Roger Federer was recently seen in a new commercial for Uniqlo. In the ad, Roger makes his way into a pizza shop to grab a slice. He is greeted as the GOAT of tennis and bites into a slice of his favorite, New York-style pizza.
Roger and the server, Scarr seem like good acquaintances. Federer even gets his hands in the pizza dough and prepares a fresh one under the watchful eyes of Scarr.
However, tennis fans took issue with Federer being called the GOAT- Greatest Of All Time. This is mainly because Federer has retired with 20 Grand Slam titles, while his fellow on-court rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are still playing and have won more Grand Slam titles than Roger.
Roger Federer should stop calling himself the GOAT in his commercials. It is inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and embarrassing. Djokovic and Nadal overtook him. Tennis legend? Absolutely! The GOAT? Absolutely NOT.#Federer #Nadal #Djokovic𓃵 pic.twitter.com/OdEgxH1IEa
— Novak Goat 🍍 (@novak_goat) July 15, 2023
Several other fans chipped in with reasons why Federer should no longer be called the GOAT, with one going as far as saying that they are probably pushing an agenda. Here are some of the reactions.
Very heavy media promotion campaigns for Federer this summer. They’re pushing an agenda. To challenge and diminish Djokovic OFF court?
— Scoop Malinowski (@scoopmalinowski) July 16, 2023
Every Fedal fan will keep claiming his champ is the goat.
To me Novak, while he was far away from Fedal in GS numbers, became the goat in 2016 when he was the only guy of the open era to hold the 4 grand slams on 3 different surfaces.— Al Bendy (@al_bendy) July 15, 2023
Federer is embarrassing himself.
Not only did Novak leave them both in the dust statistically, but Federer and Nadal are diligently destroying their own reputations with their pettiness and egomania.
— I don’t support the current thing 🐊 (@goatkovic2021) July 16, 2023
Here are a few more fan reactions to the commercial.
Roger is Roger. Fake as always. Bought and paid for. Always has and always will be about himself
— V. R. Kris (@RVKristi) July 15, 2023
Everyone who crowned Federer as GOAT has someone hidden in their mind that they just can’t get rid of. And they hate that one is still playing and winning.
— VeNZ (@VeNZpACHuAU) July 16, 2023
He can call himself the king of England but that will not make him one
— Logicalperson (@loganvegeta316) July 16, 2023
Regardless of whether you believe Roger is the GOAT or not, one cannot deny the player the accomplishments he achieved in his career. His title record may have been surpassed, but it will be hard to achieve what he did.
Is Novak Djokovic a better candidate for GOAT status than Roger Federer?
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are undoubtedly two of the biggest names in the world of tennis. Their on-court rivalry is legendary. The Swiss ace used to lead their head-to-head until 2015. Djokovic took the lead in 2016, due to a 21-10 record since 2011. In Grand Slams, the Serbian tennis star leads 11-6.
Between the two of them, Novak is the only one who won all the ATP Masters 1000, whereas Federer failed to win in Rome and Monte-Carlo. Djokovic has also spent more time at the number one spot- 389 weeks, to Federer’s 310.
The Serbian also has a better win percentage on different surfaces compared to the Swiss ace. Records prove that Djokovic is the most balanced player across surfaces.
Novak has won 3 more Grand Slam titles than Roger in his career. Federer retired with 20 titles, while Djokovic is still fit and still playing and eyeing Federer’s 8 Wimbledon titles. It is not too far-fetched to guess that Djokovic will add a few more before he hangs up his racket.
So, the GOAT debate will rage on as long as fans are around and a younger generation is able to overtake these legends. However, one has to agree that Roger Federer has better marketability and popularity and is cherished more.