Why Serena Williams was better than Federer, Nadal, DJokovic

Serena Williams surprised many tennis enthusiasts and fans when she finished ahead of iconic tennis players such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the best athlete of the decade vote. The 38-year-old was second with 781 points, behind LeBron James who amassed 786 points. A total of 35 journalists voted in this poll to select the Best Athlete of the decade.

The position and points gained by Serena Williams have since stirred a debate among tennis enthusiasts. The discussion is centered on how Serena managed to beat the other 3 best tennis players in the poll. Perhaps her impressive performance in this decade might have convinced a significant number of Journalists to vote for her.

How Tennis players performed in the poll

Serena Williams has 23 Grand Slam titles under her belt of which only 10 major honors came in this decade. But it might be her extraordinary feat of winning both the singles and doubles gold medals in the Olympics that gave her an edge over the other three.

The next tennis player is Novak Djokovic at position 10 with 541 points. The Serbian has won 16 Grand Slam titles with 15 of them coming in this decade. Besides he also has won 5 Wimbledon crowns and 6 Australian Open titles. In 2015 Djokovic won a total of 3 majors and reached in the finals in the fourth one. This achievement is termed as the greatest in Tennis history.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal, who is referred to as the king of clay was ranked number 13 in the poll results. The Spaniard won 8 French Open titles and four grand slams in this decade. Currently, he is the defending champion of the U.S and French Open titles. Also, he is the current world number one a position he once held for a whopping 140 weeks.

At number 16 is Roger Federer, who started the decade at number one of the tennis ranking. At the moment he occupies the 3rd position in the WTA rankings. The Swiss won 5 Grand Slam titles but has experienced some fluctuation stints throughout the decade. And still, a match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is an interesting rivalry to watch.

Aside from tennis, the other athletes who made it to the best 10 Athletes of the decade list include Tom Brady, Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, Mike Trout, Steph Curry, Lionel Messi, and Michael Phelps.

Roger Federer’s ranking and performance in 2019

Now the world no.3, the Swiss played his last match on the 16^th of November when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in London.

This year the Swiss has a 51-10 win-loss record. Roger conquered 4 titles in 2019 in Dubai, in Miami, in Halle and in Basel. Federer was the finalist in Indian Wells and in Wimbledon.

Rafael Nadal’s ranking and performance in 2019

Ranked no.1, Rafael played his last match on the 24^th of November when he overcame Denis Shapovalov 6-3 7-6⁷ in the Rubber 2 in Davis Cup.

Presently, this year the Spaniard has a 52-7 win-loss record. Rafael has won 4 titles in 2019 in Rome, at the French Open, in Montreal and at the U.S. Open. Rafael was the finalist at the Australian Open.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played each other 42 times. The head to head is 26-16 for Nadal.

The last time that they fought against each other, Roger Federer won 7-6³ 1-6 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in London (Wimbledon) on the 12^th of July 2019.

Here the video highlights.

Serena Williams’s ranking and performance in 2019

Now ranked no.10, Serena Williams played her last match on the 7^th of September when she had to bow to Bianca Vanessa Andreescu 6-3 7-5 in the final in U.S. Open.

Serena Williams’s most significant result of the current year was reaching the final in Wimbledon, Toronto and at the U.S. Open.

Novak Djokovic’s ranking and performance in 2019

Ranked world no.2, the Serbian played his last match on the 22^nd of November when he defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-3 in the Rubber 2 in Davis Cup.

At the moment, this season the Serbian has a 54-11 win-loss record. The Serbian has won 5 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open, in Madrid, in Wimbledon, in Tokyo and in Paris. Djokovic was the runner-up in Rome.