Federer third fittest athlete in sport? Really?!

Roger Federer is the third fittest male athlete on the planet, according to Sports Illustrated. Wait… what?! Think about that for a second: 36 year-old Roger Federer, who is playing a reduced schedule to prolong his career, is the third ‘most fit’ man in world sport.

Only two men are apparently fitter: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lebron James. Rafael Nadal? He only makes 23rd on the list. Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray? They didn’t even get a mention.

Now, let’s just make one thing very clear: Roger Federer is, on so many levels, excellence personified. He would – and frequently does – sit atop global lists when it comes to style, fame, money, raw natural talent and general GOATness. But fitness? Sheer physical prowess? Come on.

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Sports Illustrated compiled their list based on: ‘performances in the last 12 months, demands and risks of their respective sports, training regimens, longevity and physical benchmarks, including: speed, strength, endurance, agility, flexibility and power.’

When ranked against his tennis peers on the above Federer only really stands out in terms of longevity (although Rafa is pretty darn good at that as well) and, perhaps, performances over 12 months (even though he is playing a reduced schedule). The rest? He has forged his remarkable career from being the complete player, not a physical stand-out.

But this isn’t just a list of tennis players. This is list of athletes across all sports. And according to Sports Illustrated Federer is fitter than the likes of Conor McGregor (9th – UFC fighter / boxer), Chris Froome (12th – only the third man in history to win the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana in the same year), Alex Honnold (13th – a free climber who scaled El Capitan without ropes) and Scott Jurek (20th – has won nearly every ultramarathon on the planet). And that’s before you dive into NBA, NFL, rugby etc.

The women’s list is equally bizarre. US Open champ Sloane Stephens (who has only played five tournaments this year) is 40th. Garbine Muguruza 35th, and Serena Williams ninth.

Serena at ninth?! That means she picked up one spot for each of the matches she’s played in the last 12 months (nine). And she lost one of them (Auckland v Madison Brengle).

And yet during those nine performances she somehow showed the Sports Illustrated panel that she was fitter than triathlete Gwen Jorgensen (11th – who has won pretty much everything there is to win), cross country skiier Mikaela Shiffrin (13th – an Olympic gold medallist in one of the toughest sports on the planet) and CrossFit star Kara Webb (23rd – who came second in the world’s fittest human being competition).

Needless to say, less fashionable players like Elina Svitolina, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, whose games are built on physicality, don’t get a mention.

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Like Roger, this is meant as no slight on Serena. She deservedly sits atop so very many lists when it comes to sheer sporting brilliance. And ordinarily, if she was playing anything like a vaguely normal schedule, you could argue that she should be ranked even higher on this list – there are few more impressive athletes in world sport. But she isn’t. And right now, having missed most of the season because of pregnancy, she is a long way from being the ninth fittest woman in world sport.

Tennis is one of the most physically and psychologically challenging sports in the world. As such, it makes sense that athletes who are at – or near – the top of the game should be viewed as some of the fittest athletes on the planet. Unfortunately, in this case, the two highest ranking players are a long way from their physical peak. What’s more, there are peers around them who are renowned for being physically superior. In failing to recognise – or simply ignoring – that, Sports Illustrated is doing the sport – and its list – something of a disservice.