I know what you mean. I was laughed at in 2014 for thinking Djokovic could win 11 slams and saying even back then that he was the third best player ever. Well, it's say to say now that we might have the last laugh. It's just that since 2011 you just always feel like he is the best player in the world and that he is at his best no one can beat him, not even Fedal. The year that comes after 2012 aside, whenever he has been healthy he has been the best.
Do you also get the feeling that in the general population (people that aren't tennis fanatics) that they believe that Djokovic Is the best even though Fed has a lot more fans?
I can only speak anecdotally, which is obviously not scientific evidence, but based on anecdotal evidence, yes - I do believe that. Most of my friends have long considered Djokovic the best, dating back to 2011 onwards.
Personally, I wasn't lucky enough to watch Federer when he was younger. I started watching tennis seriously in 2008, I watched all the way back to Sampras vs Agassi as a very little kid but didn't really care. I became a fan after he lost Wimbledon 2008, having no idea how many slams he had, or even caring.
So I try to stay out of the whole 2003-2007 debates because watching old matches on Youtube will always be an injustice for a lot of different reasons.
Personally, Djokovic is the best I've ever watched, and I've said it many times on here. Also, if I had become a fan later on, I'd have very likely been a Djokovic fan, not Federer and then everyone else (I'd still have been a Federer fan though, I just like the guy). Djokovic is a lot more like me personality wise than Fed is, and a lot of people tend to favor those in individual sports who are similar to us. I took a liking to Fed because I liked how he handled himself in the 2008 Wimbledon match, despite losing. I instantly became a fan that day.
I think at the Big 3's absolute best, it's a total crapshoot affair on anything but clay when it comes to Rafa. They all have a legitimate claim toward being the best of all time. Though like I've also said before, there are thousands of players we have never watched, or players we were not even alive to see. So the GOAT debate has always been a bit silly to me for that reason.
That's why I like ranking them in terms of who is the best I've watched. And for me, personally, that's Novak. And I think Federer when everything is clicking is probably the best of the 3. But that hasn't happened often enough for me in my
personal viewing days to put him at #1. I'm just being honest.
A lot of Federer fans disagree with me on that and that's fine. I get it. Maybe I'd have a different opinion if I watched Federer from day 1. But that's just another hypothetical.