Gustavo Kuerten enjoyed a fine career, where he actually got to enjoy the early parts free from the reign of terror induced by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and later Novak Djokovic.
The Brazilian remains his country’s most successful ever male tennis player, having retired with three Grand Slam titles to his name, even reaching the world number one spot in 2000.
As such, his opinion on the sport he excelled in remains well respected.
However, this latest claim will certainly turn heads…
Gustavo Kuerten names his best-ever tennis players
Speaking to The Express, the 48-year-old sought to weigh in on the age-old debate: who is the greatest male tennis player of all time?
And whilst many will naturally gravitate towards any of the Big Three for their triumphs within the sport, having won 20, 22 and 24 Grand Slam titles respectively, Kuerten had different ideas.
In fact, he has boldly snubbed Novak Djokovic, even naming six other players that he prefers to the legendary Serbian.
Naturally, Federer and Nadal made his list, but so too did Swedish superstar Bjorn Borg.
Then, moving over to America, he named a further three who he saw as superior to the 37-year-old: Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.
Kuerten defended his decisions: ‘Why? Because of my origins. My brother with a poster of Borg and me with a poster of McEnroe. I can speak today and people will listen to me thanks to these two players.
‘Sampras was from another galaxy. Agassi was a more provocative type who went beyond tennis and reached people.’
Carlos Alcaraz did name Djokovic as his GOAT back in July.
Novak Djokovic is statistically the undisputed GOAT
No matter how any former player, pundit or fan tries to spin it, when it comes to titles won there is nobody who can compete with Djokovic anymore.
Especially after this year, when he finally claimed that elusive Olympic gold medal too.
With that, he officially added the final piece to his trophy cabinet, having already won 24 Grand Slam titles, moving alongside Margaret Court as the two players with the most majors of all time.
And, there’s still time for him to pull ahead on his own too.
The only man to have won all nine Masters 1000-level events, with the most Australian Open titles in history and just one shy of matching Roger Federer’s all-time Wimbledon title record too.
The only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces.
The only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam, and the only player to complete a Career Golden Masters, a feat he has accomplished twice.
Many will try and discredit his credentials, but few can deny Djokovic’s mastery of the sport.
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