Mark Petchey says that he believes the constant debates about the greatest tennis player of all time are taking away from tennis fans the joy of simply enjoying the greatness of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The Big Three started the 2022 season tied for 20 Grand Slams each, but Nadal now holds the record of 22 Grand Slams, while Djokovic has 21 Grand Slams in his collection. Federer, who has not played this year as he is still recovering from knee surgery, is third on the list with 20 Grand Slams.
The general belief is that whoever finishes with the most Grand Slams is the one who should be considered the greatest player of all time. “I think so, and I’ve said it for a long time, that the rivalry between the fans in a way detracts a little from what we’ve seen from the players over the years.
It’s amazing to think that Novak has surpassed Roger in terms of major tournament wins,” Petchey said on The AO Show, per Sportskeeda. “I think comparison is the thief of joy, as they say, and I think comparisons that have constantly come up among everyone about who is better, who is the greatest, they have downplayed, sometimes, how great tennis players are.”
Additionally, Mark Petchey added that he believes Novak Djokovic should be given more respect for the way he entered the debate over the greatest player of all time.
Petchey opens up on Nole
Former tennis player, commentator, and coach Mark Petchey weighed in on the Wimbledon final between Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios.
“It had everything that we wanted, I think it had a pretty, to be honest, a pretty focused Nick as well, I think he came out of the blocks incredibly calm, given the fact that it’s his first major final and obviously I think you always have to remember this is the surface that he obviously feels as though he’s got the best of winning a major on, also with that comes a little pressure, because he’s not necessarily going to get that many shots at other majors,” Petchey said.
“I know Novak’s the best returner we’ve ever had but still to have the ability to not panic and wait for Nick to perhaps just start worrying if his opportunity was going away, is again a tribute to somebody like Novak, who again also had different pressures,” Petchey said.
