Spanish Marca: The debate is over, Novak is the GOAT

Spanish Marca: The debate is over, Novak is the GOAT

The debate is over, Novak Djokovic is the greatest of all time, says the Spanish sports newspaper "Marca" after the Serb celebrated at the US Open and won the 24th Grand Slam.

The Serbian now has two more important trophies than Rafael Nadal and four more than Roger Federer, so his dominance was recognized by the media from the country where Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz come from.

In the author's text "Marca" then lists the reasons that unquestionably put Djokovic on a pedestal and award him the title of the greatest tennis player of all time.

The first and most obvious proof is that he has won the most Grand Slam titles. Then it is pointed out that Djokovic won three Grand Slams in one season for the fourth time in his career, which no one has ever done.

It is then added that Djokovic has just started the 390th week at the head of the ATP list and that in March 2021 he overtook Federer, who has 310 weeks at the head.

Of particular note is the record-breaking 2015 year, which Djokovic ended with a record-breaking 16,785 points.

In that year 2015, the Serb won three Grand Slams - Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open and as many as seven Masters from the 1000 series, as well as the final Masters.

When the Masters are mentioned, it should be noted that Djokovic has as many as 39, three more than Nadal. In addition, the Serb is the only tennis player who has won at least once each of the nine Masters tournaments from the 1000 series, and not only that, but he won each at least twice.

It is also added that Djokovic won as many as 12, i.e. half of the cups at the Grand Slam tournaments, clinched after 30 years of age, and that at 36 years and three months he became the oldest winner of the US Open in history.

We must not forget the fact that the native of Belgrade won six final Masters, equaling Federer in that in particular, it is added that Djokovic is better than his two biggest rivals in the head-to-head score. He has a score of 30:29 against Nadal, and 27:23 against Federer.

Another data that confirms that the Serb is the greatest of all time is the percentage of success on the ATP Tour. Djokovic has won 1,076 out of 1,287 matches, a success rate of 83.6 percent. Nadal is at 82.9 percent, with 1,068 wins in 1,288 matches.

When it comes to the total number of titles, Djokovic is the most successful among active tennis players, as he has 96. Nadal has 92. Only Federer with 102 and Jimmy Connors with 109 are ahead of the US Open champion.

Finally, it should be noted that Djokovic played as many as 36 Grand Slam finals on Sunday night, Federer has 31 in his record, and Nadal 30.