The G.O.A.T. debate has been dominated by three men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.
All three players won 20 or more Grand Slam singles titles, setting records that may never be broken.
Most fans and pundits agree it’s the ‘big three’ who occupy the first three spots in any all-time top-10 list, but who else makes the cut?
Predict the ATP year-end top five!
Will Jannik Sinner still be on top?
Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, has now shared his top 10.
Brad Gilbert doesn’t have Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner in his all-time top 10
During the latest episode of ‘The Big T Podcast‘, Gilbert explained why Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner don’t feature in his top 10.
“Provided they both stay healthy and do a lot more, they are going to be high up on the list,” he said.
“But at the moment, they are not in the top 10! People think they are way up there…
The American continued to share his top-10.
Brad Gilbert’s top-10 male players of all time
- 1. Novak Djokovic
- 2. Rafael Nadal
- 3. Roger Federer
- 4. Pete Sampras
- 5. Bjorn Borg
- 6. Rod Laver
- 7. Andre Agassi
- 8. John McEnroe
- 9. Jimmy Connors
- 10. Ivan Lendl
“If you think they should be right next to them, then from 11-14 you’ve still got [Mats] Wilander, [Stefan] Edberg, [Boris] Becker, [Ken] Rosewall, [John] Newcombe, lots of guys through that first 15, for me,” said Gilbert.
“But once they both get to eight-10 and double figures, and have that longevity, they will be moving up, but if either one of them doesn’t do anything more, I can’t put them on the list.”
Gilbert’s co-host, Nick Monroe, also named Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer as his top three, leaving Alcaraz and Sinner out of the top 10.
“I’d agree with you and I’m looking at my top 10; we all have the same names, maybe a little different order,” he said.
Nick Monroe’s top-10 male players of all time
- 1. Novak Djokovic
- 2. Rafael Nadal
- 3. Roger Federer
- 4. Pete Sampras
- 5. Rod Laver
- 6. Bjorn Borg
- 7. Ivan Lendl
- 8. Andre Agassi
- 9. Jimmy Connors
- 10. John McEnroe
“But again, the seven through 10, you can kind of mix and match how you want.
“And by the same token, when I’m looking at it, I’m with you, they’re not in the top 10 yet, because Jannik Sinner only has, I say only, five Slams, 30 titles, 80.4% win percentage, Alcaraz, seven Slams, 81.6% win percentage.
“But there’s one key word that we think about when it comes to the top-10 all-time and its longevity: being able to stay healthy, being able to keep a pace for the next five, seven years for Sinner and Alcaraz.
“Alcaraz, already with the wrist injury, hopefully able to null that and not have the injuries that can keep him out.
“But it’s hard to imagine, if they’re able to keep this pace for the next five or seven years, of course, they are going to be inside the top 10, of course, they are going to get all the Slams they need.
“You look at the guys that we have, seven to 10, those are the guys that have seven, eight majors, we are already talking about Sinner with five majors, Alcaraz has seven.”
Gilbert then predicted where Alcaraz and Sinner will rank in the top 10 by the end of their careers.
“Four to six, let’s look at that,” he said.
“[Pete] Sampras, [Bjorn] Borg, [Rod] Laver. I feel like if these guys continue on the same trajectory, obviously, we don’t know for Alcaraz, coming back from his injury, will he still be the same? Let’s say he continues on, I feel like these two guys in five or seven years are easily going to be in that mix of four to six.
“Saying they are going to get in the 20s… I mean, who would’ve thought anybody [would win 20 Grand Slams]… But I feel like I would be very surprised if they’re not in that four to six mix in five to seven years, that’s the trajectory they’re headed on.”
How many Grand Slams had Novak Djokovic won at Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s age?
Djokovic is statistically the greatest male tennis player of all time, having won a record-24 Grand Slam titles.
But are Alcaraz and Sinner on pace to match Djokovic’s tally?
Alcaraz is 23 years old and has won seven major titles.
At the same age, Djokovic ‘only’ had two Grand Slams to his name, winning the Australian Open in 2008 and 2011.
Djokovic was 27 by the time he won his seventh Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2014.
So, Alcaraz is well-positioned to challenge Djokovic’s records, but what about Sinner?
Sinner is 24 and just won his fifth major title at Wimbledon.
Djokovic had also won five Grand Slams when he was 24.
With that in mind, you’d be encouraged to back Alcaraz to win more Slams than Djokovic and Sinner, although the question marks around his fitness do cast doubt on any future projections.
The Spaniard missed this year’s French Open and Wimbledon with a wrist injury, and is only expected to play one event, the Cincinnati Open, before the US Open.
Sinner, on the other hand, has had a relatively clean bill of health throughout the year, winning five Masters 1000 titles and Wimbledon.
