Former Australian doubles No. 1 Paul McNamee has blasted comparisons of Novak Djokovic's records to those of Margaret Court, rendering the debate as "pointless and demeaning" to women's sports.
Djokovic, 37, is regarded statistically as the greatest tennis player of all time, winning a joint-record 24 Grand Slams in singles. He has held the men's World No. 1 ranking for a record 427 weeks, which is the equivalent of eight full years.
The Serbian has dominated men's tennis for most of the last decade and has accumulated more weeks in that position than any other player in history.
At last year's French Open, Djokovic won a 23rd major, breaking a two-man tie with longtime rival Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slams among ATP players.
And at the US Open, Djokovic tied Margaret Court, the former Australian legend who won 24 major titles on the women's circuit. The debate on who the tennis GOAT is has been laid to rest in recent years thanks to the 37-year-old's rise to the mountaintop in terms of accomplishments.
But some onlookers have been keen to rekindle the conversation ever since Djokovic fell short of winning the 2024 Australian Open, which would have taken his tally past Court and have the all-time Grand Slam record by himself.
A recent tweet by a journalist on X suggested that US broadcaster Tennis Channel was running the narrative that Djokovic was "chasing" the retired WTA player's record at this year's Roland Garros, to which Paul McNamee termed the comparisons as a means of degrading and disrespecting women's tennis.
"Tennis Channel tells us that #Djokovic is chasing Margaret Court's record for the most slams ever "by a human". Does anybody know if @DjokerNole thinks that he is chasing Court's record? Or is this a @TennisChannel creation @RolandGarros?"
McNamee believes that Djokovic has already achieved what he set out to do and is not in the slightest bothered by the assumption that he should be chasing Margaret Court. With 24 Grand Slams to his name, no man has won the equivalent or more majors than the Serbian.
"If there’s one thing Djokovic is not doing, it’s chasing Margaret Court. He’s made history in his own domain, which is men’s tennis right? Such comparisons are pointless, and demeaning to all women’s records in all sports tbh."
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