Mats Wilander, former world no.1 and 7-time grand slam champion from Sweden, has said something interesting about the ongoing GOAT debate in tennis. With Novak Djokovic surpassing Rafael Nadal’s grand slam record a few weeks back after winning the French Open, a series of opinions as to who the GOAT is has not ceased to flow in from fans, experts, and former players. Wilander too has given his opinion on the debate. While he has said he would not commit to calling Djokovic the GOAT, he would certainly bestow on him the title, BOAT(Best Of All Time) purely on the merit of his achievements and the amount of success he has had in his superb career.

It is very hard to discount such a claim as Djokovic nearly holds most of the important records now in men’s tennis and the only big achievement that is missing from his trophy cabinet is the Olympic Singles Gold Medal.

Djokovic’s response to being called the BOAT

When asked about how he felt about Wilander calling him the BOAT, Djokovic said that he is appreciative of that and that he wouldn’t add anything more than that. Djokovic opined that these discussions are good for tennis as they attract people’s attention towards it. “Thank you, I appreciate that,” he said during his interview with Eurosport.

Djokovic further added, “There’s not much to say other than that. I leave the debate and discussions to other people. I think it’s good that there is a debate because it just attracts more attention to our sport. At the end of the day, we are all trying to be the best possible ambassadors [for] tennis, attracting as many people to watch our games, whether it’s live or on the TV. The more people talk about the rivalries, the more people talk of the history, the better it is”.

Djokovic admitted humbly that he indeed is in a privileged position in his career as his rivals Roger Federer is already retired and Nadal is close to retirement due to his perpetual injuries.

What would a Wimbledon win mean for Djokovic?

Men’s tennis’ most successful player Novak Djokovic can quite easily cement his position as the best player ever, just like how Wilander said if he wins this Wimbledon. Djokovic’s love and passion for the game is evidently seen in every match he plays. He plays with his steely grit, unabating zeal to prove that he is second to none. Thus if he wins this Wimbledon, it will be very hard for Nadal to play catch up.

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The onus lies on the next generation ATP stars to stop Djokovic, but it seems highly unlikely to happen as Djokovic is in no mood to relent, particularly in grand slams. He has said, “I’ve said it many times: the Grand Slams are the tournaments that probably are the tournaments I play tennis for the most at the moment, and I’ll try to peak for them and play my best tennis when it matters most.”

Thus, Mats Wilander hit the nail on the head when he said that Djokovic is the BOAT due to the sheer weight of his achievements (especially those 23 grand slams).

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