Tennis fans have debated this for years: Who’s the greatest player of all-time, and where does Roger Federer fit on that short list?

But to “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky, there’s no discussion. In an interview with the Canadian sports channel Sportsnet at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, Gretzky said he considers Federer not only the greatest tennis player ever but also among the top four athletes of all-time.

“He deserves to be up there with guys like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Pele. He’s a special man. He’s got charisma, he’s got style, he’s got class. He’s a winner. He loves his sport. He’s got a passion for the game. He’s a little bit like how Gordie Howe was. He’s just a special man,” Gretzky said, referring to the beloved Canadian hockey great.

The four-time Stanley Cup champion and his family have been watching ATP World Tour Masters 1000 action all week at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. Gretzky’s 14-year-old daughter, Emma, who plays tennis, has also practised with some ATP World Tour stars, including Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.

“The organisers of the tournament have been so wonderful to my family and I. We’ve had an opportunity watch a lot of tennis and watch the players practise, too,” said Gretzky, who grew up in Brantford, Ontario.

But, as complimentary of Federer as Gretzky is, he’s confident that, years from now, someone else will come along and marvel tennis fans, and maybe even more so than Federer has during his 20-year career. Everyone will miss Federer, of course, but, just as great players have come along since Gretzky retired from hockey, other tennis players will emerge and impress on the ATP World Tour.

“Years from now, the tennis world and the sports world is going to look back and go, ‘Wow, was that guy ever a great athlete?’ But let me tell you the great thing about sports. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, somebody else comes along, and you go, ‘Wow, we never thought we’d see a guy that good again’”, Gretzky said.

“You go back to the McEnroe days, obviously Pete Sampras, and Bjorn Borg, and people thought, ‘Well, are we ever going to get a guy as good as that guy?’ And all of a sudden this guy [Federer] comes along and might be as good as all of those guys combined. So that’s the great thing about sports. Every sport seems to get better and every sport seems to have that guy who comes along.”

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Federer vs. Ferrer | Nadal vs. Shapovalov | Zverev vs. Kyrgios

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• There is a little of everything in the Coupe Rogers third round on Thursday: four #NextGenATP players, four men who’ve saved match points this week, and only six of the tournament’s 16 seeds. All of the above is Alexander Zverev, who meets Nick Kyrgios on Court Central in a showdown of the Emirates ATP Race to Milan leader and the top #NextGenATP player from the 2016 season.

• Zverev and Kyrgios, who played doubles together at 2016 Roland Garros, go back to the ITF Juniors Circuit. An 18-year-old Kyrgios beat a 16-year-old Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in the 2013 Aegon Junior International final. They’ve met twice on the ATP World Tour, with the elder Australian sweeping the younger German at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells on March 14 and Miami on March 30.

• Kyrgios’ FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over Zverev pales in comparison to Roger Federer’s dominance of David Ferrer. Federer is 16-0 against Ferrer and seeks an unprecedented 17th win over the Spaniard on Thursday. Ferrer is tied with Mikhail Youzhny for the most losses without a victory against Federer. They have not met since the 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati final.

• Federer needs to reach the semi-finals in Montreal for a chance at reclaiming the No. 1 ranking on Aug. 21. Rafael Nadal will return to No. 1 on Aug. 14 if he defeats Denis Shapovalov on Thursday and Hyeon Chung or Adrian Mannarino on Friday. Shapovalov, an 18-year-old Canadian wild card, is the youngest player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 Round of 16 since Nadal at 2004 Miami.

Five-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan are through to the quarter-finals but it’s Juan Martin del Potro who walks away with bragging rights for Hot Shot of the day in the men’s doubles at the Coupe Rogers. The Bryan brothers were on their way to a 6-3, 7-5 victory over the Argentine and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov when del Potro brought the Montreal crowd to its feet.

Trailing a set and with Mike Bryan serving to level at 2-2 in the second set, del Potro scrambled back to swat a flick lob on the run. When it narrowly sailed out of Mike’s reach to land in, Dimitrov raised his arms in jubilation as the Court 5 crowd duly responded.

On the run. His back to court.@delpotrojuan pulls off an INCREDIBLE shot…?#CoupeRogers pic.twitter.com/8Tcz7iyxGN

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 9, 2017

The Bryans had the last laugh, however, as their joined top seeds and last week’s Citi Open champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers in the quarter-finals. Kontinen and Peers downed Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-4, 7-5. Seventh seeds Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig also progressed. The Indian-Croatian pairing defeated Karen Khachanov and Dominic Thiem 7-6(3), 6-4.

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Montreal is proving a happy hunting ground for match point-saving warriors with fourth seed Alexander Zverev the lastest to battle back from the brink. The #NextGenATP star saved three match points – including one 49-shot rally – to hold off Richard Gasquet at the Coupe Rogers on Wednesday.

His 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) triumph over the Frenchman sets a blockbuster showdown with the player most tipped to rival him as a future World No.1, Nick Kyrgios. The 16th-seeded Australian earlier powered past Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-2 ,6-3.

Gasquet arrived in Montreal having missed the first five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events due to appendicitis surgery and lower back issues. But against Zverev, he produced the type of form that had taken him to two prior Coupe Rogers finals in Toronto (2006 l. to Federer, 2012 l. to Djokovic). Coming into Montreal, Zverev had served out a match a tour-leading 95 per cent (21 of 22) of times in 2017 (Learn More) and looked well on his way to doing so again when he raced to triple match point at 5-4 in the deciding set.

Gasquet, buoyed by strong support from the Quebecois crowd, rolled a winning backhand pass to save the third match point and a forehand winner down the line to bring up break point. He broke when the German sailed a backhand wide and drew huge roars from the Montreal crowd.

It was now the German’s turn to produce a little magic as he saved the second of three match points at 5-6 on an almighty 49-shot rally. It proved pivotal. Zverev closed it out in the tie-break on his fourth match point at the two-hour, 30-minute mark.

A day after agreeing to hit with a Twitter fan at a practice session, Kyrgios was again in a relaxed frame of mind. He had few difficulties beating Lorenzi for the first time.

The Australian thumped down 10 aces and saved his lone break point faced in little more than an hour. He will carry an unbeaten 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his clash with Zverev. 

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Rafael Nadal’s bid to regain top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings is off on the right foot with the Spaniard easily accounting for #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric at the Coupe Rogers on Wednesday. Nadal had fallen in two of the pair’s three prior FedExATP Head2Head meetings but was barely troubled in a 6-1, 6-2 result in Montreal.

The first set was brushed aside in just 29 minutes and with Coric spraying forehands wide at 1-3 down in the second set, he began to mutter his frustrations to himself. It was primarily down to one factor – the relentless play from his opponent. A double fault from Coric handed Nadal the double break to provide breathing space for the top seed.

Nadal would not face a break point in the match until the 13th game when Coric rolled a heavy forehand into the corner to draw the error. It went begging with a wayward return long and the Spaniard survived a lengthy battle on serve to close to within a game of the match.

An ace hold kept the Croatian alive but it was merely delaying the inevitable at this stage of the match. Nadal served it out on his second match point when Coric fired long. It sets a showdown with home hopeful Denis Shapovalov for a place in the quarter-finals. The #NextGenATP lefty took down former No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Juan Martin del Potro.

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Coupe Rogers – Montreal, Canada

Back in Montreal for the first time since 2011, Roger Federer delighted fans leading up to the tournament and, after his second-round win, at a meet-and-greet with Lindt.

Top seed Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem took their tennis to new heights, launching the tournament on the rooftop of the Montreal Tower.

“It was tough,” Nadal laughed. “Very windy, but very, very nice views so it was great to be here in Montreal again. These kind of activities give us the chance to see a little bit more of the city from above.” 

Vasek Pospisil and Robin Haase were joined by NHL stars Jonathan Drouin, Charles Hudon and Michael McCarron for a bit of street hockey. More

Milos Raonic had a surprise greeting at his practice when Wayne Gretzky came by to say hello. “The Great One” also watched Canadian Denis Shapovalov during a practice session with another #NextGenATP star, Korean Hyeon Chung, while his 14-year-old daughter Emma had an opportunity to hit with Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan as they wrapped up their hit on the adjacent court. More

Doubles stars Daniel Nestor, Jean-Julien Rojer, Horia Tecau, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Michael Venus, Mate Pavic, Nikola Mektic, Oliver Marach, Santiago Gonzalez and Fabrice Martin were on hand with a pro-am with lucky tennis fans.

#NetGenATP stars Reilly Opelka and Frances Tiafoe traded their racquets for bats, as they played baseball on Court Banque National against former Montreal Expos Derek Aucoin, Claude Raymond, and Denis Boucher.

Lucas Pouille, Pablo Carreno Busta, Kyle Edmund, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Peter Polansky were on hand for kids’ day activities.

Karen Khachanov, David Goffin, John Isner, Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios and Jared Donaldson met fans at the main stage for selfies and autographs.