MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — In drawing level with Rafael Nadal’s record 22 Grand Slam titles, Novak Djokovic reignited the debate about who is the greatest men’s tennis player of all time.
For some, the Serbian settled it with his record-extending 10th Australian Open crown.
Certainly, his vanquished opponent on Rod Laver Arena thinks so.
“He’s the greatest that has ever held a tennis racket, for sure,” said Stefanos Tsitsipas after losing 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5).
It seems inevitable that Djokovic, who returned to world number one with his dominant victory in Sunday’s final, will win more Slams.
At 35 he is a year younger than great rival Nadal and except for hamstring trouble early on in Melbourne, he appears to be in excellent physical shape.
In contrast, Nadal’s battered body broke down again at the Australian Open and he limped out with defeat in the second round, his title defense over and the Spaniard in pain with a hip injury.
Roger Federer, the third of the “Big Three” who have dominated men’s tennis for the past 15 years, retired last year with 20 Grand Slam titles.
Federer will always be the “people’s champion” in the eyes of many because of the graceful way he played, but it is Djokovic who looks primed to pull away with the record number of men’s major crowns.
Djokovic seems to thrive on pain and feed off adversity.
Two years ago, he won in Australia despite tearing stomach muscles, this year it was a hamstring that did not allow him to practice between matches.
If not for Djokovic’s vaccine status, which saw him deported from Australia a year ago and prevented him competing at the US Open, he may well have already been on 23 or 24 Slam wins.
“Haha, I told you. We created a monster… Sat on my couch and enjoyed the entire show. Soak it all in,” Nick Kyrgios, beaten by Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last year, tweeted on Sunday.
Nadal, at 36, may be able to recover from his latest injury and even find the will to achieve another triumph on the clay of Roland Garros in May.
But he is a new dad and as the calls grow from family and friends to stop punishing his body, he could bow out sooner rather than later.
There is a theory that he could call it quits at this year’s French Open.
