Adrian Mannarino picks Novak Djokovic as the ‘Best player’ despite praising Rafael Nadal for his longevity
Adrian Mannarino has his say on the Big3 rivalry and the achievements of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
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Adrian Mannarino, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
French World No.46 Adrian Mannarino has his say on the ‘Big 3’ and their achievements. In a recent interview, the Frenchman called the trio of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer ‘Aliens’. He also lauded praises on the longevity of Rafael Nadal despite getting injured multiple times over his career. But when it came to the question of who is the best, Mannarino chose Novak Djokovic.
He also had his say about the unmatchable charisma of Roger Federer. As quoted by him about Nadal, “Frankly Rafa, it’s been ten years since we told you that he has six months left to play, that his knees are ruined, that his foot is ruined. Then the guy, ten years later, he runs everywhere, he wins Grand Slams. These guys are aliens“
Continuing his train of thought, this is how he elaborated on the charisma of Federer and whom he thinks to be the best player, “Me, I think the best player is Djoko. Roger, you can never match the elegance, the charisma. After judging the GOAT, it’s impossible” (source: TennisUpToDate)
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer – The Big 3 rivalry
The big 3 legends of tennis dominated the circuit for almost 15 years. It was carried by Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal in the beginning and then Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic by the end of it. Their iconic rivalry has often taken center stage at the business end of some of the most important tournaments. It is considered to be one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sports.
Federer-Nadal rivalry is considered the best by most people because of the emotional aspects of the game fueled by the ‘Greatest Match of All Time’ in the Wimbledon final, 2008.
The Spaniard came “out of syllabus” at a time when Federer was ruling the tennis world alone. Nadal leads the head 2 head 24-16 overall and 10-4 in Grand Slams.
By just looking at the numbers, Nadal-Djokovic can be considered the best. The head 2 head is almost in equilibrium. The Serb leads the Spaniard by the tiniest of the margins 30-29 but in slams, Nadal leads 11-7.
Federer-Djokovic rivalry is also put on par with the above two rivalries. Djokovic came in full flow in 2011 after the “prime” Federer era. But the Swiss was still able to match up with the Serbian and he only trails by 23-27 in the head-on-head overall and 6-11 in Slams.
With that being said, it seems like the Tennis world might never witness such an epic and loved domination as these three. The Big 3 have accounted for a total of 63 Grand Slams between them with Rafael Nadal leading with 22 followed by Novak Djokovic with 21 and Roger Federer with 20.
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Vipul Payattuparambil
(552 Articles Published)