Roger Federer’s longevity and his elegant playing style also add weight to his case for being an all-time great, after producing a career that spanned over two decades.

But back in 2018, the year he won his 20th and final major, the Swiss Maestro named one of his fellow icons as tennis’ greatest player.

Who did Roger Federer say is the greatest player of all time back in 2018?

Federer has broken numerous records in tennis, such as being the only player to win two Grand Slams five years in a row.

He claimed the Wimbledon title from 2003 to 2007 and won five successive US Open championships from 2004 to 2008. Federer has also been the World number for 237 successive weeks, another record no player has matched.

Despite his achievements, in addition to two of his biggest rivals and fellow icons Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Federer named Serena Williams as the tennis’ greatest player back in 2018.

“It’s been fascinating to watch,” Federer told the Wall Street Journal in May of that year. “She had a totally different upbringing — I came up through Switzerland with the federation, she did it with her dad and her sister.

“It’s an amazing story unto itself — and then she became one of the greatest, if not the greatest tennis player of all time overall. It’s not fair to compare, actually, but we know [Williams] is all the way up there.”

What are some of Serena Williams’ greatest achievements in tennis?

Williams retired from tennis in September 2022 after producing a Hall of Fame worthy career both on and off the court. She hung up her racket after winning 73 titles, the fifth most of any woman in the open era.

23 of these championship wins came at Grand Slams, including seven at Wimbledon, the second-highest number in the open era behind Martina Navratilova.

Williams is the only player in tennis history to win three Grand Slams at least six times or more. She has six Australian Open and US Open Wins each, in addition to the seven won at the All England Club.

The American finished World number one on five occasions, and spent 319 total weeks as the World number one, the third-highest number of all time.

Serena also stayed as the WTA’s top-ranked player for 186 successive weeks, which is tied for the longest streak in WTA Tour history, with fellow legend Steffi Graf.

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