Novak Djokovic Is A Tougher Opponent But Not The Greatest, Says Toni Nadal

The former coach of world No.2 Rafael Nadal has once again weighed in on the Greatest Of All Time debate by lending his full backing behind Roger Federer.

Toni Nadal has hailed the 20-time grand slam champion as the ‘best ever’ to play on the Tour. Federer has won 103 ATP titles so far in his career in what is the second highest tally of all time behind Jimmy Connors. He has held the No.1 spot for a record 310 weeks, which is 24 weeks longer than his nearest rival Pete Sampras (286 weeks). At the age of 38, he is currently the oldest player in the top 100.

“For me, he (Federer) is a wonderful player. I like to watch Roger Federer a lot,” Toni told Eurosport’s Players’ Cut programme.
“I know Federer is the best ever with I don’t know who; maybe Rod Laver or maybe Rafael, he’s not too far (behind). But at the moment Federer is the best.”

There are also arguments that the other two members of the prestigious Big Three deserve the title of ‘GOAT.’ Federer currently has a losing head-to-head against both Nadal and Novak Djokovic. He also only managed to reach the final in one out of his last seven grand slam tournaments. Although he still hails the record for most major titles of 20. One ahead of Nadal and three ahead of Djokovic.

Despite Toni’s praise for the Swiss maestro, he says that it is actually Djokovic who is a tougher opponent for his nephew Nadal to play. The two have clashed on the tour 55 times with the Serbian winning 29 of their meetings. Djokovic enjoyed a perfect start to the season by winning three titles and 18 matches in a row before the Tour was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For us it was always more difficult to play against Djokovic,” Toni said.
“Because it’s not about who of them is better. For us, when we play against Federer, we have a way to beat him. In my mind, before going on court, I know what we have to do.
“When we play against Djokovic, many times we didn’t know exactly what we had to do. This is more difficult, for me. I prefer to play against Federer.”

Djokovic, who has won more prize money than any other player in history, leads Nadal by 370-point in the ATP rankings. He is also the only member of the Big Three to have a winning record against both of the other two players.

Uncle Toni stepped down from coaching Nadal back in 2018 after introducing him to tennis as a child. The Spaniard is now mentored on the Tour by Carlos Moya and Francisco Roig.

The Big Three head-to-head