Streaking was in vogue over the weekend in Paris. Rafael Nadal notched his 28th consecutive match win and won his fourth French Open title in row on Sunday, absolutely wiping out Roger Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0.

That’s right, Federer got bageled by Nadal. It’s been a rough year for the Fed, and no question Nadal is the present (and presumably) future King of Clay.

I mean no disrespect to Nadal, and certainly do not write this to diminish his accomplishments. The way he’s turned Roland Garros into his own personal playground is astonishing. Rafa has never even been in peril in Paris. Not only has he never faced a match point, he’s never even seen a fifth set.

Not a tennis fan? Let me translate: Rafa’s never had a walk off win. That’s not to say he’s not good enough to win a close battle. That is to say that he’s too good to ever even leave a match hanging in the balance until the bottom of the ninth.

However, as much as he furthered the argument that he’s the best player ever on the clay (He’s won 115 of his last 117 matches on the dirt), what Federer has done is, to me, even more impressive, and, for my money, has cemented his place the best player the sport has ever seen.

Yes, Fed got smoked in the final. No question Roger Federer is at best only No. 2 when it comes to tennis on clay these days. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Roger Federer is the best player this game has ever seen, and the reason for that is his own streak: Roger Federer has reached 16 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals.

Perspective? The previous Open Era record is half that. Half. Federer has lapped the field. Ivan Lendl set the bar at eight semis in a row from 1986-88. Federer has left that in the dust.

Federer is often compared to Pete Sampras, who holds the record with 14 career Slam titles. Pete, at his finest hour, could only string together three straight Slam semifinals. Only three times did Pete play in three Slam semis in the same year.

Certainly I’m not suggesting that Roger is five times better than Pete. However, I think the ability to consistently bring yourself to the final four of the elite tournaments of the year is a truly remarkable achievement.

And by that standard, tennis is very blessed today. As it turns out, the fourth longest streak for consecutive Slam semis reached is five. That mark is currently shared by Boris Becker and Novak Djokovic, who can make it six in a couple weeks at Wimbledon.

There is certainly reason to argue that Rafael Nadal is the best player the game has ever seen on clay. But the fact that he can dominate Roger Federer the way he did on Sunday should not keep Federer from the acclaim he’s due. Federer has proven to be the best player the modern era has offered, period. I’ve got 16 reasons for believing that to be true, and number 17 seems all but a formality once the tennis world converges on SW 19.