Former World No.4 and Wimbledon champion names the greatest player among Nadal, Djokovic and Federer

Richard Krajicek shocked the tennis world with his unexpected Wimbledon triumph in 1996, defeating the great Pete Sampras along the way. Nearly three decades later, the former World No. 4—now a key figure in tennis as an ATP tournament organizer—continues to make waves with his bold insights into the sport, including his opinion on the heated debate between Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

In a 2024 interview with beIN SPORTS, Krajicek, who serves as a partner for the ATP 500 Rotterdam tournament, firmly placed Djokovic above Nadal and Federer, citing the Serbian’s remarkable achievements and statistical dominance.

“For me, he’s (Djokovic) the greatest player of all time,” Krajicek declared. “He’s won every Grand Slam at least three times. He’s captured 24 Grand Slam titles and even managed to hold all four Grand Slams in a row before. Those are unbelievable stats”.

He elaborated, “He’s been ranked World No. 1 for over 400 weeks, with Federer trailing at around 310 weeks. Federer and Nadal are incredible players, but Djokovic is just a notch above them”.

Richard Krajicek of Holland holds the trophy after his victory in the Men’s Singles event at Wimbledon in London. (IMAGO / Action Plus)

Krajicek’s journey to Wimbledon glory

Krajicek’s Wimbledon victory in 1996 remains one of the sport’s most memorable upsets. To prepare for the tournament, he adopted an unconventional training approach inspired by Andre Agassi, who famously practiced on hard courts before his 1992 Wimbledon victory. “I trained on hard courts for about 20 minutes a day, and I started to feel really confident with the ball,” Krajicek revealed.

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His Wimbledon campaign began with a commanding win over Spain’s Javier Sánchez Vicario, followed by impressive victories against Australia’s Brett Steven and Germany’s Michael Stich. The defining moment came in the quarterfinals, where Krajicek stunned the world by defeating Pete Sampras in straight sets, ending the American’s dominance on grass. Then, he advanced over the Australian Jason Stoltenberg and in the final he won without major problems against the American MaliVai Washington.

At just 25, Krajicek’s triumph seemed like the start of a prolific Grand Slam career. However, injuries would limit his success. While he claimed 14 additional titles, his Wimbledon win remained his sole Grand Slam trophy. Persistent elbow issues forced him to retire in 2003 at age 32.

“My arm starts hurting after just a few serves, and you have to be realistic,” Krajicek said at the time. “That’s why I’ve decided to stop. I achieved more and climbed higher in the rankings than I ever dreamed as a kid”.