Sam Querrey and John Isner Mention Roger Federer in Strong Arguments on World’s Most Popular Athlete

Who is the most popular athlete on the planet? Is it Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, or Virat Kohli? Sam Querrey, John Isner, Steve Johnson, and Steve Weissman discussed the same on the Nothing Major podcast.

Querrey asked whether, at one point, Federer topped this list. But others did not think so. Querrey also thinks one must not judge a player based on their Instagram followers. Isner first picked Federer.

You can make an argument that it still is Fed. He’s like Michael Jordan, right? Like he’s just as famous now as he was when he was at the top of the game.

But Johnson argued that Rolando should be on top because “every person in the world knows soccer“. Isner did not share the same opinion and picked Kohli instead.

The most popular athlete on earth is the Indian cricket player Virat Kohli. He has 200…well, India is a giant country.

And here, Johnson pointed out that Rolando has more than 650 million followers, while Weissman pointed out that Messi has more than 500 million followers. To this, Querrey said:

Yeah, it’s just because you have lots of Instagram followers…that’s like having a lot of like, monopoly money. It’s like that doesn’t mean anything.

When Isner insisted that Kohli is the most popular, Querrey asked him to compare the 37-year-old to Messi and Ronaldo.

I’m going with Kohli and India. Cricket is their national sport [hockey is the national sport], absolute legend over there. Look at his Instagram… you can see he averages like eight million likes a post.

John Isner said

Virat Kohli? Ronaldo? Federer? Messi?

Who is the most popular athlete in the world? The guys chop it up with Steve Weissman 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/3yiq6AA23B

— Nothing Major Show (@NothingMajorPod) June 11, 2026

Sam Querrey on Alexander Zverev’s chances of winning Wimbledon

Alexander Zverev finally lifted his career’s first Grand Slam title. In the French Open final, Sascha clinched a five-set win over Flavio Cobolli, becoming the first German man since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open to win a Major title.

It was not the first time Zverev played a final. At the 2020 US Open, Dominic Thiem beat him, while Carlos Alcaraz beat him in the 2024 French Open final. Last year, he lost to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final. Now that the French Open is done and dusted, many players have already started their campaign on the grass swing.

Zverev was scheduled to play the Stuttgart Open, but he withdrew. He has so far played three finals on grass but has never claimed a title. At Wimbledon, Zverev will be hoping to finally advance to the quarterfinals.

Wimbledon, in fact, is the only Major where Zverev has yet to reach the last eight. But Sam Querrey thinks Zverev will enter the grass-court Major as the second favorite after Sinner. He said on the Nothing Major podcast:

He is the number two seed at Wimbledon. Alcaraz is not playing. I am not saying he is going to win Wimbledon; it’s not his best surface, but he is the second favourite probably right now. I feel like he gets another one. If Sinner and Alcaraz are both in the draw, I don’t think he does, but he’s 29 years old.

Sinner will be playing at Wimbledon as the defending champion. He beat Alcaraz last year, also denying him a hat-trick of the title. The seven-time Major champion, also the winner of the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon titles (beating Novak Djokovic both times), will skip the tournament this time due to a wrist injury.

Wimbledon starts on June 29. Sinner will be chasing his sixth title of the season, as before the French Open, he clinched the first five Masters 1000s, becoming the first man to do so.

Also read: Youngster Rafael Jodar Aims to Continue His Clay-Court Form at Wimbledon