Former Wimbledon champion and Djokovic's ex-coach weighs in on the greatest of all time debate

Goran Ivanisevic, former World No. 2 and 2001 Wimbledon champion, was a key part for Novak Djokovic’s astounding success from 2019 to 2024, helping the Serbian win nine major titles. So, it’s not surprising that the Croatian considers his pupil as the greatest player of all time, even before he became the man with the most Grand Slams (24).

In 2021, after Djokovic defeated Matteo Berrettini in the Wimbledon final to clinch his seventh title in London, Ivanisevic said that the Serbian ended the GOAT debate. “For me [the debate] was over a long time ago. It’s just who you like more. Between these three guys, 60 Grand Slams. It’s unreal,” he expressed, according to The I Paper.

“Maybe you like Nadal, Federer more, maybe somebody else. For me, not because I’m here, before I was a member of the team, for me he was the best. I say he’s the only guy who can win four in a row in the same year. I don’t know. If he wins US Open, I think it’s over,” he added.

In 2021, Djokovic was in an impressive run, having won the Australian Open and the French Open. With his Wimbledon victory, he was close to becoming the second man to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam in the Open Era, after Rod Laver did it in 1969 (He also did it in 1962). However, in the US Open, Daniil Medvedev defeated him in the final, putting an end to his dream.

Djokovic and Ivanisevic during 2022 Wimbledon practice (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Ivanisevic, however, acknowledged that Nadal would want to win more. “Nadal is going to come to the French [Open] next year. He wants to win more. But for me Novak is the biggest ever, he’s gonna be the best, he’s the biggest. I don’t even have to debate about that,” he added.

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He was World No. 3, defeated Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, but burned out from tennis

Ivanisevic’s incredible feat at Wimbledon

The Croatian, who parted ways with Djokovic in June 2024, is a Tennis Hall of Famer, while also being the only player to win a Wimbledon singles title as a wild card, achieving the feat while ranked world No. 125.

He had previously been runner-up at Wimbledon in 1992, 1994, and 1998. Known for his powerful serve, he held for almost two decades the record for most aces at Wimbledon with 1,377 (before Roger Federer broke it in 2019).