Boris Becker knows a thing or two about great tennis and the German has a clear favourite when it comes to the GOAT debate with Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in the running.
Becker may be a little biased in this debate as he worked as Djokovic’s coach for part of his record-breaking career, with the former world No.1 suggesting the debate on who is the greatest of all time will eventually be decided by statistics. During a talk with Eurosport Becker said:
“The fact that three players have won 20 Grand Slams each is unbelievable and will never be equalled again. Numbers
just don’t lie. As a tennis player, the number of weeks at No 1 is very
important. Novak is simply way ahead there. If all three of them
stopped playing tennis today, I would see Novak at No 1.”
Becker is not optimistc about the prospect of Federer sucesfully returning to the courts:
"Roger has already managed a lot of things where we said that is not
possible at all. That’s why I wouldn’t rule it out. It won’t
be easy, tennis is changing and getting faster. At some point it will
no longer be easy."
While more optimistic about Nadal, Becker is quick to point out he is also in a tricky spot:
"I think the two greats of tennis now have to think seriously about
how long they can be called players. With Rafa it will be a bit easier
than with Roger. There’s no bigger Roger fan than me, but I don’t know
how easy it is to make another comeback after knee surgery at almost 41."