Goran Ivanisevic believes Rafael Nadal’s Roland Garros title haul and Novak Djokovic’s week’s spent as World No. 1 are the two tennis records that are practically impossible to be broken.
The Croat also said that the his former charge Djokovic does not receive the recognition he deserves because of his Serbian origin as he declared 24-time Grand Slam champion greatest in terms of everything.
Djokovic’s greatest rival Nadal has reached a slam count of 22 which is two more than Roger Federer while two short to match his Serb nemesis. However, he has won the Roland Garros a mindboggling 14-times, an all-time record for the most titles at a single Slam. The 37-year-old holds a staggering 112-3 record at French Open where he clinched his first title in 2005 and most recently in 2022.
Djokovic is the only other male player to hit the double figures in Majors by securing 10 Australian Open titles, an all-time record. Currently the world No. 1, Djokovic maintains biggest tally of weeks as the ATP #1, having topped the ATP ranks for an astonishing 419 weeks to the date. Roger Federer sits second on the list with 310 weeks.
Ivanisevic giving an interview to the Sport Klub discussed the strength of the era decorated by Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
“Novak and Rafa are rivals and marked an era, along with Roger. Of course, there was also Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, plus a few others. But Roger left early and Rafa got hurt badly. It is stupid to blame Rafa for anything, because Rafa is Rafa,” said the 2001 Wimbledon Champion.
“I think there are two records in tennis that, in my opinion, are practically impossible to beat. The first are Rafa’s 14 titles at Roland Garros and the second are Novak’s weeks at the top of the ranking.”
The Croatian also highlighted that his former pupil is not treated fairly by some in tennis fraternity, while declaring he rated the 36-year-old as the GOAT even before he started working with him.
“It all has to do with where you come from, no one will convince me otherwise. If he were English they would have already built another palace for him next to Buckingham,” the former World No. 2 asserted.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, but here the feeling is that you have to hit three times better than others to finally be recognized. It’s nonsense, but they will always find something absurd, something they didn’t do that day or another.
“Before numbers were important, now they are no longer important. For me, he is the greatest, in terms of numbers and in terms of everything, of course also in tennis.
“If we look at the Big Three, each one has their own energy, but for me Novak has been the greatest, I thought so even before becoming his coach.”
Djokovic and Ivanisevic announced the slip of their successful partnership last month, with the Serbian claiming the Balkan duo had “exhausted” their collaboration.