Novak Djokovic ‘by far’ the greatest, says Stan Wawrinka as he also picks between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Stan Wawrinka believes there is no question about who is the greatest tennis player in history, as he believes he has emphatically stated it is “Novak Djokovic by far”.

The debate over who is the tennis GOAT transcended the sport for several years with Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer headlining the conversation, but the Serbian has separated himself from his two rivals in recent years.

Having initially played second fiddle to Nadal and Federer, Djokovic has gone on to break just about every record in tennis as he has the most Grand Slams (24), spent the most weeks at No 1 (428), has won the most ATP Masters 1000 titles (40) and was the first man to win the Career Golden Masters (all nine Masters 1000 titles) to name a few of his achievements.

There are some who still feel the GOAT title is up for debate, but three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka – who won his three majors when the Big Three dominated the sport – says Djokovic has it wrapped up by a huge margin.

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During an interview with First & Red, he said: “At the end of the day, if you look at who is the best player [in history], it is Novak Djokovic by far and the fact that he is still playing, still No 3 or No 4 in the world, he is still making finals, he has shown for so many years that he has found a way to beat all the records and win everything possible in tennis.”

And although he rates Djokovic as the best, he believes Nadal was his toughest opponent, especially at the French Open.

“The most difficult opponent was Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, especially in the fifth set. His career speaks for itself. Playing him in Paris, on clay, in those conditions, was the toughest challenge in tennis for me,” the Swiss said.

Of course, with Nadal and Federer already retired and Djokovic in the final few years of his career, many are wondering if the new Big Two of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will go on to challenge the Serbian’s records.

“They are already on the road [chasing him] and trying to do it. Of course, they are at the beginning, but they are younger. I think until they get closer to him, it is tough to say,” he said.

“In tennis, if you live in the moment and you see what they are doing now, you are going to say ‘yeah for sure because they are winning everything’, but who knows what is going to happen in two, three, four, five years and what was impressive from the Big Four Novak, Rafa, Roger and Andy [Murray] was that they lasted 14, 15 to 20 years at the top of the game.”

When pressed on who has the better chance between Sinner and Alcaraz, he replied: “Alcaraz. But it’s tough to say because if you look now you are like ‘Alcaraz is injured, you don’t know when he is going to come back, it’s already like two Slams missing.

“Jannik rarely loses, but if I had to bet, I’d go with Alcaraz.”

The former world No 3 added: “They are at the top of the game, much better than the rest of the players. When they play each other it is THE match that you want to watch because they have different styles, different games and that is what makes it special.”