shivashish, nice post. First, a point of clarification. Roger has a losing record against Novak (22-23) and Rafa (11-23), but not against Murray (14-11). And of course the record against Novak is close enough to be essentially equal. Also, I don't find it particularly meaningful to separate Andy's "bad back years." The fact is that Roger is 5-1 against Andy in Slams, not 3-1.
Anyhow, I hear and agree your broader appreciation about Roger. For me it isn't as much about his record, or at least secondarily so. It is the grace, elegance, and mastery he displays on the court--and there really has never been anyone quite like him, at least in the last few decades.
We tend to forget that Roger is actually from a different era, a generation that peaked 10-15 years ago; and Roger utterly dominated his generation, from late 2003 on. No player in Open Era history so dominated his own generation as Roger did, with the possible exception of Bjorn Borg (if we separate McEnroe into the later generation). And Roger's generation was far stronger than Borg's.
As you point out, Roger's armor has tarnish, most notably (and perhaps only) his inability to figure Rafa out. But this is as much to do with a problematic match-up as it does with Rafa's greatness. Even Rafa's most ardent fans (with the possible exception of the most wacky) would never claim that the h2h is representative of their comparative greatness. It is well known that Rafa's edge in the h2h was largely due to matchup problems for Roger, and also the fact that their matches were so heavily on clay (13-2 to Rafa on clay, 10-9 everywhere else).
But Roger's overall record remains the greatest in the Open Era, and certainly the greatest since Rod Laver. If we contextualize for era, Roger is one of a Quintet of GOATs that includes Laver, Rosewall, Gonzales, and Tilden. For awhile there it looked like Rafa would make it a Sextet, but it seems that ship has sailed. Novak still has a chance, but needs to change his trajectory quickly and extend his dominance. Regardless, Novak and Rafa, along with Sampras, aren't far off from the GOAT candidates.
