The greatest of all time debate is one that still cannot be decided within the tennis world, with many still divided over the careers and accolades of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
Two of the ‘big three’ have now left the game, with Rafael Nadal retiring at the Davis Cup in November.
Djokovic has recently hinted at retirement, but remains a player as of now, with his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam still in full force.
The three are the only players in men’s tennis history to collect over 20 major titles in their career, with Federer finishing on 20, Nadal tallying 22, and Djokovic with 24 and counting.
With the ‘GOAT’ debate still up in the air among fans, former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, who played all three, recently weighed in on the conversation.
Milos Raonic says the strategy was clear against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but not with Novak Djokovic
Speaking on the Changeover podcast, Raonic said: “You play Roger you know what you kinda have to do, it’s a bit more clear, but there’s a lot of moments where it’s just not up to you – that guy can make you look really, really bad. He can just play at a level that nobody else can match in moments.”
“He can make the experience of being on the court with him really unenjoyable, where you’re just like, let’s just get this over with. But if you can keep up with him on certain days, the idea of what you need to do is a lot more clear.”
“With Rafa, the tough thing was that it doesn’t matter how obvious it might be that you have an opportunity to win this match. Before you step on court with him, you know it’s gonna take everything out of you because he’s gonna be there till the last point.”
He continued: “And then the unique thing with Novak was like, even watching other players play him a lot, you get in the rallies, you do all these things right, Novak does this thing where he plays down the middle a lot more than everybody else, but then just takes away angles from you.”
“You’ll lose to him 7-6, 6-4, and you’ll be like okay I felt good I was hitting the ball well, and what you’ll do is you’ll go watch the match and you’ll just look at it and be like, I felt I was in it but rewinding it you’re like, I really didn’t have any chances.
“The strategy wasn’t clear when you played Novak. The other two it was clear what you needed to do, with Novak it was like, what do I need to do this time?”
Milos Raonic says Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz aren’t as far apart from the rest as the ‘big three’ were
Raonic also commented on the comparisons between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz‘s dominance vs that of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
He said: “I don’t think they’re as far apart. They are a step ahead, you could even argue two steps ahead.”
“The reason is it’s not so much what they’re doing in one moment that you can’t say they’re that far apart, it’s just that – when you realise how far apart someone is, it’s because they’ve done it for a long period of time.”
“You’ll go through the moments of not playing your best but then you’re still winning tournaments. Like Nadal – there were years he was winning the French [Open] without losing a set, and then there’s years he’s playing a five setter in the first round and still finds a way to win the French that year.”
“That’s the biggest differentiator. That’s what makes the biggest difference.”
Raonic has five wins in total over the ‘big three’ with three against Federer, and two against Nadal.
He has never won a match against Djokovic, with the lop-sided head-to-head standing at 12-0 to the Serb.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
