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‘Novak Is Not Appreciated at His Fair Value’- ‘GOAT’ Controversy Resurfaces As Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal Bias Questioned by Veteran Doubles Star

Published 02/28/2023, 12:00 PM EST

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Is Novak Djokovic underappreciated for his talents on the tennis court? Recently, a former world number 1 in the doubles category, Nicolas Mahut reacted to the Serbian tennis star breaking yet another record.

The 35-year-old tennis player has recently broken Steff Graf’s all-time record for spending the most number of weeks as world number one. By reaching this great milestone, the GOAT debate has ignited again. But the 41-year-old tennis player talks about a very different side of the GOAT debate.

Nicolas Mahut’s GOAT statement over Djokovic recent achievement 

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The 41-year-old former doubles tennis star recently in an interview with L’equipe, talked about how Serbian tennis player is widely unappreciated. Not only that, but he also highlighted that there will always be a debate or discussion going on about who the GOAT of tennis is when it comes to the Serbian. However, the debate would cease to exist if the conversation revolved around Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, Maut added.

He said, “Even if he breaks all the records. There will always be a debate (GOAT), which would not be the case if it was Federer or Nadal. Novak is not appreciated at his fair value. I find unfair criticism of all that he has accomplished.” (translated from Google)

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According to the French tennis player, even after breaking a myriad of records, the current world number one’s GOAT status will always be up for debate. But it would be a totally different scenario if Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer were in the Serbian tennis star’s position. 

To sum it all up, Nicolas Mahut feels that the criticism Djokovic receives is ‘unfair’. Although, the Serbian tennis star is considered one of the greatest tennis players of the time, his achievements are constantly compared to those of the other two players of the big 3 in tennis.

Djoker has equaled the record with respect to the number of grand slams won by Nadal. With a good half of his playing career still left, he still has time to cement his GOAT status by adding a few more grand slams to his kitty.

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WATCH THIS STORY – ‘Why Is His Brother Taking a Video..Sweet Home Alabama?’ – Tennis Fans React Hilariously to Unearthed Novak Djokovic Underwear Photo

But the big question is why the 35-year-old tennis legend lacks respect compared to the other big 3 players .  Do you think the on-court controversies he was part of in his illustrious tennis career comes into play whenever his name gets mentioned in the GOAT debate?

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Written by:

Pratishtha Prakash

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Pratishtha Prakash is a Tennis writer at EssentiallySports. She has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media and Journalism from MIT ADT University, Pune. In the past, she has interned at the sports desk of The Hitavada, a regional English daily newspaper.
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Edited by:

Arijit Saha