Nick Kyrgios: "In my opinion, Roger Federer is still the GOAT"
Nick Kyrgios spoke about the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate in an interview with the NBA program "Courtside Huddle", paying special homage to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer .
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Oct 27, 2020, 04:22 pm
Nick Kyrgios is one of the very few players on the planet who knows what it feels like to have won against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The three exceptional talents in the touring circuit of the ATP professionals are together 57 difficult Grand Slam titles, since 2005 only six players besides these three men have managed to win a major title.
The debate about who of the three dominators of tennis in the last two decades is the best of all time and who should be awarded the GOAT title is correspondingly hot. Nick Kyrgios, who has already fought for the big titles in the sport with all three of them, has now given his assessment of this discussion to the best: "You look at Federer, he is the most dominant player of all time, but in this era it is actually Rafa. It's a debate you can have, "said the Australian.
In particular, Nadal's performances in Roland Garros, the immense dominance that the Spaniard had impressively demonstrated again at the Bois de Bolougne , would speak for the Mallorcan in this discussion: "I don't think we'll ever see something like that again. Someone who is so dominant on a ground. You can argue that he is the greatest. " Accordingly, it was no surprise that the 34-year-old walked again almost to title number 13 under the Eiffel Tower: "This is his backyard, he loves to play there and he has only lost two games in his entire career", Ubitennis.com quoted the eccentric man from Down Under.
The verbal exchanges that Kyrgios and Nadal had often delivered on and off the court do little to change that. "We had our differences when we played against each other," admits Kyrgios. "We are fiery, we are competitors. But at the same time I won't take anything away from him. He is an absolute champion and 20 Grand Slams are crazy, and I don't think we'll ever see that again," said the world number 42.
Kyrgios sees Federer in front
Nonetheless, he is of the opinion "that Roger Federer is still the GOAT." Federer is similar to Michael Jordan as a status symbol. "He was the first player to be so dominant on any kind of surface. I think the way he plays the game is special," said Kyrgios. Roger Federer is still at the top of the world rankings for most weeks and has won 103 titles on the ATP Tour. Comparisons in which the Swiss is partly well ahead of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.