When it comes to the tennis GOAT debate, former Argentine player Martin Jaite says it is “very difficult” to pick a favorite among Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, or Roger Federer.
The former world No. 10 agreed that Djokovic’s record of major titles is important, but he said that the “duels” between Federer and Nadal were “stronger” than Djokovic’s matches with his main foes.
Djokovic holds the record for most Grand Slam wins won by a man with 24. Nadal and Federer are in second and third place with 22 and 20.
The battles between Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer are some of the best in tennis history. The years that all three of them were playing together were great for the sport.
Between 2006 and 2022, Djokovic and Nadal played a record 59 times, which is the most in the history of the men’s Open. Djokovic won 30 of those matches, while Federer won 27 of the 50 matches he played against him from 2006 to 2020. Federer and Nadal played 40 times between 2004 and 2019, with Nadal winning 24 of those matches and Federer winning 16.
Jaite was asked by Clay Tenis if he thinks Djokovic is the best tennis player of all time. He said he doesn’t know for sure but that he doesn’t think so.
The Argentine said, “It’s hard for me to make a list of the best players of all time because I haven’t seen a lot of important players play.”
A lot of people talk about Rod Laver, but I didn’t see him play. I first watched tennis with Bjorn Borg, Guillermo Vilas, and a bunch of other famous people.Then you have to look at how many wins and Grand Slams they have won. In that way, you might think it’s Djokovic, but I thought the matches between Federer and Nadal were better than the matches between Nadal and Federer against Djokovic. There are three sides that are hard to choose between.
The 12-time ATP champion, who played from 1983 to 1993, also talked about what Nadal can do this year when he comes back.
Nadal has nine chances to live. He’s been hurt a lot, but he always gets better. He wants everything to depend on what the body tells him. “But it won’t work if the body doesn’t respond,” Jaite said.
