For many, Novak Djokovic’s incredible Australian Open run solidified his status as the greatest player of all time.
Though he didn’t win the tournament, the Serb came awfully close to overcoming the world’s two best players back-to-back at the age of 38.
Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner in the semifinals at Melbourne Park in a five-set thriller that took the tennis world by storm.
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In the final against Alcaraz, he took the first set convincingly, but the Spaniard defiantly came back and won in four.
Fans have argued over the ‘GOAT’ debate continuously for years, and now, Roger Federer‘s former coach, Ivan Ljubicic, who played Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and the Swiss Maestro, has had his say.
Ivan Ljubicic recalls playing the ‘big three’ in his career
In an episode of ‘Off Court with Greg‘, Ljubicic said: “I felt that against Rafa, you had time. He stays far back on the return, so he kind of lets you do your thing, especially on my service games.
“I felt rather comfortable. Obviously, I lost a lot more times than I won, but I did beat him twice, and I always felt if I played well I am going to have a shot and my chances. He also doesn’t serve big, so you were always in the rallies. I never felt it was impossible.
“Against Roger, it was complicated, because he would always do something different. I remember I played him like four times in three months in the beginning of 2005, it was the final in Doha, final in Rotterdam and final in Miami, and it was always a different match.
“I thought after losing to him that I was like ‘okay, now I know what we need to do’. And I remember thinking Rotterdam was a big battle.
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“In Dubai, he was serving and volleying more often than not. And then in Miami, he was going back and looping. It was always a different match, so you had to adapt to him, and he was always better at what he was doing than you. So in that sense, it was really, really difficult for me to play against him.
“Novak, I played him for the last time in 2010 or 2011. He was already number one or two in the world, and when Novak was on, it was maybe the most difficult for me, because me having a big serve and relying on a lot of free points on my serve, with him, it was just not possible.
“It was not just that I was getting free points, but he was coming faster at me than my serve.
“So you would feel that you would just get strangled, because he doesn’t hit winners, he just pushes you left and right, and you never have a clean shot. You don’t even find yourself in a situation where you can take a risk.
“They are different. It’s really difficult to say who is better. Obviously, Novak won the most, but for me, the impact that Roger had on the game, and Rafa in different moments, is huge. Maybe bigger than Novak.
“So it’s always this conversation of who is the GOAT. But what is the GOAT? Obviously, Novak is the one who won the most, but the impact on the game, I feel like Roger definitely was tremendous.”
Ivan Ljubicic’s record against each member of the big three
Ljubicic played Federer 16 times on the ATP Tour, and managed to beat the 20-time major champion three times.
All three of his wins came in the early 2000s, however, with Federer coming out on top in their last 10 clashes.
The Croat only picked up two wins against Nadal, beating him at the Qatar Open in 2005 and the Indian Wells Open in 2010.
His record against both Nadal and Djokovic was identical, as Ljubicic also overcame the latter twice in his career.
- Ivan Ljubicic against Federer: 3 wins, 13 losses
- Ivan Ljubicic against Nadal: 2 wins, 7 losses
- Ivan Ljubicic against Djokovic: 2 wins, 7 losses
Ljubicic faced Andy Murray seven times, and had a 3-4 win-loss record against the Briton.
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