“For the Whole Sport in General”: Nick Kyrgios Explains Why Roger Federer is Ahead of Novak Djokovic in the GOAT Debate

World No.1 Novak Djokovic lifted his 20th Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon Championships 2021. He is now tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam tally and thus, this has once again ignited the hot debate that who is the greatest player of all time.

In a recent group discussion on Racquet, there was a point when the interviewer asked who is the G.O.A.T in tennis. Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios was the first to react and highlighted that it is Roger Federer for him.

“Roger!” exclaimed Kyrgios. However, he was interrupted in between by former World No.7 Mardy Fish. “But Novak could end up with like 25,” said Fish.

Fish was clearly in support of Novak Djokovic as he feels that if the Serbian manages to end his career with more majors, he should be the G.O.A.T and not Federer. Interestingly, 12-time Grand Slam champion, Billie Jean King, was also a part of the discussion and put forward her opinion.

“You guys, Nadal and Federer took each other’s titles. Same with Chris and Martina. When you have Nadal and Federer playing against each other, it cuts out how many they could have won,” explained Jean King.

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Nick Kyrgios reveals why Roger Federer will always be ahead of Novak Djokovic

Kyrgios admitted that Djokovic will have better numbers than Federer by the time he will end his career. However, he believes that stats are not the only criteria to decide the greatest player of all time. He emphasized that Nole will never be able to match Federer in terms of his impact and the fanbase that he has and thus, Federer is ahead of Djokovic for him.

“Okay, stats, you can’t surpass Novak, obviously. But, I think for the fanbase, for fans, for the whole sport in general, I think Federer,” added the Australian.

Roger Federer is currently not playing at the US Open 2021 and will undergo a knee surgery soon. Fans expect him to recover and return to the court as soon as possible. Will he able to win yet another Grand Slam title before taking retirement?

Also Read: Roger Federer Becomes First Tennis Billionaire, Earns More Than Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic Combined