If there’s a sport in which the ‘Greatest of All Time’ debate can continue indefinitely, it is tennis. From Rod Laver to Steffi Graf, many men and women have achieved success worthy of the title. However, over the past 20 years, three names have dominated the conversation: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal.
In recent years, especially as Djokovic closed the gap in the Grand Slam race and eventually surpassed it, many legends of the sport have given their opinion on the matter. For example, 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg, who also distinguished between the greatest ever and his favorite player.
In that sense, former World No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander had also one of the best responses to the debate. Speaking with Eurosport in 2023, he was quite clear on who the best of all time was.
“I hate the expression ‘GOAT.’ I would have liked to call it the boat race. The best of all time is Novak Djokovic, but when you start saying great, I think more things come into it than just the sport itself,” Wilander said. “But the best of all time? We have him in front of us and it’s Novak Djokovic.”
Novak Djokovic celebrates a point during the 2025 Australian Open (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Certainly, when it comes to numbers, Djokovic comes atop of Federer and Nadal. The Serbian is not only the man with most Grand Slams in the Open Era (24), he also won the singles Olympic gold medal (something Federer couldn’t achieve), and has won seven ATP Finals titles (one more than Federer, while Nadal could never win it).
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Wilander’s common record with Djokovic and Nadal
The Swedish tennis player caught the attention of the sports world when he won the 1982 French Open at the age of 17, the first of his seven major titles. He conquered Roland Garros three times, Australian Open three times and one US Open.
While he never won Wimbledon, he won the AusOpen when it was played on grass, making him one of the only seven men to have won major single titles in all surfaces. In 1988, after he won three majors, he ended the year ranked as World No. 1.
Mats Wilander competes in the Men’s Singles of the 1983 French Open. (Photo by Steve Powell/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, he shares a remarkable achievement with both Djokovic and Nadal: they are the only men to have won at least two major singles titles on each of the three surfaces. Federer only won a French Open (on clay) in 2009.
Djokovic’s impressive achievements in tennis
While the 27-year-old Serbian already broke some of Federer’s and Nadal’s records, as he remains active, he can still surpass some of them. For example, if he wins another Wimbledon title this year, he would tie Federer as the man with the most Championships (8). On the other hand, here are some of his all-time achievements:
- Most Big Titles won (72)
- Most Grand Slam titles (24)
- Most ATP Masters titles (40)
- Most Year-end Championship titles (7)
- Most weeks ranked as world No. 1 (428)
- Most weeks ranked in top 2 (599)
- Most weeks ranked in top 3 (756)
- Most different years ranked as No. 1 (13)
- Most ranking points as No. 1 (16,950)
- Most year-end No. 1 finishes (8)
- Most victories over top-10 players (259)
