"Best Ever? Gimme a F*cking Break!"

Federer at Wimbledon

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Introduction

What is the best tennis match of all time?

This question sent me down a rabbit hole to a surprisingly definitive conclusion.

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Short Memory Syndrome

I don’t remember when this was, or who said it, but it definitely happened. A tennis commentator said “this is one of the greatest matches of all time” to which the person sitting next to me rolled their eyes (not in the fun way) and said “how can he possibly say that!? Think of all the tennis matches that have been played, all the amazing greats of the past, people have such short memories!” During their mini rant this person also uttered the title of this article.

People do indeed have short memories in modern times. The greatness we see in front of our eyes on a daily basis easily overshadows the greats of the past, especially since those people got less airtime before the internet age. This got me thinking: just how difficult would it be to figure out the greatest tennis matches of all time?

I think it’s easy.

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The Criteria

The first step is to decide on the criteria of what constitutes “a great tennis match”. This is where things become very straightforward in my view.

1. Must be a Grand Slam match

There are four Grand Slam tournaments each year in tennis - The Australian Open, The French Open, Wimbledon and The US Open. These are the most sought after events to win. They’re also the most difficult to win because each match is the best of five sets whereas every other tournament has the best of three set matches. So in order for a match to qualify as one of the greatest ever it has to happen in a Grand Slam tournament.

2. Must go the full five sets

I could make the case that it also has to be a match that goes the distance i.e. involves all five sets. If a match is five sets long we can be sure that it’s a great test of endurance, mindset and fitness. Yes, in theory a person could lose in straight sets and come extremely close to winning those sets, and it be an amazing back and forth match, but it’s less of a test for both parties.

3. Must be a final of a Grand Slam

Pressure matters. Many players have awesome matches earlier in a tournament when there are less eyes on them. When the stakes get higher though, they fade or crumble. If two people went to their local park and shot for shot played every bit as good as the greatest players in the world it would not (in my view) qualify as one of the greatest matches ever. It has no stakes, no pressure, perhaps even no audience. If we altered that hypothetical and said something crazy like “the loser of the match would die” then yes, it would now qualify.

The Grand Slam tournaments are considered by everyone - players, pundits and viewers alike - to be the most coveted. It’s a social contract of sorts. We all decide that this is the greatest test of a player’s abilities and the scrutiny is commensurate to that. The build-up to a Grand Slam final is huge. Contending with that alone for a player is a test of mental toughness. Everyone is watching you. There’s nowhere to hide.

Based on two of these points, we’ve already narrowed things down a lot. Now there are only four options each year to choose from - the final of each of the four Grand Slams. But, if we add the more strict standard that the match must last the whole five sets, this brings the number of possibilities down even more.

4. Must be at Wimbledon

This is probably the most controversial point. Out of the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon is by far the most desired. For whatever reason it’s considered the most prestigious. Again, this is widely agreed upon and because of this it adds to the pressure of the tournament.

Now we’re down to just one match per year as the “greatest match of all time” contender.

5. Must be between two all time great players

There are times when a player will play above themselves. They’ll reach heights that are anomalous and out of character. Nothing should be taken away from these moments. It’s nice for players who don’t achieve great success to showcase their true potential even if their level of consistency doesn’t live up to it. But, in my view, any match that doesn’t contain two all time great players must be ruled out as an all time great match contender. The most obvious reason is that great players are a greater challenge. Shot selection, mindset, endurance, mental toughness, the possession of unique weapons that define great players - all of these things play a part in the difficulty of the match itself but also leading up to it. If you know you're going up against a great player you’ll raise your level in anticipation. This competitive impulse imbues the match with something special.

You might think that figuring out who the all time great players are is difficult - it isn’t. It’s easy to measure based on tournament wins and win/loss records. Yes, figuring out who is number one of all time is hard, probably impossible, but we know who are in the top 20 of all time, probably the top 10.

6. Must have drama, poetry and a clash of styles

This is a subjective one on my part, but I believe human drama is an essential aspect of sport. A great rivalry for example will bring out the best in both parties. More than this, as the phrase goes: “styles make fights”. When there is a clash of styles it’s poetic, it’s archetypical, it’s something we feel on an instinctive level since it appeals to our innate capacity to just get storylines and conflict. No other medium is as effective for conveying important truths about human nature than a good story.

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A Surprising Consensus

If you’re not a fan of tennis and you’ve gotten to this point then I’m impressed, and a little concerned. Let me give you a challenge. Ask anyone you know who’s a fan of tennis, ideally a big fan, what they think the greatest tennis match of all time is. You might be surprised to find that there’s a consensus on this. You will typically get one of two responses, or perhaps both. Here they are:

Björn Borg vs John McEnroe 1980 Wimbledon Final

In this match the icy unshakable Bjorn Borg battled the fiery and volatile John McEnroe. It was the zenith of their beautifully contrasting rivalry.

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal 2008 Wimbledon Final

One of the many legendary duels between the brutally relentless Rafael Nadal and the elegantly effortless Roger Federer.

Both of those matches:

• Are the final of a Grand Slam

• Are the final of Wimbledon specifically

• Are five sets in length

• Involve two players who were the best in the world at the time and also considered among the greatest players ever. In the case of Federer and Nadal arguably the two greatest ever

• Had massive human and in-match drama

• Involved a beautiful clash of styles

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Conclusion

Although I haven’t tried this with other sports, I think figuring out what the great matches of all time are is often quite easy. This is simply because the criteria must be as strict as possible across as many variables as possible before you even factor in the quality of the match itself, or the people involved in it. Things narrow down quickly.

Assessing greatness is difficult, usually it’s totally subjective. With this specific question though, I found it to be much more measurable - which is fun. Yes, I find this kind of thing fun.

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