"Should it even matter, who wins the GOAT race" - questions Mats Wilander

Mats Wilander is not one obsessed with records as he questioned whether it truly matters who ends up as the greatest of all time in tennis.

It's an interesting question however the fact that it's so widely discussed clearly signals it matters. Even those in the middle of it like Nadal who claims it doesn't matter look silly when you look at the lengths he went through to win the French Open.

If it truly meant nothing he would not have been taking daily injections. At that point, it's got to be more than just 'love for the sport'. Wilander examined the issue for Eurosport following Wimbledon saying:

“Well, I mean, on paper it means Federer at 20, Novak on 21 and Rafa at 22 and I would have said a couple of years ago numbers were very important but it seems like the last couple of years, we have to start talking about momentum in their careers."

He continued:

“And after Novak Djokovic won three of the four Slams last year and had a chance to win the Calendar Grand Slam and go to 21 Grand Slam victories, didn’t, lost to Medvedev, then Rafa against all odds wins the Australian Open goes to 21. After that, of course, he’s going to win the French Open, goes to 22. So I think here is momentum. The question here is for Novak, is he allowed to go and play the US Open because of the vaccination status that’s very important."

Wilander then summarised:

“Should this really matter in the end, who wins the GOAT race? Who is the greatest of all time? All three have had their three or four years when they have dominated. Now they’re going back and forth with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic so we we’re just so privileged to be a part of it. To me personally, I don’t care who end up with the most Slams. We are going to define this as best three tennis players on the men’s side of the sport.”