Roger Federer claims he ‘doesn’t know’ if Novak Djokovic is the ‘GOAT’

Roger Federer has been asked about whether he believes Novak Djokovic is the ‘GOAT’ following his record 23rd major triumph, and also spoke about whether he would be open to commentating in the future.

Federer has been retired since September of last year, and appeared in Halle for the 30th anniversary of the tournament that he has won a record 10 times.

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— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 21, 2023

When speaking to media, the Swiss was asked about whether he believes his former rival Djokovic is the ‘GOAT’ and implied that he cannot answer that question with Rafael Nadal still an active player.

“What’s better? Winning Wimbledon at 17 like [Boris] Becker or Paris at 36 like Novak? I don’t know,” claimed Federer. “What he’s achieved is absolutely gigantic. It could be sufficient. But I think as long as Rafa is still playing, you can’t answer that definitively”

There has been much speculation about what Federer will do in tennis post-retirement, and the 41-year-old revealed that he turns a lot down, “I reject almost everything. That’s the part I enjoy the least. An enormous number of requests come in.”

There had been a lot of rumours about Federer potentially being part of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage, and while he had played them down this year he has not ruled out commentating in the future.

“First I thought it would be cool to comment on matches of the generation of players I played against. I know them best,” claimed Federer. “But becoming a commentator in the year after my retirement didn’t feel right. Maybe I will commentate one day, maybe never.”

Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal

The ‘big three’ have dominated men’s tennis in the 21st century, winning 65 of the last 79 major singles tournaments.

However, the age old debate is always about who is really the greatest of all time, so we at Tennishead wanted to delve into the numbers:

Roger Federer

Career-high: No.1 (310 weeks)

ATP titles: 103

Grand Slam titles: 20

ATP Masters 1000 titles: 28

Olympic medals: 2 (Doubles Gold – 2008, Singles Silver – 2012)

ATP Finals titles: 6 (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 & 2011)

Davis Cup titles: 1 (2014)

Novak Djokovic 

Career-high: No.1 (389 weeks*)

ATP titles: 94

Grand Slam titles: 23

ATP Masters 1000 titles: 38

Olympic medals: 1 (Singles Bronze – 2008)

ATP Finals titles: 6 (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2022)

Davis Cup titles: 1 (2010)

*Currently the ATP No.1

Rafael Nadal 

Career-high: No.1 (209 weeks)

ATP titles: 92

Grand Slam titles: 22

ATP Masters 1000 titles: 36

Olympic medals: 2 (Singles Gold – 2008, Doubles Gold – 2016)

ATP Finals titles: 0 (Best result: Final – 2010 & 2013)

Davis Cup titles: 5 (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 & 2019)

Head-to-head

Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic: 23-27

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal: 16-24

Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal: 30-29

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