"If you give me any other name that is not Novak Djokovic, I will reject it" – Tennis analyst on GOAT status

Novak Djokovic was recently declared the undisputed GOAT by tennis analyst Gill Gross, doubling down on his previous claim.

For over a decade, the tennis community has engaged in a raging debate about the greatest player to grace the sport. The discussion revolved around 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, 22-time Major champion Rafael Nadal and 24-time Grand Slam holder Novak Djokovic.

However, with Federer’s retirement and Nadal’s hiatus, combined with Djokovic’s recent dominance on tour, several have already conferred the ‘greatest of all time’ title on the Serb.

The Swiss and the Spaniard, too, have hailed Djokovic's longevity and top form following his Australian Open, French Open, and US Open wins this season.

Tennis analyst Gill Gross shared his opinion about the same on his podcast channel while clarifying his previous stance on the 36-year-old's undisputed status.

“This is my current stance on GOAT status. To me, the GOAT is either Novak Djokovic or there is no GOAT at all. Those are the two options,” he firmly stated on YouTube.

“If you give me any other name that is not Novak Djokovic, I will reject it. I will argue against it. The only acceptable answer to me is Novak Djokovic,” Gross added.

Gross also entertained the idea of dropping the debate altogether.

“This is also an acceptable answer to me – you could say, ‘I don’t think it’s fair that there is a GOAT at all,’ he said. “Again, I am still considering these two options. I might settle at some point down the road.”

The analyst recalled his earlier opinion, where, instead of declaring one player as the greatest, he resorted to clubbing them into tiers based on their on-court legacy.

“In the past, I’ve also talked about my belief that a lot of these greats are in the same tier, which is the tier one, the A+ tier. I still think that’s a better way to look at tennis history that to try to put them in a list,” Gross said.

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"GOAT tag on Roger Federer was not scrutinized to the level that Novak Djokovic's is scrutinized" – Tennis analyst Gill Gross

The Serb at the 2023 US Open

Gill Gross also addressed the double standards Novak Djokovic has had to face over the years.

He admitted that when Roger Federer made Grand Slam records, surpassing Pete Sampras' record of 14 Slams, the Swiss was immediately hailed as the greatest of all time. On the other hand, the media has yet to fully welcome Djokovic's surge.

“If you are a Novak fan, you remember that time when it was perfectly acceptable to just slap a GOAT tag on Roger Federer, and it was not scrutinized to the level that Novak’s is scrutinized,” he said.

“That is a 100% true. The media was quicker to give that to Federer because he was a darling of the media. And Novak has not been. You are right, and you are right to resent that,” Gross added, referring to the Serb’s fans.

Novak Djokovic currently holds the record for the most Grand Slams won by a man or woman in the Open Era. He is also tied with Margaret Court, who also won 24 Grand Slams, albeit not all in the Open Era.

The Serb also leads as the player, man or woman, to have held the top spot in the rankings for the highest number of weeks. He entered his 393rd week as the World No. 1 on October 2.