"Why is this even up for debate, you can have another poll for popularity contest for the other 2" - Novak Djokovic's fans celebrate poll results declaring him the GOAT

The way Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have dominated men's tennis over the last two decades is something that's highly unlikely to ever be repeated in the future. Having pushed each other to become better, the Big 3 are the only players among the men to reach 20 Grand Slam titles each.

In that context, television network Eurosport recently conducted a poll on its social media, asking fans to select the greatest player of all time. The results showed the 21-time Grand Slam champion, Djokovic, as the clear winner, with 51% of people voting for him. Federer came in second with 28.2% votes, while Nadal was third with 20.8% of the votes. The total number of votes shown was 4,662.

It was a proud moment for the Serb's fans and they expressed their jubilation, but they were hardly surprised. Many suggested that while Federer and Nadal might be more popular than Djokovic, it's the stats that matter when deciding on the GOAT debate.

"Numbers speak and will always speak. Future generations will just read stats. Like I don’t know much about older generations such as Connors or McEnroe, all I read is the stats next to their names, that is all that stays in the end. The goat is the one that statistically is best," a fan tweeted.

Another fan stated they've observed a change in the media's attitude towards the Serb since Federer's retirement, and added that they hoped it would continue.

"Wow so Eurosport's have even tweeted about the result even though it didn't go the way it wanted! I have to admit I have seen a marked change in the media's attitude to Novak even since Roger announced his retirement. Long may it continue, but we all know it probably won't," the user wrote.

Here are some more reactions from fans:

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Novak Djokovic to take on Daniil Medvedev in Astana Open SF

Daniil Medvedev (L) and Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has reached the semifinals at the ongoing ATP 500 tournament - Astana Open - and on Saturday he will fight Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the final. This will be the 11th meeting between the two players, with the Serb leading their head-to-head 6-4.

In his quarterfinal against 18th-ranked Karen Khachanov, Novak Djokovic broke the Russian's serve thrice to beat him 6-4, 6-3 and extend his head-to-head lead to 7-1. Medvedev, on the other hand, downed World No. 21 Roberto Bautista Agut in dominant fashion, breaking serve six times to win 6-1, 6-1.