US Open last year. While she was widely expected to tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s 18 Slams and move ahead of them this year, it has been a disappointing season for the American at the majors. Serena’s 17 Slams include five titles each at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open and two titles at the French Open. (Serena is 17-4 in Slam finals). If Serena does make it 18 this week, she only has Steffi Graf (22 majors) and Margaret Court (24 majors) ahead of her in the all-time list for women.

Here are some other numbers – Federer has 80 career singles titles, including 6 at the season-ending ATP Tour Finals whereas Serena has 62, 4 of them coming at the WTA’s season-ending championships.

P.S. For the record, Rafael Nadal has 14 Grand Slams (64 singles titles in all) – nine of them coming at his beloved Roland Garros, two slams each at Wimbledon and the US Open, and one at the Australian Open.

#2 Weeks at Number 1

Federer has spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other male player

The Swiss maestro has spent a total of 307 weeks at the number 1 spot, and he could add to that tally, having a good chance to end the year at no.1 if he wins the US Open this week. Federer’s 307 weeks is the most spent by any male player at the top ranking (Graf has the overall record with 377 weeks at no. 1 followed by Navratilova at 332 weeks and then by Federer). Serena just spent her 200th week at the top earlier this month; and with the exit of Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova from this year’s Open, her ranking is safe for a few more weeks.

Federer does hold the all-time record for most consecutive weeks spent at no. 1 though, by any player – male or female. The Swiss player broke the record of 186 straight weeks held by Steffi Graf and went on to clock 237 straight weeks at the top. Serena is currently spending her 81st straight week at no.1, which is her longest stretch at the top.

P.S. Nadal has spent 141 weeks in total at the No.1 spot, 56 of them coming at a stretch.

#3 Donning the National Colours

Serena with her singles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games

Serena has a stellar record when it comes to playing for the United States, being part of the American squad that won the Fed Cup Championship in 1999. And the soon-to-be 33-year-old has one Olympic gold medal in singles and three in doubles.

Federer, on the other hand, has not made winning Davis Cup a priority for himself, perhaps the only abberation in his tremendous respect for the history of the game and its legends. The Swiss legend has never been part of a Davis Cup winning team, failing to play a full schedule. At the Olympics, Federer has managed to win one silver medal in singles and one gold medal in doubles.

P.S. Nadal has been part of four Davis Cup winning squads for Spain, and also has an Olympic gold medal in singles at the 2008 Games.

#4 Earnings On and Off the court

Federer has won more prize money than any other player in the history of tennis

While the women may get paid equally at the Slams, there still exists a huge disaparity in the prize money between the men and the women. So it’s no surprise that Federer has a huge lead in this area. Federer has earned more than $84 million in prize money so far, whereas Serena has raked in more than $56 million. A win at the US Open this week would be worth $3 million for Federer and $4 million for Serena, since she could earn a $1 million bonus for wininng the Emirates Airlines US Open Series Bonus Challenge.

In the recently released list of top 10 moneymakers in tennis (prize money + endorsements for the period July 2013 to July 2014) released by Forbes, Federer dwarfs Serena and everybody else. Federer earned more than $56 million for the year, a whooping $40 million of which came from endorsement deals. Serena finished sixth on the overall list (third among the women behind Maria Sharapova and Li Na) with overall earnings of $22 milllion, half of which came from off-court earnings.

P.S. Nadal has earned more than $70 million in his career prize money. The Spaniard finished no. 2 on the top 10 Forbes list behind Federer with more than $44 million, of which $30 million came from his sponsors.

#5 Doubles Trouble

Serena has won 15 Grand Slam doubles titles

In previous decades, it was very common for the top players to compete in singles & doubles events at all the important events. But since the 1980s, there has been a steady decline in popularity of doubles to the extent that almost none of the top men participate in the doubles these days at the majors, whereas the women’s doubles slams still boast of a decent draw in terms of top singles players.

While taking nothing away from Federer for that, Serena’s stellar record in doubles at the Slams only adds to her legacy. Serena has won 20 tour doubles titles in her career (19 of them with sister Venus) and 13 of those have come at the Slams with Venus again. She also has 2 mixed doubles titles at the Slams to go along with that. If Serena and Venus win no. 14 this week in New York, it will tie them at no. 2 in the list for most Grand Slam titles won by a duo alongwith Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva (the record is 20 held by Navratilova and Pam Shirver). Meanwhile, Federer has won 7 tour doubles titles, the biggest of them being the Miami Masters.

P.S. Nadal has eight tour doubles titles, 3 of which have come at the Masters Series events.