This is part 2 in a series.

A very good frind of mine, the senior Graphic Designer for the Erickson Tribune, Gerry Fey and I were talking in great length about the weekend’s sporting events and we got into the discussion of whether Roger Federer and Tiger Woods were really the best there ever was in their respective sports.

Well, believe it or not, Gerry had an answer, and backed it up with facts and stats. His take on the whole subject was fascinating, so I asked him to put it down to share with the you all.

Here is his take. Enjoy:

In the list of repeated players, guys who crossed over Sampras and Federer’s careers, here’s how the two faired, record-wise:

Lets’ look at who Federer has beaten to win his grand slams compared to Sampras:

FEDERER

I don’t know about you, but take out Nadal, and you’re looking at a pretty sorry list of competition: Agassi at the end of his career in 2005, Roddick (who many consider to be overrated) and Lleyton Hewitt are about it.

SAMPRAS

If your counting, that’s four Hall of Famers (Rafter, Chang, Becker and Courier) and one future Hall of Famer (Agassi).

I’m going with Sampras over Federer for now. It’s one thing to be great, it’s quite another to dominate the competition when the competition is at its best. And that’s what Sampras did.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering what happened when the two faced each other, it happened only once. Here is a link to it on Youtube. It happened in the 2001 Wimbledon round of 16, a 221-minute thriller that ended with Federer winning 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5. Knowing what we know now about Federer, wouldn’t you love to go back in time and watch that match again?

If you have any feelings on the subject of who’s the best tennis player, or the comparison between Federer and Sampras, please drop us a note!

Coming soon: Tiger Vs. Jack.