Carlos Alcaraz's coach
Juan Carlos Ferrero has weighed in on the greatest of all time, or GOAT, debate between
Novak Djokovic,
Rafael Nadal, and
Roger Federer.
For a long time, it was difficult to pinpoint the GOAT of the sport, as Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic all dominated the
ATP Tour as part of the Big Three. Between them, they have a total of 66 Grand Slam titles and have been World No. 1 for a combined total of 918 weeks.
However, after Federer retired in September 2022 with 20 major titles to his name, and Nadal ended up absent due to injury for the majority of the 2023 season with 22 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic pushed ahead to win the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open this season to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slams and extend his run as World No. 1 to almost 400 weeks.
Ferrero: Djokovic is the best
This has led many fans and players alike to declare Djokovic as the GOAT, with World No. 2 Alcaraz's coach Ferrero now adding his agreement: "With Djokovic's numbers there is no debate. You may like Rafa more, you may like Federer's style more, but in terms of numbers the best in history is Novak," he said in an interview with Spanish publication Marca.
The former World No. 1 went on to stress that he was not at all surprised by the Serbian player's success this season: "I'm not surprised. He is a player who lives for and to play tennis and achieve results at the highest level. Everything he does is to be physically perfect: from food, to rest... To be very good at something you have to excel a lot in certain things.
"Those who really want to become very, very good have to be there for and for. It is very difficult, today, to want to have a life parallel to training and professionalism, and to dedicate just enough to tennis. It has to be the other way around. Djokovic, in that, is the best," he continued.
