Former tennis player Ivan Ljubicic says Djokovic will be undisputed GOAT if he keeps winning

Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, or Roger Federer? That’s the question many fans and tennis pundits have been trying to answer over the years, but now, it probably makes more sense than ever.

With Roger Federer retiring from the sport last year and Rafa Nadal injured since January and announcing that next year it will be the last one competing, all eyes are now on Djokovic and what he can still accomplish on a tennis court.

Nole became the player with the most Grand Slam tournaments won ever in the men’s category, overtaking Rafa Nadal, by lifting his 23rd major at the French Open. He defeated one of the best clay-court players on the planet, Casper Ruud, in three sets to make history in Paris and in tennis.

Ljubicic’s take on the GOAT race

While many already consider the Serb the greatest of all time, some others believe that it’s still too close to give a clear verdict.

Ivan Ljubicic, Federer’s former coach, believes that Nole is already the GOAT, but he also thinks that the difference between the three players is still not that big to make it an obvious pick.

“I feel that Novak is the most successful already, but the word ‘greatest’ implies subjectivity and personal preference. I think that’s good, to be honest, everybody has a preferred GOAT, and let the discussion begin”, he said to Tennis Majors.

Ljubicic introduces another variant, which is that some people consider other factors such as elegance, charisma, or influence to be as important as trophies and accomplishments.

“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”, he added.

However, he stated that the debate will be over if Djokovic ends up winning a few more majors:

“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.”

The Serb maestro will be looking to lift his 24th major in Wimbledon and try to win the Slam this year when he travels to New York to feature in the US Open.