Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev says he has high regard for every member of the Big Three and believes one shouldn’t be ranked above another given their achievements in the sport.
The trio consists of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Between them, they have won 57 Grand Slam titles and spent more than 800 weeks occupying the world No.1 position. Medvedev currently has a win-loss record of 4-10 against the Big Three but has beaten Djokovic on three occasions, as well as Nadal once. He has lost all three of his meetings against Federer.
Although when it comes down to the greatest of all time (GOAT) debate Medvedev argues that one player shouldn’t be singled out due to what they have each managed to achieve. Nadal has won the French Open more times than anybody in history, Djokovic has earned the most prize money and Federer is the most decorated Wimbledon men’s champion.
“No matter how much Grand Slams, how many Grand Slams they all have at the end of their career, what they did in tennis is amazing,” Medvedev said following his fourth round win at the Australian Open on Monday.
“I remember when Sampras beat the record of the Grand Slams, I was really young. I remember all the news, sports news, saying, This record is forever. Just like Messi and Ronaldo in football. Then the three guys came, they just not beat the record, they destroyed the record.”
Highlighting the accomplishments of his peers, the Russian went on to compare their successes to his own. Medvedev has won nine ATP titles and reached the final of the 2019 US Open. He is currently ranked fourth in the world.
“I feel like I’m one of the top players in the world. I have zero slams. Imagine for me to get to 20, I need to win five years in a row every slam,” he said.
“Five years in a row, I need to win every slam against amazing opponents, five-set matches, not be injured. That’s ridiculous numbers. For me, they’re the three for sure greatest players in the history of tennis.”
Medvedev is chasing after his own piece of history at Melbourne Park this year as he seeks to become the first Russian man to win the Australian Open since Marat Safin in 2005. During his latest clash, he swept aside Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
The reward for victory over McDonald is a showdown with close friend and compatriot Andrey Rublev who is through after Casper Rudd retired injured during their match. The 24-year-old leads their head-to-head 3-0 and is yet to drop a set against him on the Tour.
“We’re going to try to win, it doesn’t matter,” Medvedev replied when asked if his friendship with Rublev could be a factor. “If you can win 0-0-0, you’re going to make it. You’re not going to give two games at the end to say, He’s my close friend, I’m going to give him two games. If you have to win 7-6 in the fifth, you’re going to try to make it. Same for him.’
“Unless there’s a huge fight during the match, which I doubt, one of us is going to say congrats to the other one. We’ll be disappointed with the result, but we’ll move on and have many more matches to come.”
This year is the first time Medvedev has reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
