Rafael Nadal winning his record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Sunday has once again given rise to the GOAT (Great Of All Time) debate in the sport. Swiss great Roger Federer and Serbian ace Novak Djokovic were locked alongside Nadal on 20 Slams titles each before the Spaniard went a step ahead when he beat Russian Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller in Melbourne on Sunday.
India’s tennis champ Yuki Bhambri, however, refused to be drawn into the debate of who is the greatest tennis player from the trio. “Will that question keep changing if Djoko wins 22 Slams,” was Bhambri’s reply when asked if Nadal was the GOAT at a virtual media interaction following his first-round win at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune on Monday. “All three [Nadal, Djokovic and Federer] are the greatest. I believe there is room for all three of them and in my book, all three have really dominated tennis in their own era and at their own pace,” said Bhambri, who registered an impressive, come-from-behind 6-7, 6-2, 7-5 win over Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik at the Balewadi Stadium.
“I don’t think we need to choose when we can have three really great tennis players in the same era. So, for me, all three are the same,” added Bhambri, 29, a former junior World No.1, who made a comeback into the international circuit recently after a two-year break due to injury.
