‘Federer looked the best, Nadal ground the best, but Djokovic is the best’
Renowned tennis coach Rick Macci has declared that Novak Djokovic is the best player of all time over his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The American, a former coach of Serena Williams, also revealed he would consider the Serb to be the greatest grass court player ever if wins Wimbledon next month.
Roger Federer currently holds the record for the most Wimbledon men’s singles titles with eight – with his last coming in 2017.
Djokovic is in joint-second place with Pete Sampras on seven triumphs at the All England Club.
The 36-year-old has won the last four editions of Wimbledon and has lost just one completed match at the event since 2013.
The world No 1 secured a men’s record 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this month.
Macci addressed whether Djokovic would surpass Federer as the greatest grass court player of all time with victory at Wimbledon this year.
“Absolutely. If you win more grass court titles than anybody you definitely have something more than everybody else, the proofs in the pudding, but his utility and how many Australians he won, you know, and then the French, you know, and the US Open,” Macci told Sportskeeda.
“But yeah if he wins, he’s the greatest grass court player of all time, the way he can defend but it’s his movement – the movement is the wild card, you know, better.
“As I tell everybody, Federer looked the best, Rafa ground the best, but ‘Djoker’ is the best. If he wins this tournament, he’s gonna go down as the greatest grass court player of all time and he’s not done yet.
“And remember, he didn’t play a few of these grand slams because of the pandemic because of the vaccine mandates. So if he wins this one, yeah you can mail it in. He is the best.”
The 68-year-old also recently identified his two favourites to win Wimbledon on the men’s side.
“Fasten seat belt for WIMBY. look for @Janniksin @DjokerNole to be the favourites. Sinner is very good on grass moves correctly on this surface and has been mowing the grass every day since the FRENCH,” Macci tweeted.
Macci has also worked with Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Jennifer Capriati and Andy Roddick during his illustrious coaching career.
The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will be held from July 3 to July 16.
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