"Federer and Nadal a burden and blessing for Djokovic" says Times tennis writer Christopher Clarey

Respected New York Times tennis writer Christopher Clarey declared that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both a burden and blessing for Novak Djokovic.

Arguably the greatest era of tennis is slowly coming to a close and the era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic delievered some of the best tennis ever seen. Djokovic was the last to come along but ever since he won his maiden grand slam at age 20 it became clear he is someone who could challenge them. In a way the sucess of Federer and Nadal pushed Djokovic to become even greater and vice versa.

Noted New York Times tennis writer Christopher Clarey would agree as he explained in an interview:

“I’m not going to make a call on who is the best of all time. But Novak looks like he is the best player in pure results on who is the best player in this era. In my view, it has been both a burden and a blessing for [Djokovic] to have [Federer] and [Nadal] around. If he was the dominant player in tennis, he wouldn’t have become the player he is now."

Clarey than continued saying:

“Who is the greatest of all time in tennis?. That’s a different debate. Does it come down to their performance and achievement on the court or is also about what they have brought to the sport? In that situation and with a wider lens, Roger’s argument gets stronger as he has had. He’s had a huge impact with fans and people outside of the sport of tennis.

Clarey than finished off with:

“I won’t make a call on who the greatest of all time, but Novak will win that debate on pure results.”