Rafael Nadal plays down the GOAT debate, expresses his frustration with the constant number crunching by fans and media
Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal believes that it's not easy to pick one among the Big 3 as the greatest as everyone has different opinions.
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Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
Spanish legend Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest players to have taken the tennis court. In his career spanning almost two decades, the 36-year-old has accumulated a record 22 Grand Slam titles. Along with his rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, he has dominated the sport for most of the 21st century.
But who is the greatest among the ‘Big 3’? This debate has been constantly raging for the past several years in the tennis world. In a recent interview, Nadal played down the debate saying that it’s not easy to define who is the best among them.
On being asked the question about the debate, Nadal expressed his views to MARCA saying, ”I don’t think it’s easy to define because everyone has their arguments to defend one player or another beyond the objective data.”
Nadal gives more importance to what each of the three as an individual has achieved on the court. ”In the end what matters is that Federer, Djokovic, and I have done much more than we had dreamed of,” Spaniard said. Because of this Nadal believes they will go down in tennis history.
As the race for the highest number of Grand Slam titles has shrunk between him and Djokovic, Nadal said that of course, he would like to be the one who finishes with the most majors.
Rafael Nadal has no plans for retirement, looking forward to 2023
After the recent retirement of Swiss legend Roger Federer, Nadal has been asked the same question. But the ‘King of Clay’ has made it clear that it will come eventually but not just yet. “I know that that moment is closer than it was last year, without any doubt, and than it was two years ago,” he emphasized in a recent interview.
The 2022 season brought the vintage Nadal on the show. The 36-year-old started the year with the Australian Open win bringing his tally of total Slams to twenty-one. In Paris, the King of Clay reigned supreme to win his 14th French Open title and 22nd major title overall.
Nadal will be hoping to continue the domination in the 2023 season too. He will participate in the 2023 United Cup that starts in a week’s time in Australia. Moving on in the year, Nadal would like to further extend the lead over his rival Novak Djokovic.
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