Novak Djokovic will be the undisputed tennis GOAT if he wins “a few more Slams”, reckons Roger Federer’s ex-coach Ivan Ljubicic.
Djokovic moved clear of Rafael Nadal onto 23 men’s slams with his recent triumph at the French Open, and the Serbian could go two clear when he steps out at Wimbledon next month, as he aims to land a record-equalling eight title – tied with Federer.
Nadal is not out of the ‘GOAT race’ yet, as the Spaniard attempts to come back from injury next year, but Ljubicic sees it “likely” that Djokovic will continue his dominance at the head of the game.
“I feel that Novak is the most successful already, but the word ‘greatest’ implies subjectivity and personal preference,” Ljubicic began, per Tennis Majors.
“I think that’s good, to be honest – everybody has a preferred GOAT and let the discussion begin.
“If we look at other sports, for example is there a (definitive) GOAT in football? In basketball everybody agrees that it’s Michael Jordan, but he’s not the one with the most trophies. It’s someone that most influenced you personally: for a third of the world it’s Federer, for the other third of the world it’s Nadal and for the final third it’s Novak.
“If Novak wins a few more Slams – which seems likely at this point – then the debate becomes meaningless. If Novak ends up having five to ten more than the others, we won’t have conversations like this anymore.”
Ljubicic revealed that he and Federer had watched Djokovic beat young pretender and world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals at Roland-Garros, and he hailed how the Spaniard has create a hybrid style of the game’s three greats.
“Roger travels more now compared to when he was playing, but we make an effort to see each other a few times a year. His life is definitely not boring,” Ljubicic said.
“Actually, we watched one part of the Djokovic – Alcaraz match together, but we were mostly on the beach, you’re going to have to forgive us.
“We were not supporting anyone, we just enjoyed the exceptional level of tennis. It’s impressive what Novak is doing, just like Roger said the other day. We can watch from the side and admire him, but Roger has been there and knows what it takes.”
On Alcaraz, Ljubicic added: “In that match against Novak, he wasn’t as creative and fluid as he usually is, but he brought another dimension to tennis, dimension young players lacked in the last 10-20 years.
“He is positive and he is something we haven’t seen so far – some sort of ‘sick’ combination of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal.
“I just hope that his body holds up, because he is putting crazy demands on his body at this moment.”
Wimbledon begins on July 3, with Alcaraz the top seed after his victory at Queen’s – his first grass-court title.
