Former Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis has declared Roger Federer as the greatest player of all time, but warned the Swiss great that his arch-rival Rafael Nadal could overtake him, should the Spanish superstar manage his schedule sensibly.
The former World No. 8 put the 19-time Grand Slam winner above the other three members of the Big 4 – Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
When asked if he thought Federer was the greatest player of all time, Philippoussis, said: “If you’re just going on results alone, of course. You can’t argue with results and what he’s done and continues to do.
“(Rafael) Nadal is one of the best of all time. I mean we’re incredibly fortunate and lucky for the fact that we have so many at the same time, some of the greatest of all time.
(Andy) Murray, what he’s done and (Novak) Djokovic and they just happen to be playing at the same time, so of course, out of all those guys you’ve got (Roger) Federer as the greatest of all time.”
The Australian believes the current World No. 1 Nadal, who won two Grand Slams in 2017 is second behind Federer in the pecking order and with 16 Majors, could surpass Federer in the next few years, should he remain injury free and plan his schedule judiciously.
He added: “All these guys, Nadal is probably right behind him – maybe three – is it three Grand Slams behind him?
“I mean, he’s looking pretty good. It was smart for him to pull out and have a little bit of time off toward the end of the year but we’re incredibly lucky and spoilt at the moment with what’s going on.”
