Boris Becker Questions Exclusion of Novak Djokovic in Discussions About ‘Best Tennis Player Ever’

Novak Djokovic, the winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, failed to advance to the final of a Major this season.

Boris Becker Questions Exclusion of Novak Djokovic in Discussions About ‘Best Tennis Player Ever’

Boris Becker, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Lamine Yamal Xtra, Novak Djokovic)

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Novak Djokovic, without any shadow of a doubt, is one of the greatest athletes of all time. The Grand Slam titles tally of 24 speaks for itself.

Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open. The last Major was the 2023 US Open, and since then, he has played just one Grand Slam final, at the 2024 Wimbledon, where he failed to win his 25th Major with a straight-set defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.

Recently on X, a page asked who is the ‘best tennis player ever’. The names he mentioned were: Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, and ‘some other tennis legend’. Boris Becker came across the tweet and asked him why he didn’t mention his former protege. “What about Djokovic?!” Becker asked.

Check out the tweets here:

This year, the Serb reached the semifinals of all four Majors. During the Australian Open, his hamstring injury forced him to give a walkover to Alexander Zverev. Then, World No.2 Jannik Sinner knocked him out in the French Open and Wimbledon. Alcaraz stopped his progression at the US Open.

Djokovic reached the first final of the season at the Miami Open, where Jakub Mensik denied him the win. The 38-year-old then ended his title drought by defeating Hubert Hurkacz at the Geneva Open, becoming the third man in the Open Era to reach 100 or more singles titles. Djokovic also claimed the Hellenic Championship by going past Lorenzo Musetti, following which, he ended the season, skipping the ATP Finals for the second consecutive time.

Greg Rusedski on when Novak Djokovic should retire

Novak Djokovic will continue his hunt for the 25th Major next year. Although he knows that at this stage of his career, his body is not supporting him much, especially while facing Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, he wants to play the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and hang up his racket there. Former Grand Slam finalist Greg Rusedski said Djokovic should only retire when he stops enjoying playing tennis.

Novak Djokovic (2)
Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Danny)

You know it’s time to retire when you are not enjoying it anymore. He is still the third-best player in the world, even though the rankings don’t say so. Can he beat Alcaraz and Sinner in three out of five sets back to back? Possibly not. Maybe at Wimbledon, but if he is still enjoying the challenge, why not try to stay out there?

Greg Rusedski told Tennis365

The biggest hurdles on Djokovic’s path to his 25th Major are Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, as the duo have split the last eight Majors. Sinner and Alcaraz also won a combined 26 titles from 35 finals since 2024.

The biggest disappointment for Novak last year was when he beat Alcaraz at the Australian Open, and then he had to pull out of the semi-final against (Alexander) Zverev with an injury. If he gets into the final in a one-off match against Sinner, anything can happen. Now, he is probably going to need a bit of luck to win a major because beating those two guys back-to-back, I don’t know.

Greg Rusedski added

En route to handing the walkover to Zverev at the Australian Open, Nole knocked out the six-time Grand Slam champion in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Against Sinner, Djokovic trails 4-6 in the head-to-head matchups, while against Alcaraz, Djokovic edges 5-4.

It was the Spaniard whom Djokovic defeated in the Paris Olympics final to clinch his career’s first gold medal. Sinner and Alcaraz, this year, won six titles from 10 finals and eight titles from 11 finals, respectively.

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