Djokovic Became Tennis GOAT Thanks To Australian Open Saga Says Chess Legend Carlsen
Novak Djokovic is the greatest tennis player of all time, according to many, including chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.
Magnus Carlsen might be best known for his chess, but he's a keen follower of multiple sports, including tennis, where he generally favored Rafael Nadal. The Norwegian is arguably the best chess player of all time, and if not that, then certainly one of the most versatile players ever.
He's been a World Champion multiple times, so he knows a bit about being great at something. He's a keen follower of sports, including tennis, and when it comes to the yellow balls, he's always identified more with Rafael Nadal's style of play.
That's not a huge surprise because Carlsen is known as a very aggressive chess player who also doesn't mind waiting patiently for his chance, much like Nadal. Even though he favored Nadal generally, he's since come around proclaiming Novak Djokovic as the greatest tennis player of all time.
He talked about it during an appearance on the GothamChess YouTube channel, explaining that he arrived at that conclusion after the most recent Australian Open.
It was after the Australian Open thing that he became the greatest for me.
It was certainly a historic performance by Djokovic, who returned to the country after his deportation the previous year. Handling all of those emotions was always going to be pretty tough, but the Serbian handled it about as well as you can hope, lifting the 22nd Grand Slam of his career at the event.
Carlsen has followed tennis for much of his life and liked Roger Federer initially but switched over to Rafael Nadal as the years went on due to his style of play.
Probably Federer but I always identified more with the way Nadal plays.
Let's see if Djokovic adds a historic 25th at the upcoming Australian Open. He's the favourite, according to many.
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