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Novak Djokovic US Open 2021

Six-time Slam champion feels Novak Djokovic is greatest of all time ahead of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer


Boris Becker believes that Novak Djokovic is the greatest player ever ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, saying the “numbers just don’t lie.”

After winning three of the four Grand Slam titles this season, World number one Djokovic is now level with Federer and Nadal in the total Grand Slam tally, with all three boasting a historic 20 Slams each.

The illustrious trio are currently locked in a heated three-way battle to become the most successful male player of all time, however both Nadal and Federer have been affected by injury over the past few years.

At the Paris Masters in November, Djokovic claimed a record 37th Masters title and in turn finished the season as the Year-End number one for a record seventh time, breaking Pete Sampras’ record of six finishes in this position.

Similarly, Djokovic also surpassed Federer’s record of 286 total weeks at World number one this year.

As such, Germany’s greatest male player of all time Boris Becker feels that if the trio were to retire now, he would deem Djokovic the greatest of the three.

Djokovic’s former coach Becker told Eurosport Germany’s Das Gelbe vom Ball podcast “the fact that three players have won 20 Grand Slams each is unbelievable and will never be equalled again.

“They have played against each other for the last 15 years. They didn’t win more Grand Slams because the other one won them.

“Numbers just don’t lie. As a tennis player, the number of weeks at [World] number one is very important. Novak [Djokovic] is simply way ahead there. If all three of them stopped playing tennis today, I would see Novak at number one.”

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.