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Don’t forget Borg retired at 26 ….. he would have won many many more Slams had he continued. He was nigh on unbeatable on clay

Borg is definitely in the conversation. But his retirement at 26 unfortunately puts him at a disadvantage, no matter what the reason he may have had.

Reminds of a great in another sport (you may not be familiar with this one).

Barry Sanders was arguably one of the greatest talents ever to play running back in the NFL. The cuts he made at full speed defied the laws of physics. Unfortunately... for whatever reason he decided to retire at the young age of 30 years old. Had he play a handful more years, who knows how many records he would've broken. Yet when talking about running back GOATs in the NFL... his name doesn't come up very often. Longevity in and of itself is a necessary requirement for GOATs.

Back to Borg though... you're right. He was unbeatable on clay, and held the record on French Opens until Nadal came along. Unlike Nadal, however, Borg would just as easily win on Wimbledon as on clay. For this reason I don't rate Nadal higher than # 3. It's ALL based on the sheer volume of clay victories.