Who’s the new GOAT in tennis?
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The backstory:
- A reader asked us to look into Rafael Nadal becoming the GOAT, or Greatest of All Time.
- This GOAT status isn’t an official thing, but many use the number of major titles as the go-to metric to figure out how good a player is.
- The three currently in the debate are Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The group is otherwise known as the “Big Three," and each one has its own group of die-hard supporters.
- Djokovic was sort of known as the men’s world tennis number one, But after flying to Melbourne, Australia from Dubai to compete in the Australian Open, he was told his visa was rejected after trying to bypass an Australian entry requirement for COVID-19 and that he had to go back home.
- Roger Federer is also absent from Melbourne because of an injury.
- Up to Sunday night, all three had the same amount of most men’s single major titles.
The development:
- With Federer and Djokovic absent, Rafael Nadal made history by becoming the first man to win 21 grand slam singles titles after beating Daniil Medvedev on Sunday evening.
- But, he doesn’t seem too worried about the title, that is, if you compare it with Djokovic, who has publicly declared his goal of being the GOAT in men’s tennis.
- “I understand that ‘GOAT’ movie you are all creating, but I live my day by day, my concerns, that are different from being the GOAT,” Nadal said this month. “I’m happy with my career. I’m not desperate to be the one, to be the GOAT. If it happens, happens. My future doesn’t depend on that.”
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