Tennis GOAT: Who will finish top of the class of tennis’ Big 3, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal’s Aus Open win put him ahead of contemporary GOAT contenders Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but being The Greatest is more than simple numbers.

Magnificent Rafael Nadal has become the most successful tennis player of all time but the greatest? Not yet.

It’s too early to call him the greatest because, while the field has turned for home and heads are bobbing, the race is too tight and, most importantly, it’s not over.

Nadal, who won his 21st grand slam title with the Australian Open, won’t win the argument of the best of all time unless he finishes with more majors than his two great rivals, Federer and Novak Djokovic who both have 20.

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Who will be tennis' greatest when all is said and done?

When 40-year-old Federer retires his massive global fan base may declare he was the greatest of all time because, as Muhammad Ali famously taught us, being The Greatest is more than simple numbers.

Even if Federer is slightly behind the other two on the slam tally they may argue his imprint on the game was potent and peerless.

A supreme stylist who put the core in decorum and really should have played in a dinner suit, Federer was also the ageless man who won his first title 20 years ago.

He won everywhere and everything and charmed the world as he did so.

But if we are going to be ruthless with the numbers Djokovic is the man Nadal must conquer, particularly as both are much younger than Federer and may move a couple more slams ahead of him before their time is up.

And because they all played in the same era, how can most Slams not be a definitive guide of the best of the best when the smoke clears?

Just being level with Djokovic on the Slam tally is not enough.

Nadal needs to stay ahead in the Slam race because Djokovic — why is this sentence so hard to type? — has Nadal and Federer matched in most areas.

There is a saying in sport that when you compare modest players you look at their highlights but when you compare the greats you separate them by asking what didn’t they do.

What were their soft spots?

Significantly, though 13 of his 21 slam wins have come at the French Open, Nadal won the three other majors at least twice.

Rafael Nadal now owns more Grand Slam titles than any other man. Picture: AFP

So while he is a king on clay it cannot be said that he was anything less than a major threat on all surfaces so his soft spots were not that soft at all.

It’s slightly unfair to mark Nadal down on the basis of his French Open bias because all three had their favourite haunts and leaner pastures, Djokovic winning nine Australian Opens and just two French Opens and Federer nine Wimbledon’s and a solitary French title in 2009.

So then we go man to man.

Nadal leads Federer 24-16 overall and 6-3 in grand slam finals while Djokovic leads Federer 27-23 in career clashes.

Here’s where it gets interesting … Djokovic versus Nadal.

Djokovic leads Nadal 30-28 overall and it’s 4-4 in grand slam finals. Toss a coin to split them and it would land on its edge.

So we look even closer and deep dive into the fine detail and find that of the three matches Nadal has lost at the French Open since 2005 two were to Djokovic, who is 2-7 against Nadal in Paris compared to Federer’s 0-6.

Pete Sampras last month declared Djokovic was “clearly’’ the best player of all time.

If Nadal can stay ahead of him on the Grand Slam tally it will give millions of fans around the world to point to the scoreboard and say it ain’t so.

Fingers crossed.

Djokovic watching Medvedev and Rafa with his cat, probably.

‘As long as Rafa doesn’t win’: How Novak’s worst nightmare came true

—Scott Gullan

If Novak Djokovic had a cat in his Belgrade penthouse on Sunday afternoon it would have been in serious danger.

Through gritted teeth he would have been watching what was happening over the other side of the world at the place he used to call his favourite.

That was before he was deported and kicked out of Victoria on the eve of the Australian Open after losing a court case to justify his questionable medical exemption.

During breaks in his cursing of Tennis Australia and the Federal Government on his long flight home, Djokovic would have been muttering: “As long as Rafa doesn‘t win, as long as Rafa doesn’t win”.

The 2022 Australian Open was supposed to be where he made history, breaking the deadlock of 20 career slams which he shared with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

With Fed out injured, it was only the 35-year-old Spaniard who he had to worry about and recent history had him feeling like he might be able to dodge a bullet.

Nadal had only won once at Melbourne Park, back in 2009 and had lost his last four finals down there so Rod Laver Arena certainly wasn‘t a happy hunting ground.

He was also on the comeback trail after foot surgery last year and had barely played throughout 2021, calling it a day after the French Open.

And then he got Covid in December so it was hardly the best preparation.

Plus surely it was time for the next generation of contenders to have their day. They seemed to be making progress and that quirky Russian Daniil Medvedev had won his breakthrough grand slam at the US Open last year.

All of those thoughts would have made Djokovic rest a bit easy but as the tournament unfolded he would have got more and more nervous.

Rafa was doing Rafa things, thriving on the tough hot conditions and finding ways to win.

The final started at 9.45am in Serbia and by midday Djokovic would have been nicely patting the cat sitting in his lap with Medvedev two sets up and looking in control.

By 3pm it would have been in the cat’s best interests to be scarce because his owner’s world was spiralling out of control. The unthinkable was happening, Rafa was going to be the first to 21.

Novak Djokovic wouldn’t have enjoyed watching Rafa surpass him. Picture: AAP

When Nadal’s greatest ever comeback was confirmed, Djokovic momentarily put aside self-interest and posted the obligatory social media congratulations message, probably only because he knew good-guy Federer would.

The problem for Djokovic is he knows that by missing the Australian Open he has potentially given up a two slam lead.

If he doesn’t sort out his vaccination status quickly, then the French are making all sorts of noises about not letting him play at Roland Garros in May.

Given Nadal has won the tournament 13 times – he suffered a surprise loss to Djokovic in last year‘s semi-final – he is clearly perfectly placed to take that one if the world No.1 is sitting at home again.

Unfortunately the big three is really down to two because Federer has already ruled himself out of Wimbledon this year as he recovers from knee surgery.

By the time the Swiss genius plays his next grand slam he will have turned 41 and even for the greatest of all-time, that is a big ask.

Although having watched what Nadal did on Sunday night, anything is possible

Originally published as Tennis GOAT: Who will finish top of the class of tennis’ Big 3, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic