Before retiring in 2016, Ana Ivanovic was one of tennis biggest stars, reaching the World No. 1 in 2008, and winning 15 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2008 French Open and two WTA Finals tournaments. While she has been out of tennis for a few years, she recently weighed in on the ‘greatest of all time’ debate between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Ivanovic is backing up her compatriot, Djokovic. “Well, I must say Novak [Djokovic]. I think he is very soon reaching the biggest number of Grand Slams. I think he might do it this year, and he’s just been dominant for so long and, also staying healthy, like he says, he still has some years in front of him. So, I definitely think that in terms of achievements, it’s him,” she said, according to a video shared in 2023 by Essentially Sports on YouTube.
However, that was not the first time that she has chosen Djokovic over Federer and Nadal. Back in 2022, in an interview with Serbian TV K1, Ivanovic also said that her compatriot was the best of the three legends.
“Novak is definitely the best player in tennis history. The most fascinating thing about him is how long he is at the top of the game. Both Roger and Rafa had ups and downs but Nole always stayed at top,” she explained.
Djokovic holds the record for the most Grand Slam titles with 24, ahead of Nadal with 22 and Federer with 20. He also leads the head-to-head against Federer (27-23) and Nadal (31-29). Additionally, he has won the most Masters 1000 titles with 40, setting an all-time record.
Ana Ivanovic also praises the Williams sisters
In that same interview with Essentially Sports, Ivanovic also shared what made Serena and Venus Williams the most dominant players in the WTA Tour, from the 1990s all through the 2000s.
“Well, both of them are quite tall and have a very powerful serve,” she said. “Their serve always put a lot of pressure on the opponent right from the start of a point, which made them different.”
“You knew you had to hold your own and look for any opportunity to break them. Their serves were so strong that you could almost expect them to hit an ace every game, so it was all about trying to anticipate which side they would go for,” she added.
Ivanovic faced Serena Williams ten times, and she was able to only get one win, at the 2014 Australian Open. Meanwhile, against Venus, she got three victories in their 12 encounters during their careers.