Former hitting partner of Big Three chimes in on GOAT debate - "It makes him the greatest that has ever played the game"

Having practiced with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, ex-collegiate tennis player Mike Digby gave his opinion on which member of the Big Three is the greatest tennis player of all time.

The former NCAA college athlete currently coaches Slovenian WTA player Tamara Zidansek. However, the Brit started his career on the tennis circuit by working as a hitting partner for several top-ranked tennis players on both the ATP and WTA Tours. Digby has worked with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Naomi Osaka, in addition to the aforementioned trio of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

In an interview with Sportskeeda, Digby elaborated on the different styles and auras associated with each member of the Big Three. Although each tennis legend was unique in his own way, Digby believes Djokovic sits at the top, due to the Serbian's arrogance on court.

"It is difficult because they all bring an aura," revealed Digby. "I speak about this word a lot, like an aura to the tennis court. They have a strong presence but if I was blindfolded, they’re very different auras.
“I would say Federer, you can feel his presence just through the pure quality of ball striking. So just the sound of the ball off the strings, the elegance that he brings when he does it, just the calm and class that he brings, you can just feel it.
"But on the flip side, Nadal would be someone that you can hear, right? His aura comes through what you hear through the heaviness of the strike, through the grunt, obviously, through the feet that you can kind of just hear him scurrying his feet.
"Novak has a blend of those two. He has a bit more of an arrogance to him. And I love that about him. That’s genuinely not a negative comment at all. I think that if he didn’t have that, he wouldn’t be the Novak Djokovic that we all know. It makes him who he is.
"It makes him, in my opinion, the greatest that has ever played the game purely from a tennis standpoint. So yeah, if I was blindfolded, I think those would be my type of feel and hear really.”