1992 Olympic gold medalist Marc Rosset gave his thoughts on the divisive debate about who the greatest player of all time is between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.
The tennis world was blessed to witness the incredible era when those three players dominated the sport. Fans have passionately argued about why each player should be considered the greatest ever.
Djokovic, who is currently behind Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the rankings race, has the most Grand Slam titles and weeks at world No. 1. His supporters believe those statistics mean he has to be considered the best men's player ever.
Nadal's fans point to his extraordinary dominance at the French Open, where he has won a staggering 14 titles. That incredible grip of one of the Grand Slams is the best indicator of greatness to some.
Those who believe Federer is the greatest often argue it is due to his overall impact on the sport. The Swiss maestro nearly always drew the biggest crowds and played a style of tennis that was one of the most attractive the sport has ever seen.
Interestingly, a former No. 1 recently compared Alcaraz to all three champions. He said Alcaraz was like a combination of all three players in the same body, with the difference being the smile that the 21-year-old plays with.
Rosset gave his perspective on the debate in a recent interview with Tennis Magazin. The former gold medalist says what defines greatness is subjective. Statistics matter the most to some, while broader factors are more important to others.
"It depends on what is most important to you. If it is the number of Grand Slams, Nadal and Djokovic are the best. If it is the player with the most influence on the sport, for me it is Roger."
Interestingly, the former Swiss player compared his legendary compatriot's influence on tennis to Michael Jordan's influence on basketball, which extended well beyond records and their achievements on the court.
"A lot of what the sport is like now, for example the high attention and the prize money, we owe to him. In basketball there is also the distinction between the time before and after Michael Jordan."
However, Rosset also acknowledged that the debate around the greatest player of all time is tainted with bias since fans of each player are more likely to make a case for why their favourite is the best.
"The people who love Federer say it is Federer, the people who are crazy about Novak say it is Novak. The people who like Nadal say he won everything."
Another interesting part of the interview was when Rosset discussed the only achievement missing from Federer's career: an Olympic gold medal in singles. Rosset said he wishes Federer had won it in 2012 when the event was held at Wimbledon.
"Seriously, it was a shame he couldn't win the Olympics. I would have liked him to win the 2012 Olympics in London. It would have been 20 years after my success and it would have been something very nice to share that with him. I'm really not the type of person who says he wants to be the only one to have won gold."
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