True. Even this week, can’t discount Djok entirely.
However, it’s easier to “oust” someone from greatness on the other surfaces than it is from the French, just as Nadal did with Fed in 2008/09 and Djok started doing a bit later.
Even players like Murray and Wawrinka were threatening to make a charge on surfaces non-clay. Credit to Djok, though, he kept them at bay.
Makes you wonder how a fully fit Nadal does on other surfaces without the time out he took. He’s looking at undisputed territory in that case.
Which is why my argument for best of all time if they at least finish on the same slams is Djokovic, like I said he would have dominated to a greater degree.
And it goes back to what I said half an hour ago before the histrionics. If Nadal wins next week, he’s the greatest. His slams prove that. It’s up to the others to try and match him.
Federer withdraws from the French, if his body can’t hold up more than 3 best of 5s on the Clay now, then it might be time to call it a day at seasons end.
I was reading about it earlier and he’s doing some other tourney week after next with an aim of making a final stab at Wimbledon in July. Obviously it’s a long shot but there’s zero chance he wins the French open so he’s prioritising.
With 14 of them potentially having been at one Slam. Insane ratio lol.
The concentration of slams on Clay makes it hard for me to rank him over Federer and Djokovic. But he is indisputably the very best clay court player of all time.
I think in 5 years time, Djokovic will end up being the outright leader in slams, and he’ll probably get one more French to his tally as Nadal’s physicality declines.
Whilst Nadal has obviously racked up most of his slams on clay, let’s not forget that Djokovic has 9 Aussie opens out of his 18. Federer had the most even spread but I think his head to head record against the other two is the weakest.
Will be easier to debate this once all these greats have retired.
Maybe. But I still think people will discuss between Nadal and Federer about who is the GOAT. Djokovic has a likeable problem in that many just don’t like him, so regardless of his achievements you’ll still have people ignoring it or playing it down by calling his style boring etc.
Federer is probably the best player I’ve seen, even if he does end up with the fewest slams out of the 3 of them. Sometimes it didn’t even look like he was trying, it was just so natural.
He may not be my favourite out of the three either, but it would be very difficult to look past his achievements if he retired as the leader in slams.
Best returner ever, an absolute iron mentality plus I think he has the best H2H record out of the big 3. If he carries on dominating like he is now, that H2H record will only keep improving (albeit Federer is way past his prime now).
I personally have Nadal as my GOAT at this point in time. While Fed is just pure elegance and a beautiful player to watch, he also has the most slam final losses to his name (20-11 record). Djokovic 18-10. Nadal is 20-8.
Nadal’s domination on clay is just absolute - there isn’t a player who has been so untouchable and so brutally consistent on one surface for so long. The other two potential GOATs have managed only 1 French Open title and have never beaten Nadal on their way to winning. Nadal lost to Soderling the year Fed won it and retired injured the year Djokovic won it. His 13 wins out of 13 record in the final is just unreal.
But even I will find it difficult to argue against Djokovic if he ends up with the most slams. That is ultimately one of the most important factors to consider, even if his last few wins will be when his two great rivals are on the decline (but he’s 34 too so he’s hardly winning by default - his athleticism is absolutely insane).
Federer may have the most losses in finals as a raw number, but he’s played more of them. You can’t question Nadal on this point, but Djokovic’s percentage of grand slam finals lost is greater than Fed’s. Proportionally, Federer hasn’t got the most final losses, Djok has.
