Mats Wilander: ''Djokovic is better than Nadal and Federer''

RF-18

RF-18

Talk Tennis Guru
He’s so good, he might even be better than the other two. When he’s feeling it and he’s on and he’s fighting, it’s nearly impossible to beat him," Wilander said. You can’t get the ball through him. Federer and Nadal have people who they don’t necessarily like to play against. Djokovic, I don’t see a player that he minds playing.
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Said this recently.
http://www.tennisnow.com/Blogs/NET-POSTS/February-2015/Next-GOAT-Djokovic-on-WSJ-Cover.aspx
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/novak-djokovic-wsj-magazine-article-roger-federer-rafael-nadal

Don't mind USAtoday, they clearly misunderstood what Wilander said. He wasn't talking about goat's.

The bolded part, is interesting. He doesn't have players he don't mind playing, like Federer and Nadal for example.

He is not greater than them two (atleast not now), but better? In my opinion, and what we have seen of him in for the last 5 years and what he has done to two GOATs, it's possible. Nobody has faced the competition as he has and still have achieved what he has for now.

I mean, Toni Nadal said this too, that djokovic is better than Nadal, while he is pretty equal to Fed. Now also Wilander comes out and is a bit for this thought.

For me Federer is the best and greatest, but I'm not against the thought of Djokovic being BOAT, because his talent, and completeness, peak lvl, is mind boggling. The guy is the player with least weaknesses of all time.

Do you agree with Mats?
 
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I don't believe he's better than either. Peak for peak, Roger would smoke Novak at 2 or 3 of the 4 slams.
 
Sabratha said:
I don't believe he's better than either. Peak for peak, Roger would smoke Novak at 2 or 3 of the 4 slams.
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IMO, he is a better player than Nadal. But not Federer.

As I said though, I'm not completely against the thought that he is up there with federer.
 
Mats Wilander just trying to get some attention. Djokovic doesn't really like playing Isner for example and he has a losing record against both Fed and Nadal. Aside from the other two members of the big three, who do Fed and Nadal not like playing?
 
"When he’s feeling it and he’s on and he’s fighting, it’s nearly impossible to beat him" You could say this with other players too though.
 
Team10 said:
Mats Wilander just trying to get some attention. Djokovic doesn't really like playing Isner for example and he has a losing record against both Fed and Nadal. Aside from the other two members of the big three, who do Fed and Nadal not like playing?
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Let's not overreact here.
Yea he has losing h2h, but most of those losses came before djokovic's real breakthrough. Since then, he has winning records against both.

Right now, fed is ahead with two wins, nadal is ahead with four. He is not far away in h2h. What will people say when/if he overtakes both of them, wich the chance for that is pretty good? I think many will look back at this thread.

Federer hates playing nadal, nadal doesn't like djokovic.
 
Team10 said:
Mats Wilander just trying to get some attention. Djokovic doesn't really like playing Isner for example and he has a losing record against both Fed and Nadal. Aside from the other two members of the big three, who do Fed and Nadal not like playing?
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Nadal can sometimes be vulnerable to big, flat hitters, like Soderling, Blake, Youzhny, and even Berdych at one point. Federer doesn't like playing against Simon. Nalbandian gave Federer a lot of bother, in the juniors and on the ATP Tour.

I would agree that Djokovic has fewer weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the style of his play. However, Djokovic's temperament can sometimes let him down. Federer has the variety to frustrate Djokovic, and Nadal has the power and a strong will and temperament, to wear Djokovic down over time, which can also frustrate Djokovic.

Djokovic2011 said:
He sure proved himself in 2011.
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That's just 1 year. That year has been the exception, not the norm.
 
RF-18 said:
IMO, he is a better player than Nadal. But not Federer.

As I said though, I'm not completely against the thought that he is up there with federer.
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I strongly disagree..

I think Nadal is a better big match player, and although he's slightly less talented, he makes it up with his grit and determination - things that Djokovic sometimes struggles to find in the big moments.

I think the difference between Novak and Federer is more significant also.
 
Mustard said:
I bet Djokovic doesn't like playing Nadal, either.
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If you put it like that, yes, but he is not vulnurable to them as rafa is for fed, and djoko for rafa.

Thats because he doesn't have weaknesses, he is pretty much complete/balanced in all aspects so it's hard to hurt him in a specific way.

I think that is what mats means.
 
RF-18 said:
Let's not overreact here.
Yea he has losing h2h, but most of those losses came before djokovic's real breakthrough. Since then, he has winning records against both.

Right now, fed is ahead with two wins, nadal is ahead with four. He is not far away in h2h. What will people say when/if he overtakes both of them, wich the chance for that is pretty good? I think many will look back at this thread.

Federer hates playing nadal, nadal doesn't like djokovic.
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I really hate it when people say stuff like this. Djokovic has been around a long time, you can't just say since 2011, he's been doing this and that. You have to look at his career as a whole.

He might overtake both of them but that's a long ways away. Also, I said besides the big three, who do Fed and Nadal not like playing. Right now Djokovic is probably the hardest to beat for most players because of his style of play and that he's in his prime as opposed to Fed and Nadal.
 
Team10 said:
I really hate it when people say stuff like this. Djokovic has been around a long time, you can't just say since 2011, he's been doing this and that. You have to look at his career as a whole.

He might overtake both of them but that's a long ways away. Also, I said besides the big three, who do Fed and Nadal not like playing. Right now Djokovic is probably the hardest to beat for most players because of his style of play and that he's in his prime as opposed to Fed and Nadal.
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Very true. Novak has been a top player since he was 19 or 20 years old! Let's not forget the fact that he's been a consistent top 3 or 4 player since 2007.
 
Sabratha said:
I strongly disagree..

I think Nadal is a better big match player, and although he's slightly less talented, he makes it up with his grit and determination - things that Djokovic sometimes struggles to find in the big moments.

I think the difference between Novak and Federer is more significant also.
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I don't know with that, better big match player. Against djokovic? If we look at the 23 finals they have played eachother through the course of their careers (most finals, if not all of them are tier 1 events). Djokovic leads him 12-11.

Make whatever you want with that.
 
RF-18 said:
I don't know with that, better big match player. Against djokovic? If we look at the 23 finals they have played eachother through the course of their careers (most finals, if not all of them are tier 1 events). Djokovic leads him 12-11.

Make whatever you want with that.
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A slight lead, helped by the fact that he dominated Nadal in 2011. It isn't that much to go by.

I still stand behind my opinion. 2013 USO is proof of this (Novak was the #1, arguably the better player and a lot better on HC going into it).
 
Sabratha said:
A slight lead, helped by the fact that he dominated Nadal in 2011. It isn't that much to go by.

I still stand behind my opinion. 2013 USO is proof of this (Novak was the #1, arguably the better player and a lot better on HC going into it).
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Lol, you can't just dismiss one year like that!
 
What makes 2011 different than 2000-2003? A past his prime GOAT, Nadal burnt out from his previous 3 slam season...where was the strong competition?
 
RF-18 said:
For me Federer is the best and greatest, but I'm not against the thought of Djokovic being BOAT, because his talent, and completeness, peak lvl, is mind boggling. The guy is the player with least weaknesses of all time.

Do you agree with Mats?
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If Nadal is less talented and less complete than Djokovic and yet still won more slams, then you just proved Nadal was simply better.
 
Djokovic2011 said:
Lol, you can't just dismiss one year like that!
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By that same token, you cannot use one good year to dismiss 3 successive good, but not great ones. If you absolutely ace a test but get c's on the next three, you're not a genius, you're an average student.
 
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Sirius Black said:
What makes 2011 different than 2000-2003? A past his prime GOAT, Nadal burnt out from his previous 3 slam season...where was the strong competition?
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"L0l H3w1tt & R0dd1ck ar3 n0t a3 g00d a3 F3rr3r".
 
torpantennis said:
Djokovic breakthrough coincides with the decline of Federer, a player who owned him previously. What a "coincidence".
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"Owned" him? Really? Remove the first four wins peak Fed had against baby Djoko and their H2H was pretty even throughout the years. Certainly not 23-10 territory, that's for sure.

But what would a Novak hater like you know anyway. Here's to Novak winning more slams against "weak" competition just to p*ss off haters like you :lol:
 
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Sabratha said:
A slight lead, helped by the fact that he dominated Nadal in 2011. It isn't that much to go by.

I still stand behind my opinion. 2013 USO is proof of this (Novak was the #1, arguably the better player and a lot better on HC going into it).
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But it also isn't true that 2011 was the year he beat nadal More. Only in 2012 did rafa have a better h2h. 2011, 2013 and 2014 all went to djokovic.
 
Djokovic2011 said:
Simple really. Federer was still playing great tennis and Nadal was far from burnt out.
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Federer wasn't "great" at the time.. except maybe at Roland Garros and during the indoor season. Besides that he was pretty average.

Nadal was at his peak though, I will give you that.
 
Team10 said:
Mats Wilander just trying to get some attention. Djokovic doesn't really like playing Isner for example and he has a losing record against both Fed and Nadal. Aside from the other two members of the big three, who do Fed and Nadal not like playing?
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SpinToWin said:
Mats Failander at his best I see.
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Yep. More present is the best logic showing through here, and all that other biased BS.

Wilander's a former player that now works in media, so naturally, he'll say stupid $.h.i.t like this every so often to get attention.
 
Sabratha said:
Federer wasn't "great" at the time.. except maybe at Roland Garros and during the indoor season. Besides that he was pretty average.

Nadal was at his peak though, I will give you that.
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Federer was still inside the top 3 all year. Sounds pretty great to me.
 
RF-18 said:
But it also isn't true that 2011 was the year he beat nadal More. Only in 2012 did rafa have a better h2h. 2011, 2013 and 2014 all went to djokovic.
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I believe he lead the H2H in those years because his base level is higher than Nadal's. He can come out flat and still win. I think Nadal is the better big match player however, because his mentality is a bit better and he plays to the occasion. Novak sometimes gets lost in the moment.
 
Team10 said:
I really hate it when people say stuff like this. Djokovic has been around a long time, you can't just say since 2011, he's been doing this and that. You have to look at his career as a whole.

He might overtake both of them but that's a long ways away. Also, I said besides the big three, who do Fed and Nadal not like playing. Right now Djokovic is probably the hardest to beat for most players because of his style of play and that he's in his prime as opposed to Fed and Nadal.
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Well if we count the best of their ability. Djokovic 2007 is certainly not the benchmark for this discussion or what wilander is saying am I right?
 
Sirius Black said:
By that same token, you cannot use one good year to dismiss 3 successive mediocre ones. If you absolutely ace a test but get c's on the next three, you're not a genius, you're an average student.
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Djokovic gets a C for winning a major, WTF, and a few masters every year, on top of the slam finals he reached?

If that's the case, what scores did everyone not named Rafael Nadal have from 2012 to 2014? F-?
 
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