Novak Djokovic is currently ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the debate over who is the greatest male tennis player of all time, according to legendary former USA star John McEnroe. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are all level on a men’s record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles each.
Nadal could edge ahead of his two rivals this weekend if he wins the Australian Open.
Thirteen of the Spaniard’s career major wins have come on the clay court at the French Open.
Federer, meanwhile, has triumphed on the grass at Wimbledon more than the other two.
Djokovic’s Grand Slams wins have been slightly more spread out than the Swiss’.
McEnroe says deciding which player is the greatest could come down to their head-to-head statistics, with Djokovic having a superior record over both Nadal and Federer.
However, he would like them all to finish their careers on the same amount of Grand Slam tournament wins to ensure no one is wrong in the GOAT debate.
“It depends on the day, who are you talking to, what surface,” McEnroe told Eurosport.
“To me Rafa is the greatest clay court player, I think Novak is the greatest hard court, and I would call Roger overall the greatest grass court player. But then Novak has beaten him three times at Wimbledon I believe.
“Novak also has a winning record against those two. He is slightly ahead of those two but in a weird way I hope they all end up on the same number so we can have this discussion for the next 10 years and it will just be a matter of opinion and no one would be wrong.”
Nadal faces Matteo Berrettini in the semi-final in Melbourne on Friday.
His coach Carlos Moya insists moving ahead of Djokovic and Federer in terms of Grand Slam wins is not something he speaks to Nadal about.
“We don’t talk about it but obviously we dream about it and will be talking about it on Sunday hopefully,” Moya told reporters.
“There have been many things to talk about these past few weeks as you know, but we don’t talk about 21.
“We know it’s there, there’s pressure too but we avoid putting too much importance on it. Rafa has said plenty of times his happiness does not depend on it.
“So, if it happens, we will talk about it on Sunday but for now, the focus is on this week, to recover and on Friday’s match.”
