“Novak Djokovic is the best” Former Croatian player Nikola Pilic gives his verdict on the GOAT debate


“Novak Djokovic is the best” Former Croatian player Nikola Pilic gives his verdict on the GOAT debate

Novak Djokovic and Nikola Pilic

Novak Djokovic has had the season of his life as he won 3 of the 4 Grand Slams this year and would have won all 4 of them but a defeat in the finals of the 2021 US Open denied the Serbian the chance to become just the 2nd man and the 3rd player in Open Era to win all 4 Slams in a single calendar year.

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Novak started the season with 17 Grand Slam titles to his name. He then went on to win the 2021 Australian Open, 2021 French Open and the 2021 Wimbledon Championships to reach the 20 Grand Slam mark and level Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as the only 3 men to have 20 Slams each. Novak also broke Roger’s record of spending the most weeks as World No. 1 this year.

Taking note of all these achievements of the Serbian, former French Open runner-up and Wimbledon semi-finalist, Croatia’s Nikola Pilic gave his views on the never-ending GOAT debate between the trio of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. Nikola has closely seen Novak’s rise as the Serbian is an alumnus of the Pilic Academy and has also been the advisor of the Serbian Davis Cup team.

I never said Djokovic is the GOAT until the 2019 Wimbledon final. After that win, I put numbers on the table: he leads H2H meetings vs Federer and Nadal, will win more Slams, holds the record for the most weeks at world No. 1. He is the best,” said Nikola justifying why he chose Djokovic as the greatest among the three.

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Novak Djokovic has 4 titles from 6 finals this season

Novak Djokovic and Nikola Pilic
Novak Djokovic and Nikola Pilic

Novak with his 3 Grand Slam titles and a runner-up finish at the 2021 US Open ends his Grand Slam season with a 27-1 record. Apart from his hattrick of Slams this year, he also won the 2021 Belgrade Open, his 15th tour title on Clay. Djokovic had also reached the finals of the 2021 Rome Masters but lost to Nadal who won his 10th title in Rome and handed Novak his 6th finals defeat in the tournament.

Novak has not returned on the Tour since his US Open finals loss and has also withdrawn from the upcoming 2021 Indian Wells Open. With a qualification confirmed for the Year-End Championships, Novak might make a delayed comeback in order to level Federer’s record of most Year-End Championships.

Also Read: “To see Novak Djokovic throw his racket at Olympics is unacceptable” says Felix Auger-Aliassime’s coach