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No sooner had Rafael Nadal clinched a 14th French Open and 22nd career Grand Slam was there renewed debate over who is truly men’s tennis’ greatest player of all time.
Now two clear of anyone in history following his straight-sets rout of Casper Ruud in the French Open final, Nadal’s claims to that title have been strengthened.
Tim Henman believes that should Nadal stay healthy — a valid concern given his ongoing foot troubles — he can go on to come out on top of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the GOAT debate.
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“In terms of who is going to end up with the most amount of Grand Slams, a couple of years ago I would have said Djokovic, for sure. But right now, with that little bit of distance, I think Nadal has got a great chance.” Henman said on Eurosport, adding that Nadal could “absolutely” win Wimbledon this year if he plays.
“When you see a performance like that, it was just another clay court masterclass. You would have thought that when he wins these big titles – don’t forget he’s won the Australian Open, the French Open — now you can talk about the Grand Slam being on.
“Surely it is going to motivate him to keep on going. That’s what we are keeping our fingers crossed for because it’s a privilege to see one of the greatest champions in our sport playing like that.”
Mats Wilander said that Nadal’s most recent French Open would be his “sweetest” given he was not certainty of playing just weeks out from the tournament.
He added: “Let’s now not just focus on 14 (French Open titles), but 22 (Grand Slam singles titles). He is ahead of Roger and Novak now. Maybe this could be the main reason why he will be the greatest player of all time.”
Meanwhile, former world. No.2 Alex Corretja said that Nadal didn’t even appear to be at 100 per cent during the tournament and still won.
“I don’t understand anything. How Rafa wins, how he could barely walk a couple of weeks ago. The first week he was okay, and then all of a sudden he raised his level against Novak and then again against Zverev,” he said.
“Today, to me, it seemed like he was not even at 100 per cent, and that is with respect to Casper, who did what he could. I don’t understand how he did it. One day he needs to tell us how this is possible because I don’t get it.”
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