Novak Djokovic ‘the greatest athlete of any sport in history’, says former world No 2
Novak Djokovic has been described as “the greatest athlete that ever lived”. Not just in tennis, but in “any sport in history”.
That is the “hot take” of former world No 2 Casper Ruud as he believes Djokovic would outperform the NFL legend Tom Brady and NBA great LeBron James in most physical tests.
Djokovic has dominated tennis for the best part of two decades as he first played second fiddle to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but he eventually turned the Big Two into the Big Three and later he surpassed both with many declaring him the tennis GOAT (greatest of all time).
The Serbian went on to set the record for most Grand Slam titles won by a man as he won a record-extending 24th title when he lifted the 2023 US Open, with Nadal finishing his career on 22 while Federer had 20 when he retired in 2022.
Djokovic also spent a record 428 weeks at No 1 in the ATP Rankings with Federer a distant second on 310 with Nadal on 209.
Last year, he became the fifth tennis player and third man to complete the Career Golden Slam after winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics to go with his Career Grand Slam (winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open).
Although he turned 38 in May, Djokovic remains among the best players with his incredible athleticism one of his key features and he has made it clear that he has no intention to retire any time soon, even indicating that he plans to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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Ruud is all too familiar with Djokovic’s strengths as the Serbian leads their head-to-head 5-1 with one of those wins coming in the 2023 French Open final.
During an interview with Overtime Tennis, the Norwegian was asked for his “hot take” and gave the following response: “Novak is the greatest athlete of any sport in history, yeah, in the history of sports.
“I don’t want to compare because it’s stupid, but if you take Novak’s athleticism next to Brady, Brady’s the GOAT don’t get me wrong, but I think Novak would crush him in most of the physical tests that you can do.
“And then again LeBron would maybe crush Novak in certain physical, so I don’t know, but for me Novak is the greatest athlete that ever lived.”
Both Brady and James are also known for their longevity as the former played in the National Football League for 23 seasons and only retired at the age of 45 in 2022, winning seven Super Bowl titles.
James is still going strong at the age of 40, winning four NBA titles and three Olympic gold medals.
