Rafael Nadal Feels He Cannot Be Termed the Only Greatest Player Ever

Published 10/13/2020, 3:32 AM EDT

Over the years, Rafael Nadal has faced one question more than any other in his career – that of catching up to the numerous records held by Roger Federer, and most importantly, the all-time Grand Slam record.

Nadal always maintained his stance that while he would like to hold the record, what means most to him is giving his best on the court and being satisfied with it. Now that he has finally tied Federer for most Grand Slams, Nadal’s stance remains pretty much the same.

A day after winning the French Open 2020, the Spanish superstar was asked if he can be openly called the greatest player in history. Nadal did not feel so and expressed that being considered the greatest is not a priority for him.

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“The numbers should be analyzed by people who have good knowledge of the history of tennis. Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me much. I’m happy with my career,” Nadal said in an interview.

Rafael Nadal gives his thoughts on the G.O.A.T debate

While Nadal did not tag himself as the best ever, he did admit that he now clearly is one of the two greatest players ever. The other being Federer, of course. At the same time, Nadal indicated that the ‘Big 3’ are far from done. He feels the next few years will dictate who ends up on top.

“At the moment, it’s clear that I’m one of the two. We’ll see what happens in the next few years: what Djokovic does, what Federer does when he returns, and what I keep doing,” Nadal said further. “If all goes well, we’ll have time to analyse it when our careers are over.”

Nadal will not obsess over records

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Nadal had another interesting take on the ‘G.O.A.T’ battle when asked about it right after his win over Novak Djokovic on Sunday. His intentions of winning more titles than Federer and Djokovic are clear, as would be the case with any player. However, Nadal knows where to draw the line between a goal and an obsession.

“You can’t be always unhappy because your neighbor has a bigger house than you or a better phone,” Nadal said.

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Eventually, one of them will end up with more titles than the other two. However, many fans believe comparisons between the three are uncalled for as they have all contributed to the sport in a big way, in their own unique ways.

Tennis Legends Believe Rafael Nadal Will Go Down As The Greatest Of All Time After French Open Glory

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Written by:

Aayush Majumdar is a NASCAR content strategist, a Tennis Writer, and a sports analyst at EssentiallySports. He is well-tenured as a tennis and NASCAR writer, with over 900 articles across both sports. After pursuing a Post Graduate program in Sports Management, Aayush explored various roles in Sports Media, including a Sports Reporting role at a leading English daily.

Rafael Nadal Feels He Cannot Be Termed the Only Greatest Player Ever

Rafael Nadal gives his thoughts on the G.O.A.T debate

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Nadal will not obsess over records