A few months ago, there was a lot of debate on who is the GOAT (Greatest of all time) in Tennis. The debate was largely between Federer and Nadal, and some people brought in Djokovic as well (somehow) into this discussions. When you are reading this, if you are able to recollect some of these discussions, it is time to take a deep breath.
 |
Context is important in any discussion, so let's take a bird's eye view first.
These three gentlemen have won a total of 57 grand slams. (For those who contribute to these discussions without knowing what a slam is, this one is for you - there are 4 championships that happen every year in the beautiful sport - Tennis- the Wimbledon, the US Open, the Australian Open and the French Open).
For these slams to happen in the first place, it takes a minimum of 15 years even if taken continuously without any gap (of course, they did not win ALL slams every year in the last 15 years but am intentionally not even getting there). If you are someone who follows any sport, let alone Tennis, you will understand that 15 years is a really long time.
For people who were born in the late 80s and early 90s, this is the entire childhood gone in watching these gentlemen play. That is enough fortune to watch them play. Let that sink in. Have you ever seen any individual sport dominated by three players for such a long time? I doubt. Some might compare, but it's a futile discussion. Frankly, it's hard to imagine any other trio dominate the same sport in the near future.
Coming to the point, apart from the journalists and others in the know of the matter who write for a purpose, for common people, discussions like these are absolutely meaningless. Information is available to all, thanks to the availability of social media, memes and what not, the comparisons are endless - Federer/Nadal/Djokovic, Kohli/Smith, Kohli/Tendulkar...
This got me thinking...
They (Federer and all) won so many Grand Slams, did I win at least one? Okay, not a great question to start with... Let me try again.
I assume they get up in the morning and play Tennis.
Do I play any outdoor sport at all? No.Do I think of playing outdoor sport? No.
Do I at least get up early in the morning? No.
Okay, do I think of getting up early in the morning? No.
What qualification do I have to talk about these people.
Hmmm...
