Novak Djokovic continues to improve his legacy, even as he approaches his 39th birthday next month.
Djokovic has won everything in tennis, including 24 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal.
As a result, many including Rafael Nadal have called Djokovic the greatest tennis player of all time.
Former Grand Slam doubles champion Patrick McEnroe agrees with this, and believes that Djokovic has even done something ‘remarkable’ this year.
Patrick McEnroe calls Novak Djokovic the greatest of all time
When appearing on the Spout Podcast, McEnroe was asked if he thinks Djokovic’s career achievements make him the greatest of all time.
McEnroe claimed that he thinks it does, before calling Djokovic’s win over Sinner at the Australian Open this year one of the greatest victories in his career, praising the Serbian for continuing to compete with the top two players on the ATP Tour.
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“To me it does, on the male side,” said McEnroe. “Obviously you could argue for Serena Williams on the women’s side, Steffi Graf who finished on 22, and she didn’t play as long as either Serena or Novak Djokovic. So if she had played another five years, who knows how many she would have had, but longevity is part of it.
“I would put Djokovic at the top of the list, because of what you mentioned. The head-to-head against [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal, and the scope of his wins. Not just in the majors, total majors obviously counts, but he has also won Masters series events…and he has also won the most if you combine the different surfaces. Indoors, clay courts, hard courts and grass courts at Wimbledon of course.
“So, he’s got the best scope of wins, and the fact of the matter is he’s about to turn 39 and he’s still playing at the top of the game. Just beat Sinner in Australia, which to me is one of his greatest wins ever, even though he ended up losing the next match to [Carlos] Alcaraz in the final.
“You talk about passion and doing it, because these two guys have dominated him the last couple years. These two young bucks coming along and he still has the passion to go back to work and try to say, ‘I’m going to find a way to keep competing with Sinner and Alcaraz’. Pretty remarkable!”
Where does that performance rank out of Novak Djokovic’s best of all time?
What is Novak Djokovic’s Head-to-Head vs Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz?
Djokovic’s win over Sinner at the Australian Open was his first victory over the Italian since 2023, having lost their five previous meetings.
This has closed the gap in their head-to-head to 6-5 in Sinner’s favour, but Djokovic does not have a losing record against Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic led his head-to-head against Alcaraz 5-3, but after losing their two most recent meetings, including the Australian Open final, they are level at 5-5.
| Head-to-Head vs Novak Djokovic | Most recent meeting with Djokovic | |
| Jannik Sinner | 6-5 Sinner | Djokovic beat Sinner, 3-6 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-4 (Australian Open Semifinal) |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 5-5 | Alcaraz beat Djokovic, 2-6 6-2 6-3 7-5 (Australian Open Final) |
The next tournament where Djokovic could play either Sinner or Alcaraz is at the Madrid Open, which he has been confirmed to play.
However, there are doubts over whether either Sinner or Alcaraz will play in Madrid due to scheduling reasons and a wrist injury, respectively.
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