“The dumbest argument you can make,” Serena Williams’ former coach stands strong in support of Novak Djokovic’s greatness as the Serbian sets his eye on the 25th Grand Slam win of his career

A Rafael Nadal fan's tweet on X questioning Novak Djokovic's GOAT status caught the attention of Rennae Stubbs.

“The dumbest argument you can make,” Serena Williams’ former coach stands strong in support of Novak Djokovic’s greatness as the Serbian sets his eye on the 25th Grand Slam win of his career

Rennae Stubbs (L), Novak Djokovic (R) (Sources: Wikipedia, The Age)

Retired Australian tennis player Rennae Stubbs came to the defence of Novak Djokovic when the Serb’s GOAT status was questioned by a Rafael Nadal fan on X (formerly known as Twitter). The fan pointed out that Djokovic has the top 5 easiest Slam runs of the century according to ELO ratings and claimed that he should not be in the GOAT debate for the same reason, to which the Australian gave an apt response. 

Rennae Stubbs wrote on X:

Fred, U can only beat the opponent across the net from you! It’s not his fault that some seeds lost PRIOR to playing him. He beat whomever they beat. That’s how tennis works. This is truly the dumbest argument u can make. Just appreciate his achievements & others. It’s not hard.
Rennae Stubbs on X
YouTube video

To put things in context, the Twitter user did not give a particular link on which his tweet was based but claimed that Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam winning runs in the US Open 2023, Wimbledon 2021, Australian Open 2023, Rolland Garros 2023 and Wimbledon 2022 are respectively the top 5 easiest Slam runs of the century. 

FS Video

After Rennae Stubbs cross-checked their argument, the user replied that in order to be the best, one must also beat the best. He pointed out Djokovic’s poor head-to-head record against Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer between 2004 and 2010, i.e., in their prime and said that he won most of his Slams in the last five years, when the level of competition had been diminished by a great extent. 

Novak Djokovic faces Dino Prizmic in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open 

Tournament top seed Novak Djokovic is set to face Croatia’s Dino Prizmic in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic provides update about his wrist injury he caught during match against De Minaur, prior to the mega event starting on Sunday
Novak Djokovic (image via: Imago)

The two players have never faced each other before and this will be their first head-to-head match. The Croatian, who is currently ranked 178, performed well in the qualifiers, but he is no match for World No. 1. It is an unfair comparison, to be honest. 

Needless to say, it is predicted that Novak Djokovic will win the first round pretty easily in straight sets. The Serb is the favorite to win the 2024 Australian Open and thus defend his title. However, he has an injury in his wrist and it will be interesting to see how he performs with it because he recently suffered a loss against Alex de Minaur in the United Cup. 

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