Lists make the media world go 'round, and ESPN has releasedanother apt to catalyze a litany of head-nods, groans and the like. In the year of ESPN the Magazine's 20th anniversary, their latest roster rounds up the 20 most dominant athletes of the past 20 years.
Squarely in the mix are Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, respectably lodged if perhaps undervalued at the Nos. 5, 12 and 15 spots. Also among these heralded 20 are the likes of Usain Bolt, Marta, Peyton Manning, LeBron James, Lionel Messi and – for the most part – more of the usual sporting suspects.
Federer is cited for his penchant for "hoarding" in the ATP game. Stats aplenty bolster his credentials, from his 82-percent match victory rate (93 percent between 2004 and 2007) to his 20 major singles titles to date standing as 10 percent of all Grand Slam men's singles championships available so far in the Open era (1968 to present). Staggering stuff, yes.
Williams finds her well-padded stat sheet ripe for the cherry-picking as well for the purposes of this list. Among the mined numbers: She's won 19 of her past 22 major singles matches against top 10 foes, and her combined record against a trio of rivals – Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki – is a covetable 46-7. And, lest we forget, there was that episode in 2015 during which she had more than twice as many WTA ranking points as her No. 2 competitor and all other parties behind her.
Djokovic's appearance on this roster might seem suspect initially, as Rafael Nadal is nowhere to be found. ESPN took into account the sheer dominance of the Serb's 2011-2016 onslaught in ATP play, as well as his winning career head-to-head counts against both Fed and Rafa. Then there's this trivia-ready stat: Djokovic has recorded 20 or more victories over top 10 foes in five different seasons, an achievement that Nadal has accomplished once and that Federer has never notched.
Thus RF20 and SW23 and the so-called Djoker march on, making more hers-and-history.
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