Whilst not a massive Djokovic fan as such, I'm glad he's now moved clear of the question marked Nadal on to 23 Grand Slam wins.
Realistically, he should be three clear and on 24 with Nadal back on 21 but for the farce in Australia last year. But regardless, at least with the win, there's not even a tiny question mark of whether Nadal had a claim.
Current standings:-
Djokovic 23
Nadal 22
Federer 20
Sampras 14
Rudd had a little fight in him but Djokovic is just way too strong. I'm happy Djokovic is now the GOAT, he's my favorite player for many reasons, he's simply a perfectionist and a badass on the court.
shareNadal has just announced his retirement at the end of the season:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/ckgv9n5jj8jo
The Djok has since moved on to 24 grand slams, additionally winning last year's US Open.
So two clear and without Australia's COVID nonsense, more than likely would have been four clear.
But nevertheless confirmed as the tennis goat, much like his counterpart Jack Nicklaus (not to be confused with the actor Jack Nicholson) is in the golf...
Mens goat, sure.
Tied for the overall goat with Margaret Court.
One more to pull away as undisputed best of all time.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't need to surpass Court to be regarded that.
Even disregarding silly female sports arguements, weren't a lot of Courts victories in the Australian back when a lot of players didn't even bother with it?
People could say Rafa's record isn't good because he mainly won the French Open. Not me.
I'm just going by the numbers. 1 more and Djok is the goat.
I'm happy to hear you do not discount Rafa's Slam total since the French Open was his most dominant Slam.
Same as Federer's was Wimbledon.
Same as Djokovich's was (is) the Australian.
People blithely ignore that Federer only won 1 French Open (when he didn't have to play Nadal) and don't hold it against him. Just as they ignore to call Nadal "only a clay court specialist" implies that Federer is only a "fast court specialist."
Nadal total Slam wins on fast courts: 8
Federer's total Slam wins on clay: 1
Anyway, this is a Djokovic message board and I have no problem proclaiming him the GOAT -- if I believed in such things.
I think GOAT discussions are for fan boys who've attached their ego to someone for some reason. But to each his/her own.
I like Djokovic. And Nadal. And predicted they'd both pass Federer back when Federer had 20 Slams, Nadal 16 and Djokovic 12 if memory serves. In fact, I predicted at that time: Federer would never win another Slam (right on that one), that Nadal would end up with 21/22 Slams, and Djokovic 23/24. Not too bad for an amateur guesser.
Now if the Joker hits 25 my guesses finally ran their limit.
Personally, I wish he'd have won the U.S. Open in the year he could have clinched a Grand Slam. That would have been something to see.