Novak Djokovic: "I'm not going to say I am the greatest player of all time, I leave it up to others"

Ahead of his return to action at the Paris Masters next week, Novak Djokovic reckons he won't proclaim himself as the greatest of all time.

Djokovic, 36, is widely regarded as one of the sport's best-ever players and is ageing like fine wine as he grows older. He's coming off a fabulous year in Grand Slams, reaching all four finals and winning three of them. His lone loss was a five-set defeat to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.

Having created history at the US Open - where he became the first player in the Open Era to win 24 Grand Slam singles titles - Djokovic skipped the entire Asian swing. Ahead of his Paris Masters campaign, the Serb said at a press conference:

"I'm not going to say I am the greatest player of all time. It's not up to me to say things like that. I leave it up to others. Obviously I'm very proud that my greatest rival could say such things, but I leave this discussion to other people."

The comments were in response to Rafael Nadal's recent statement that Djokovic's greatness is unquestionable. The Serb said:

"I'm honoured to be a tennis player who's writing my own name in the history of tennis, and I'm glad to be at the top right now. That's the most important thing for me."

"Then we can discuss at length about the whole history of tennis, but once my career is over we can do it. Right now I guess this is very interesting for you, for everyone, all of you who follow tennis. But as far as I'm concerned, that's not a priority for me. I need to maintain, to focus myself on what is important for me right now," he added.

Djokovic has a 46-5 season record and has already qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.

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"My greatest motivation is still my love for the game" - Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic

Having achieved a plethora of records in the sport, Novak Djokovic has dominated tennis like few else.

Djokovic is the record title-holder in Masters 1000 events (39 titles), has the most weeks at No. 1 (396 and counting) and is the only male player to win the triple career Grand Slam in the Open Era.

It's evident that the Serb has already created a niche for himself. In the press conference, Djokovic stated that his love for the game keeps him motivated.

"My greatest motivation is still love for the game. I really like competing. So as simple as that. Then, you know, I always have goals, you know, and to win another slam, to be No. 1 again, to finish the year as No. 1," the Serb said.

"Those are let's say the big goals. Of course next year is Olympic Games. I really want to do well in Olympic Games, represent my country. Davis Cup is something that still gives me a lot of inspiration," he added.

The Olympics gold is conspicuous by its absence in Novak Djokovic's glittering career.