‘Highest standard performance I have seen in just about any sport!’ Andrew Castle gives an insight into the Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal rivalry
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Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
Over the previous two decades, the Big 3 rivalry has ruled tennis, transforming it into the golden trinity era, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer tipping the scales over each other’s records.
Djokovic’s deportation from Australia and Nadal’s stunning victory at the Australian Open has allowed him to surpass Federer and Djokovic on the list of all-time Grand Slam winners, with his 21st triumph. However, determining who is the GOAT of tennis is tricky, and will likely only be known when the legends call it a day in tennis and their end-of-career statistics can be analyzed, but in an exclusive interview with Tennis365, former British No. 1 Andrew Castle said that Djokovic has gone closest to playing the greatest tennis match in the battles of the big three.
Djokovic has played some A-level tennis, and being the youngest among the three, still has a potential edge over the two and is projected to get ahead of them. Andrew Castle, the BBC’s chief commentator at Wimbledon and other major events for the past two decades, has closely watched the careers of the “Big Three,” and he believes Djokovic’s triumph against Nadal in the 2019 Australian Open final was a tennis gem.
“Of all of these magnificent players, if you had to pick one player that played the single highest standard of tennis you have ever seen, who would it be?” asked Castle, speaking to Tennis365 in his role as a Game4Padel ambassador.
“I think that final against Nadal (in Australia) when he beat him for the loss of eight games in 2019 was the single highest standard performance I have seen in just about any sport,” he said.
‘Novak does the simple things almost imperceptibly brilliant’: Castle
He further lauded Djokovic by saying that he does simple things brilliantly referring to the returns he made during that monumental Australian Open final.
“Every sport is about doing the basics superbly well. That’s where I find the beauty in great sport and for me, Novak does the simple things almost imperceptibly brilliant. The return that lands one inch from the baseline and hits someone on the ankle from a great serve. We all know how difficult that is to play at that sort of level, especially on a big point, and he is so reliable,” he said.
He later said that the Big 3 aren’t done yet and applauded their motivation to play tennis at the highest level. “All three of them have been magnificent for our sport and the message is the boys aren’t done yet. It is amazing how these older players keep on doing it. Their motivation is incredible,” he said.
Djokovic is expected to return to action in Dubai next week, where he will also make his first public appearance since his deportation fiasco in Australia last month.
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Shilpi Pusadkar
(106 Articles Published)