Tim Henman recalls his honest opinion on Djokovic, Nadal and Federer when they were young
British tennis great Tim Henman has identified the most complete player he ever faced and also recalled his early impressions of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Henman, who played professionally between 1993 and 2007, reached a career-high ranking of world No 4, won 11 ATP singles titles and was a six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist.
The former British No 1 played each of the Big Three during his time on tour, with Federer by far his most frequent opponent among the future legends.
Henman holds a 6-7 record against Federer, having won six of their first seven encounters before losing the last six as the Swiss icon entered his prime.
The Brit’s victories came between 1999 and early 2004, while Federer’s six straight wins were spread across 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Henman lost both of his matches with Nadal and his only meeting with Djokovic — all of which came in 2006.
From Federer’s first Grand Slam triumph at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships to Djokovic’s most recent at the 2023 US Open, the legendary trio won 66 of the 81 majors held during an unparalleled spell of dominance.
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Henman explained that Federer was the toughest of the Big Three for him to play and also revealed his assessment of the trio’s Grand Slam hopes when he first played them.
“I played Federer the most and I felt that he had the most complete game, he could play on any surface, had very few weaknesses and there wasn’t a specific area that you could necessarily attack,” he told talkSPORT.
“I only played Djokovic once when he was young — I think sort of 18, 19 — and his game was developing then, he didn’t serve quite so well, but it’s been incredible to watch how their games have developed over the years.
“If you’d have said to me back then when I played them all for the first time, can they win a Slam? I would have said yeah, I think they can win a Slam or maybe two.
“But I certainly didn’t think they were going to go on and win 69 between them.
“For me, Federer was the most complete player that I ever played against.”
In the same interview, Henman gave his backing to Djokovic as he addressed the debate over who is the greatest male player ever.
“For me, it’s fairly straightforward that Djokovic is the greatest male player of all time,” the Brit said.
“How do you judge that? I think it does become a numbers game, it’s who has won the most Grand Slams, who has had the most weeks at number one, who has won the most Masters 1000 – and it’s Djokovic.”
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