Dominic Thiem insists that Novak Djokovic must be considered the greatest tennis player of all time, leaving Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal out of contention.
Despite a hamstring problem, the Serbian became the most successful men’s player in Grand Slam history last week, tying Nadal for 22 titles after his 10th Australian Open win. .
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Along with the retired 20-time winner, Federer, Djokovic and Nadal are in the long-running debate to determine who is the greatest player in history. But 2020 US Open champion Thiem believes the number of major wins should be the deciding factor in the conversation and is confident that Djokovic will soon leave his two biggest rivals behind, Directv-Sport details.
“In my opinion, the Grand Slam titles should be the defining criteria when determining the best of all time, they are the four most important tournaments in tennis. Everything else is fine, but it’s not the same. The slams are what counts, so the best one will probably be the one with the most grand slams.” declared the Austrian.
On the 35-year-old’s triumph in Melbourne, he added: “I’m not too surprised. Djokovic still looks young, physically and mentally, from the way he moves on the court. It’s like he was 25 years old. We have to be honest, he is the best, so his victory was not very surprising”.
Thanks to his conquest in Australia, Djokovic returned to first place in the ATP ranking, which belonged to the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (absent due to injury in the first Slam of the season) since his conquest of the US Open last September.
By: Agencies / Photo: Courtesy
