We all know that Roger Federer is the greatest male tennis champion, but where does his record haul of Grand Slam titles place him in sport in general? Federer’s haul of 15 major titles defines him as the greatest champion of not just the open era but in male tennis history and his era of dominance is hard to match in any sport.

Within tennis Federer’s tally is bettered by five women, although only Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have achieved more Grand Slam wins in the open era. Graf’s record of 22 major titles will take some beating.

As dominant as Graf was, her vast haul of Grand Slam wins were achieved over a period of 13 years. Federer has won 15 majors in a seven year span. Graf won 14 slams in the first seven years of her career that followed her first major win.

This suggests Federer was marginally more dominant than Graf at the peak of his career (Navratilova and Evert’s 18 slams were also won over a 13-year period). Federer may yet get more kudos for his longevity, but his brilliance at the peak of his powers is seemingly unmatched in tennis terms.

Golf is another individual sport in which success can be measured according to number of majors won. Conveniently, as in tennis there are four golf majors and it will not have escaped Federer’s attention that his recent Wimbledon win pushed him clear not only of Pete Sampras in terms of major titles, but also of his friend and advertising colleague Tiger Woods.

Woods has revolutionised golf and defined the sport in the modern era in a similar way to Federer has in tennis and it is surely only a matter of time before Woods overhauls Jack Nicklaus’ tally of 18 majors.

14 is also the magic number for Michael Phelps. The American swimmer has 14 Olympic gold medals in his collection and his dominance of the pool at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was one of the clearest examples of dominance in individual sport.

Lance Armstrong (seven consecutive Tour de France wins) is another modern sporting great who will be remembered, like Federer, as not just a legend in his own sport, but sport in general. Federer can again reinforce his lofty reputation by winning a sixth straight US Open title next month.