The greatest athlete list—it’s always a topic that stirs up heated debates among fans and experts of every sport. Recently, ESPN added fuel to the fire by releasing their list of the top 100 athletes of 21st Century. As you might expect, it’s sparked quite an uproar across the sports arena, and tennis is no exception. The latest to weigh in on the controversy is former American pro, Mardy Fish.

ESPN released the list of top 100 athletes on Friday and since then it has been a topic of debate. Serena Williams has been placed above the Big Three of men’s tennis at number 2. Besides, fans are also unhappy about the placement of Novak Djokovic at 11, below Roger Federer (placed at 6) despite having more Grand Slam titles than him. While the Swiss Maestro has 20 slams to his name, Nole has 24 and is still an active player on tour. Besides he has a better head-to-head tally over Federer, as he leads it with 27-23. But apart from fans, the list has also troubled the former player. 

Taking to his Twitter, Fish shared the post of The Tennis Letter that detailed the excerpts from the list about the tennis players who have found a place for themselves on it. Taking a subtle dig at it, the 42-year-old seemingly questioned his absence on the ranks and wrote, “Fish #101??” Now this clearly seems to have bothered Fish who probably questioned if he should be placed at 101, expressing his resentment.

The former American, who retired in 2015, had a career-high ranking of 7. But, interestingly, his performance against the ATP players on the list does not justify his remarks. While Fish has won just 1 match each against Federer and Nadal of their 9 encounters, he has failed to win any against Djokovic in the seven matches they have played. Even against Murray, he has failed to surprise the head-to-head tally and won 4 matches against Murray’s 5.

The other tennis players who have found a place on the list are Rafael Nadal, placed at 12, Andy Murray (80) and Venus Williams (86). Despite the latest remark, Fish has always believed in Federer’s dominance. 

When Mardy Fish was proved wrong about Roger Federer

Fish has been open about how he feels about several aspects of the sport. In such an admission, he acknowledged that he was proved wrong against Federer and was crushed very badly. 

After Federer announced his retirement in September 2022, Fish took to his Twitter handle and recalled his favorite Federer moment. “2003 Wimbledon, 3rd Rd I play this Federer guy. Called a friend after my 2nd Rd win and said ‘I think I’ve got a great draw now. I don’t think this guy is all that great!’.” However, he was proved wrong completely as the two faced each other. Continuing further, he wrote, “Got crushed and he won the tournament”, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji to summarize his wild misjudgment.

Coming back to the ESPN list, it will be interesting to see if more voices like Mardy Fish echo in the tennis corridor and express their disagreement over the list released by ESPN.