Ex-ATP Pro Picks ‘Toughest’ Opponent Between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer: “It’s Very Hard to Pick”

Novak Djokovic ended the 2025 season with two ATP 250 titles and will continue his hunt for his 25th Major next year.

Ex-ATP Pro Picks ‘Toughest’ Opponent Between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer: “It’s Very Hard to Pick”

Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal (Image via X/Danny)

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Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer have won a combined 66 Grand Slam titles, and how they dominated on the men’s tour is well known. The tennis world continues to debate who, between the legendary trio, is the greatest of all time.

The answers are all subjective, for fans as well as the players who met them. Marcos Baghdatis, a former player from Cyprus, picked the toughest one between the trio during an interview with Tennis365.

I would pick Novak Djokovic, just because of the reason that I never beat him. But it’s very hard to pick. And I’m saying that, not that they (the Big Three) were the only toughest opponents, but there were so many others. That generation of Andy Murray, Rafa, Roger, Novak — of course, those were the top four that were dominating the sport for many years that I was playing.

Baghdatis locked horns with Djokovic eight times, losing all. Against the Swiss maestro, the four-time ATP titlist clinched one win in their eight meetings. Baghdatis also won one match against Nadal in their 10 meetings.

But behind them, you had the likes of [Juan] del Potro, [Stan] Wawrinka, [Marin] Cilic, [David] Ferrer, you had [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga, you had [Tomas] Berdych, you had so many players, I think, that were at a very high level.

Marcos Baghdatis added

Federer and Nadal closed the most remarkable chapters of their careers at the 2022 Laver Cup and the 2024 Davis Cup. Djokovic still wants to prolong his career and will continue his hunt for his 25th Major next year. The 24-time Grand Slam champion took home just two titles this year, the Geneva Open by defeating Hubert Hurkacz and the Hellenic Championship against Lorenzo Musetti.

Boris Becker on his true friendship with Novak Djokovic

Boris Becker was in a cell when Novak Djokovic won the 2022 Wimbledon. The German was arrested because of tax evasion.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Image via X/AllAboutHQ)

When Becker was watching his former protege play at SW19, other prisoners were banging on the walls whenever the 38-year-old was winning points. During an interview with the Guardian, Becker recalled that emotional moment of seeing Nole win his seventh Wimbledon title, and also how he felt when he saw his wife Lilian Becker and his eldest son Noah Becker (Djokovic arranged tickets for them) watching matches from his box.

I wasn’t afraid anymore. And when Novak won and raised his arms, I stood up and raised my arms too. As I did so, the noise along the wing broke out again, louder than ever before. The banging didn’t stop for 10 minutes. On walls, on doors. With cups, with chairs. It had taken me two weeks to educate them that this was my man, and now I realised. They had understood. I stood there, and I cried… I saw them [his wife and his kid] ringside at every game, and that’s what I call true friendship, that you’re not forgotten. I always thank Novak for this special memory.

Boris Becker added

Becker coached Djokovic to six Grand Slam titles. The latter, since that Wimbledon win over Nick Kyrgios, has yet to capture another title there. In 2023 and 2024, he lost the finals to six-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz. This year, eventual champion Jannik Sinner knocked him out in straight sets in the semifinal.

Djokovic, in fact, failed to reach a Grand Slam final this year. An injury forced him to retire mid-match from the Australian Open semifinal, while Sinner, apart from Wimbledon, also knocked him out in the French Open final. Alcaraz eliminated him in the US Open semifinal.

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