Explained: 23 Slams and counting, is Novak Djokovic the ultimate 'GOAT'?

ldquoHow does it feelrdquo a reporter wanted to know ldquoto be the greatest male player in historyrdquoFirst a quick bit of background Novak Djokovicrsquos championship at the 2023 French Open earned via a 76 1 63 75 victory over Casper Ruud on Sunday that included a soso start and then a cascade of brilliance provided his 23rd Grand Slam titleNo man has won as many After spending his entire career trying to accumulate as much hardware as rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal Djokovic now stands alone atop the list He had been tied at 22 with Nadal Federer who announced his retirement last year has 20So now back to that question For years as that socalled Big Three dominated menrsquos tennis the debate has swirled over which should be considered the ldquoGOATrdquo mdash ldquoGreatest of AllTimerdquoFederer has his backers So does Nadal Djokovic tooThere are those who want to make it purely about numbers and Djokovic earns that crown In addition to the majors count he has spent a record number of weeks at No 1 in the rankings and has won each of the Masters 1000 events twice while the other guys havenrsquot won each onceThere are those who want to make it about style There are those who want to look at other intangiblesThen there are those who believe all three men deserve to be lauded and appreciated equally No need to take a sideAlso Read Rafael Nadal congratulates Novak Djokovic on special achievementAnd so letrsquos hear Djokovicrsquos replyldquoI mean I donrsquot want to say that I am the greatest because I feel mdash Irsquove said it before mdash itrsquos disrespectful towards all the great champions in different eras of our sport that was played in a completely different way than it is played todayrdquo Djokovic said Sunday night wearing a red jacket with ldquo23Prime stitched on the front ldquoI feel like each great champion of his own generation has left a huge mark a legacy and paved the way for us to be able to play this sport in such a great stage worldwiderdquoHe was just getting startedldquoSordquo the 36yearold from Serbia continued rdquoI leave those kind of discussions of who is the greatest to someone else I have of course huge faith and confidence and belief in myself and for everything that I am and who I am and what I am capable of doing So this trophy obviously is another confirmation of the quality of tennis that Irsquom still able to produce I feelrdquoHe went on to say what hersquos said before about the significance of the four major tournaments mdash the Australian Open which hersquos won 10 times French Open three Wimbledon seven and the US Open three mdash and called them ldquoTHE biggest priorities on the checklist for not just this season but any season especially at this stage of my careerrdquoThere was more About how he didnrsquot fare particularly well during the claycourt portion of the season leading up to Roland Garros About how he is a different player when the bestoffiveset format arrives at majors ldquoHe has this software in his head that he can switch on when a Grand Slam comesrdquo was the explanation offered by his coach Goran Ivanisevic About the inner and outer pressure and expectations he feels leading into the tournament About the satisfaction and relief and pride and fulfillment he feels when itrsquos over and hersquos won itAnd then Djokovic veered againAlthough he was not asked about what the future might hold he did spin things forward a bit certainly implying he is intent on continuing to add to his trophy totalldquoOf course the journey is still not over I feel if Irsquom winning Slams why even think about ending the career that already has been going on for 20 yearsrdquo Djokovic said ldquoSo I still feel motivated I still feel inspired to play the best tennis at these tournaments the Grand Slams Those are the ones that count I guess the most in history of our sportrdquoIn the end mdash 450 words into a response to a question of 12 mdash he gave some insight into his mindset Remember He is halfway to a calendaryear Grand Slam something last done by a man in 1969 and play begins at the All England Club on July 3Djokovic wrapped up by adding six more words to form a sentence that should make every other player wary ldquoI look forward already to WimbledonrdquoWith AP inputs