Djokovic Could Make it Meaningless

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday June 26, 2023

Ivan Ljubicic, former Top 10 player and longtime coach of Roger Federer, believes that it’s to each their own when it comes to the GOAT of tennis.

Ljubicic says that the term implies ‘subjectivity” and requires more than a simple statistical tally.

“I feel that Novak is the most successful already, but the word ‘greatest’ implies subjectivity and personal preference,” Ljubicic told Sasa Osmo of Sportklub. “I think that’s good, to be honest – everybody has a preferred GOAT and let the discussion begin.”

“I feel that Novak is the most successful already, but the word ‘greatest’ implies subjectivity and personal preference” 🐐https://t.co/noaHuyQ38I

— Tennis Majors (@Tennis_Majors) June 26, 2023

Ljubicic compared tennis to other sports and asked if there is a definitive GOAT in basketball and football.

“If we look at other sports, for example: is there a (definitive) GOAT in football? In basketball everybody agrees that it’s Michael Jordan, but he’s not the one with the most trophies. It’s someone that most influenced you personally: for a third of the world it’s Federer, for the other third of the world it’s Nadal and for the final third it’s Novak,” he said.

With all that said, Ljubicic still adds that the GOAT debate may soon become meaningless. If Djokovic wins three or four more Slams, it may not even be a discussion worth having anymore.

“If Novak wins a few more Slams – which seems likely at this point – then the debate becomes meaningless,” he said. “If Novak ends up having five to ten more than the others, we won’t have conversations like this any more.”