'I played with Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic – I know who's the greatest'

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are all in contention for being dubbed the greatest tennis player to walk the Earth, and one coach who has played with all three has had his say

A tennis coach to the stars has had his say on who the greatest player of all-time is.

Mike Digby has worked with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic over the years, and has weighed in on who he thinks is the better of the three in terms of raw talent. Of course, in terms of figures and achievements on paper, it would be easy to assume that Djokovic reigns supreme.

After all, the 37-year-old has a combined 24 Grand Slams to his name, compared to Nadal's 22 and Federer's 20, as well as a Golden Slam from this year's Olympic Games in Paris - besting Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2) in the final to avenge his Wimbledon loss to the Spaniard a month earlier.

However, there are a number of other influences which could lead to a player being selected as the best ever, with Digby carefully considering a range of attributes before naming his "greatest that has ever played the game". Speaking to Sportskeeda, he said: "It is difficult because they all bring an aura.

"I speak about this word a lot, like an aura to the tennis court. They have a strong presence but if I was blindfolded, they’re very different auras. I would say Federer, you can feel his presence just through the pure quality of ball striking. So just the sound of the ball off the strings, the elegance that he brings when he does it, just the calm and class that he brings, you can just feel it."

Speaking on Nadal, Digby added: "But on the flip side, Nadal would be someone that you can hear, right? His aura comes through what you hear through the heaviness of the strike, through the grunt, obviously, through the feet that you can kind of just hear him scurrying his feet."

Turning his attention to Djokovic, he continued: "Novak has a blend of those two. He has a bit more of an arrogance to him. And I love that about him. That’s genuinely not a negative comment at all. I think that if he didn’t have that, he wouldn’t be the Novak Djokovic that we all know. It makes him who he is."

However, when it comes down to it, Digby believes that the latter is the most well rounded and therefore the best to have crafted his trade on the courts. He capped off: "It makes him, in my opinion, the greatest that has ever played the game purely from a tennis standpoint. So yeah, if I was blindfolded, I think those would be my type of feel and hear really."

Despite winning an Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer, it's been a bit of a tough year for Djokovic at the majors. While he took home the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open last year, he finished 2024 without a Grand Slam trophy to his name.

He was bested in the semi-finals of this year's Australian Open by tournament winner Jannik Sinner, before a walkover defeat to Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals of the French Open after a knee injury. Djokovic also was beaten in the third round of the US Open by Alexei Popyrin.

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