Former ATP player Younes El Aynaoui deems Rafael Nadal the "greatest of all time" as opposed to Novak Djokovic, which is an interesting claim.
The GOAT debate will never go away unless Djokovic builds such a compelling case that you can't deny that he's the one. Some think he's there, and some think he'll get there, but for former world no. 14, Younes El Aynaoui, he'll never be there.
The Moroccan player was once a very good tennis player. He was a bit of a late bloomer, getting to his career-high ranking of 14 at the age of 32 back in 2003. The same year, El Aynaoui played one of the most iconic matches at the Australian Open.
It was a match against Andy Roddick that lasted 4 hours and 59 minutes, with the final set score being 21-19. Roddick won that match but will forever remembered as just one of those matches. So he knows tennis; it's not just some random person making some claims even though many might disagree with them.
He spoke to Punto De Break about the GOAT debate picking Nadal ahead of Djokovic according to his own standards, which include more than just stats and numbers.
For me it's not all about tennis and numbers, you also have to look at how the person is and how they manage defeats. In that sense, Nadal is number one, we never saw him do anything strange on the court, and I don't say it because he is Spanish.
He never broke a racket, nor did we see him complain about anything or throw/tank a match, he has always shown a good attitude, he is an example for everyone who plays tennis. We will probably never see players like Federer or Nadal again. There is something else beyond the numbers, that is seen in the difficult moments of life, in how one behaves.
It's not the first time somebody has used this sort of narrative when talking about the GOAT debate, and it does have some merit; however, it's really the tennis part of it. That happens on the court and is reflected mostly in stats and numbers, but all opinions are valid.
When you win it's very easy, everyone is with you, but the real champion is seen in defeat. Rafa and Roger have always accepted the defeats better than Djokovic, maybe that is why he has won more than them. But not everything is about the on-court numbers, above that is the person themselves.
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