Ivan Ljubicic, former world no.3 and the former coach of the retired Swiss superstar Roger Federer  has echoed Federer’s statement that Djokovic is still not the definitive GOAT despite winning the French Open and creating a record of 23 Grand Slam titles. This, he says, is largely because GOAT is something that is subjective and is because of personal preference. Both Federer and his former coach are still hesitant to acknowledge that Djokovic is the GOAT in tennis history.

Although Ljubicic called Djokovic as the most successful player in history, he had reservations if he was the ‘Greatest’ as he said that everyone has a preferred GOAT and it is not something objective to be based upon. However, he also went on to say, no one will talk about who the GOAT is if Djokovic wins at least 3 more slams, which seems very likely. It will become crystal clear that he will be the GOAT if such a scenario were to take place.

GOAT is never objective, always subject, says Ivan Ljubicic

Though Ljubicic agreed that records do matter much, he maintained that everyone has a personal, preferred GOAT. He says that GOAT is who has influenced one the most. When one sees through those eyes, for some people it is Federer, for some people it is Djokovic and for some people it is Nadal.

He said thus, “I feel that Novak is the most successful already, but the word ‘greatest’ implies subjectivity and personal preference. I think that’s good, to be honest – everybody has a preferred GOAT and let the discussion begin. If we look at other sports, for example is there a (definitive) GOAT in football. In basketball everybody agrees that it’s Michael Jordan, but he’s not the one with the most trophies. It’s someone that influenced you personally mostly: for a third of the world it’s Federer, for the other third of the world it’s Nadal and for the final third it’s Novak. “

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What will happen if Djokovic wins a few more slams?

If Novak Djokovic manages to win three or more slams further, it would be meaningless and absolutely futile to discuss who the GOAT is, according to Ljubicic. He also mentioned that if Djokovic goes on to win three or more slams from now on, it would be without any shadow of a doubt that he would be the undisputed GOAT and these conversations would be meaningless. He says, ”

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“If Novak wins a few more Slams which seems likely at this point then the debate becomes meaningless. If Novak ends up having five to ten more than the others, we won’t have conversations like this anymore”, said Ljubicic.

While statistically Djokovic is the GOAT, as he has won more Grand Slams than anybody, won every tournament except the Olympic Gold medal, it is still interesting to see as to why still some people are hesitant enough to give him the tag. But as Ljubicic says, these conversations and arguments will be meaningless if he wins another three or more slams.

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