Despite the world of tennis being halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Novak Djokovic is still being recognized for his contribution to the sport.
A public poll conducted by Eurosport has named the world No.1 the greatest men’s champion in the Open Era (since 1969). The findings follow a series of polls conducted by the television network which ask their viewers to vote between two names in a knock-out format. In Djokovic’s quarter he received more votes than both Rod Laver and Rafael Nadal.
Then in the final Djokovic took ‘the lion’s share’ of votes when going head-to-head with Roger Federer. Eurosport said a total of 900,289 votes were cast and Djokovic’s one-sided triumph over the Swiss in the final round equated to ‘6-0, 6-1’ in tennis terms. However, the organisation hasn’t provided a full breakdown of votes for every round.
Compared with his Big Three rivals, Djokovic still trails them in terms of Grand Slam and ATP titles won so far in their careers. However, he is the youngest of the trio and is the only member to have a winning head-to-head record against the other two. He leads Nadal 29-26 and Federer 27-23. During a recent interview with Ubitennis.net Pat Cash said he believes Djokovic is the best player out of the three based on his winning record.
“Who is the best player of the lot? It’s Djokovic. It’s clear. This guy is a freak. They had a big head start and he has caught up with them. It’s just hard to go past the reality of head-to-head wins,” Cash told ubitennis.net.
“I know everybody says Federer is the greatest player of all time, but he’s not even the second greatest in his own era.
“That’s hard to believe. If you are the best of all time, you should at least have a head-to-head record against your number one rival or number two rival.
“Surely, that would be the very first factor, I would say.”
Djokovic started 2020 by winning 18 matches in a row before the Tour was suspended. He has already won titles at the ATP Cup, Australian Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. Earning more than $4 million in prize money for those triumphs alone.
The poll breakdown
QUARTER-FINALS
Nadal def McEnroe
Federer def Becker
Djokovic def Laver
Sampras def Borg
SEMI-FINALS
Federer def Sampras
Djokovic def Nadal
FINAL
Djokovic def Federer
