Many tennis fans have a hard time choosing who the greatest of all time is out of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but all three of them belong on everyone’s Mount Rushmore
The ‘big three’, as they were dubbed throughout their careers, won a total of 296 ATP titles, including 66 Grand Slams.
Djokovic holds the record for the most majors ever on the men’s side with 24, while Nadal and Federer trail with 22 and 20, respectively.
Who is the greatest male tennis player of all time?
The answer for the fourth spot on Mount Rushmore varies, however, former American player James Blake firmly believes it should be his legendary compatriot, Pete Sampras.
James Blake picks his tennis Mount Rushmore
Asked to pick four players to go on his men’s tennis Mount Rushmore in an interview with New York Post Sports, Blake said of Djokovic: “Yeah, he’s the GOAT.
“I mean, he’s got every accolade you could imagine. He’s got more weeks number one, more Grand Slams, more Masters 1000s. He’s done it all. And absolutely, he’s the GOAT.
“So he’s, of course, on the Mount Rushmore. And you got to put the, you pretty much have to put the big three up there, Roger Rafa Novak is the three up there.
Would Rafael Nadal be the undisputed GOAT if not for injuries?
“And so it’s just a matter of who’s the fourth. And you have two guys right now that are competing to be that fourth, and they might be by the end of their careers in Sinner and Alcaraz.
“But if I had to put one more up there, I’m probably going to take Pete (Sampras).”
Sampras won 64 ATP titles during his career, 14 of which came at majors, which was a record until Federer came along.
James Blake says Pete Sampras is ‘underrated’ by tennis fans
Speaking about Sampras’ tally of majors, Blake said: “What’s incredible is that at 14 slams when he retired, that looked like that was never going to be touched because he had broken a record that stood for so long, Roy Emerson’s.
“And I think people forget just how good he was and how dominant he was on grass. And he was a much better athlete than a lot of people recognise and realise and give him credit for, because a lot of people say, oh, he was a certain volume, he would never have made it in today’s game.
“My goodness, he would have made it. He was an unbelievable athlete with a massive forehand and absolutely kind of underrated speed and athleticism.
“So he would have competed, and he would have been one of the greats of all time in any generation.
“And he just didn’t have the same, I don’t know, PR team or marketing or anything like that back then because he was very understated and he didn’t go through all the histrionics.
“He didn’t have a lot of, you know, crazy marketing campaigns, but he went out there, and he took care of business.
“And the other thing I love about that is that that’s who he is. He’s a genuine person. I would have hated to see him go out there and act like Marat Safin and smash rackets and break things and go crazy.
“And like, but that’s who Marat is. So I love seeing that. And I love people being genuine, and Sampras is genuine.
“That’s who he is. He takes care of business on the court and off the court. He’s pretty quiet. He’s a really nice person. He’s a great guy, and he’s on the Mount Rushmore as well.”
Federer surpassed Sampras’ Grand Slam record at the 2009 Wimbledon championships, when he defeated Andy Roddick in the final to claim a 15th major trophy.
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