[swissmaestro92]

With today's win he gets to 17 slams.

When you combine that with his masters titles and the potential for what is to come I truly believe now it is only a matter of time, Federer has the position for a little while longer but I don't think like many that he needs 20 slams to earn the right to be called GOAT. After all he did own all the slams at once at one point in 2015-2016 a great achievement and something which no one achieved since Laver. His peak is at least as great as Federer's back in 06 but instead of being the attacking all-courter he is the wall that refuses to break down. I would argue only Nadal on PC has a higher peak, Nadal's skewed reliance on Clay resume is the thing which holds him back from being the greatest to me (he could still surpass Federer eventually though who knows). Also Djokovic will soon surpass Federer's overall weeks at number one.

All this means that to me even as a Fed fan I can accept that Nole you have earned it- the title of GOAT has been secured in near future IMO.

PS: Laver is the other man who could still be the GOAT but I would not say his accomplishments are quite as great as Novak's.

 

[MINTennis]

Depends on how you look at it. Some people like me look mostly at overall stats as I think that helps with objectivity and less about being subjective. However that is not complete picture on its own either. Novak is definitely in the top most league already. I think he may have a case better than Rafa.. and eventually better than Roger too. At the same time, there are perspectives where those two also are ahead. But, when all is said and done, I think, Novak will end ahead than Roger and Rafa. Novak's no.1 weeks status is also amazing.. only next to Roger.

Laver - with his number of titles etc, is hard to beat. You can't compare generations also.. Laver was considered most complete player of his times, like Roger is considered now. In addition to that, he beat his competition very well, and calendar slams etc. You can't take tennis of today and compare to tennis those days as sport evolves. I strongly believe both Rafa and Novak will have harder time to win easy in surfaces that played like 90s - . To me, Sampras era or eras before favored more of aggressive shot making and skills - more of Federer's game than Rafa or Novak's game. So, this is where the subjective aspect of who is GOAT comes in and there is no real answer. Definitely he has been one of all time greats, and mostly will end ahead than Roger and Rafa in the records. To me, that is probably enough to define him as GOAT since 2010.

 

[TheLastJedi]

Hard Court GOAT yes.

 

[Why So Serious?]

Now? He already is years ago.

 

[Kyrginakis]

He is the greatest player ever touched a racquet if we talk about tennis technique. But greatness is not about technique only.

He has poor behaviour, people see his anger, nerves, shoutings and just can't love the guy.

And he is "boring". Doesn't have exсiting shots. His tennis is very very good, but not exсiting.

 

[Nepoznati Knez]

No he isn't.

GOATDOM is 20 at date.

17 is not 20 and he has to rush as 2020 and 2021 could be the last comprtitive years for him.

If a tie BIG TOURNAMENTS can be the breaker where he leads with 56...

 

[décentré]

It's obvious and it's disgusting and it neednt be spoken.

 

[Djokerer]

I think that those 3 are too close to each other, that they will be remembered as the big 3 and always come together in discussions even in 50 years. And even if some briliant player in 30 years from now gets to 30 slams without serious competition, he could easily be discarded with "meh, he didnt have competition like big 3 had, in their era he would have 5 slams, or someone of those 3 in his era would have 40 playing alone".

 

[Jolyon]

No, it is Rafa, bro.

If 2 grand slams were played on clay, 1 grand slam on hardcourt, and 1 grand slam on grass, Rafa would have 28 or 29 grand slams (12X2 + 5/2 + 2 = 24+2.5+2 = 28/29).

28/29 > 17

P.S. a minor numerical correction on Edit.

 

[Djokerer]

No he isn't.

GOATDOM is 20 at date.

17 is not 20 and he has to rush as 2020 and 2021 could be the last comprtitive years for him.

If a tie BIG TOURNAMENTS can be the breaker where he leads with 56...

Not to worry. Novak will be competitive for slams (bar injury) for 3 more seasons at least

 

[hammett]

HC goat is the definite answer here for me . Now if he can snatch a RG title from RAFA the we enter another territory discussion.

 

[Supercell]

It's hard to call him GOAT with Fedal around. However, the same applies to them. Achievement differences between them are smaller and smaller so term GOAT is becoming more subjective and each of them has a case for it. I don't call any of them GOAT and it'll stay this way.

 

[Nepoznati Knez]

Not to worry. Novak will be competitive for slams (bar injury) for 3 more seasons at least

I hope so.... But Next Gen is full of danger TBH and THEY will improve.

 

[NID]

I think that those 3 are too close to each other, that they will be remembered as the big 3 and always come together in discussions even in 50 years. And even if some briliant player in 30 years from now gets to 30 slams without serious competition, he could easily be discarded with "meh, he didnt have competition like big 3 had, in their era he would have 5 slams, or someone of those 3 in his era would have 40 playing alone".

Pretty much this. They'll always be Big 3, impossible to disentangle 'who is better' conundrum irrespective of their eventual slam tally.

 

[n00b]

Well for me he is since 2008., when he felt like a blessing, someone from your country playing and winning vs the greats. The rest is just an icing on a cake.

 

[Lukasgigler]

No, it is Rafa, bro.

If 2 grand slams were played on clay, 1 grand slam on hardcourt, and 1 grand slam on grass, Rafa would have 29 or 30 grand slams (12X2 + 7/2 + 2 = 24+3.5+2 = 29/30).

29/30 > 17

And if 2 slams were played in grass federer would have 30 as well. This makes absolutely no sense

 

[NaVr'BrdaVrbaMrd]

He is the greatest player ever touched a racquet if we talk about tennis technique. But greatness is not about technique only.

He has poor behaviour, people see his anger, nerves, shoutings and just can't love the guy.

And he is "boring". Doesn't have exсiting shots. His tennis is very very good, but not exсiting.

The greatest tennis player of all time isn't about whether or not you'd want him to be your friend or a husband or how "exciting" his shots are, but whether or not he is the player with the greatest overall game, grit, determination, consistency, and statistics. Those are the metrics determining the GOAT, whether you like it or not.

Sure sucks for you that you aren't capable of loving him, millions of people do.

 

[swissmaestro92]

I agree the three of them will be inseparable and rightfully so... they have defined this era of tennis and influenced generations to come, but Novak will be the one who will achieve statistically the most I believe and on all surfaces.

 

[KingOfClay]

An extremely good case can be made for him right now even with 17 slams. If he gets to Federer's slam count, then it's impossible to argue against Novak.

Both Roger and Rafa have some holes to their resumes, Novak doesn't.

 

[Roxitova]

No. At least not yet.
Everyone making slam count the measure then another premature declaration, this time for djok, at 17, when Rafa has 19 and Fed 20.
SOunds like a federista trying to make some kind of peace with Djok being better ( he is) when it is Rafa about to tie Fed (Rafa is also better, notice I did not say GOAT)