Rafael Nadal’s latest triumph at the French Open has once against reignited a debate that he has been involved in throughout most of his career.
The world No.2 produced a clinical performance during his straight sets win over Novak Djokovic to win a record-equalling 20th major title along with Roger Federer. Who is five years older than the Spaniard. Nadal is the first player – male or female – to have won the same major 13 times and now has 999 wins on the ATP Tour. His latest achieved has been hailed by many, including Federer himself who paid tribute in a social media post.
“I have always had the utmost respect for my friend Rafa as a person and as a champion. As my greatest rival over many years, I believe we have pushed each other to become better players,” Federer wrote on Twitter. “Therefore, it is a true honour for me to congratulate him on his 20th Grand Slam victory.”
“It is especially amazing that he has now won Roland Garros an incredible 13 times, which is one of the greatest achievements in sport,” he added.
Unlike Nadal, Federer is going through a dry spell when it comes to claiming Grand Slam trophies with his last triumph occurring at the 2018 Australian Open. Since then he has only reached one final at Wimbledon last year where he lost to Djokovic who is the other member of the illustrious Big Three.
“Thanks Roger for the words,” Nadal commented during his press conference.“I think, as everybody knows, we have a very good relationship. We respect each other a lot.’
“At the same time in some way I think he’s happy when I’m winning and I’m happy when he’s doing the things well.”
The question pundits are now asking is if Nadal can go on to become the GOAT of the sport. For years a debate has surrounded the Big Three with arguments for each of them to be given the honour. Federer still holds the record for most weeks at world No.1 but Djokovic is on course to break that next year. The Swiss has also won more ATP titles than the other two but he is the oldest. Meanwhile, Nadal has won more titles on the clay than anybody in ATP history which is underscored by his French Open dominance in recent years. Finally, Djokovic is the youngest of the trio and is the only one to have a winning head-to-head record against the other two.
To an extent the GOAT debate is somewhat subjective and can be interpreted by how a person defines greatness. But what does Nadal think?
“I always say the same, that I would love to finish my career being the player with the most Grand Slams. No doubt about that,” he said.
“On the other hand, I have to do it my way during all of my career and it worked well. I’m not going to be thinking all the time Novak has this one, Roger is winning the other one. You can’t be always unhappy because your neighbour has a bigger house than you or a bigger boat or has a better phone. You have to live your personal life.”
For Nadal, he believes history will be the ultimate judge as he vowed to enjoy living in the moment and not get too distracted by chasing records. Although he does already have a few to his name, including winning more Grand Slams (six) after their 30th birthday than any other male player.
“Let’s see what’s going on when we finish our careers. I don’t know what can happen in the future. I am just excited. At the same time sharing this (Grand Slam) record between us, that we had an amazing rivalry for such a long time, is something in some way beautiful I believe.”
It is unclear as to if Nadal will return to the Tour again this season despite qualifying for the ATP Finals. Questioned about his plans in the coming months, he say he will discuss options with his team in the coming days.
