MUHAMMAD ALI was The Greatest. He may have mentioned it once or twice. If there was anyone still questioning Ali’s place at the very top of any list of sporting superstars given all he achieved both inside and outside of the ring, then he was never shy in offering very public reminders of his unwavering stance on the matter. It would take someone with a particularly strong constitution to ever take an opposing view.
Few sportsmen or women would be so bold to proclaim themselves the best of the best these days, no matter the size of their ego or how impressive their triumphs. Even those emboldened by an unshakeable streak of self-confidence, such as Roger Federer or Tiger Woods in their prime, would surely have balked with false modesty if ever asked to place themselves on a pedestal and declare themselves the supreme champion of their chosen discipline.
Instead, these are debates left for others to settle. And like all good arguments, often best when allowed to percolate over several hours in a local hostelry, there are no right or wrong answers. Instead there are just opinions, buttressed or weakened by the dispersal of facts, and enforced by subjective prejudices and personal preference.
Events in Paris on Sunday will again open the conversation on Novak Djokovic’s overall standing in the world of tennis and, with a more parochial hat on, where Andy Murray rates both in his own sport and in the pantheon of British sporting greats.
In winning the French Open, Djokovic completed a personal clean sweep of the grand slams and in doing so became the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four titles at the same time. He is now also halfway towards emulating the Australian’s achievements of 1969 when he clinched the whole lot in a single year.
Djokovic is now moving into the realms of the untouchables. The Serb has now won six of the last eight slams and, with a total of 12, has won just two fewer than Rafael Nadal and five fewer than Federer. With the Spaniard and the Swiss showing increasing signs of physical fallibility, there is every chance that the seemingly indefatigable Djokovic will overhaul both of them. He may lack the effortless panache of Federer at his peak, or the sheer visceral power of Nadal but with his dynamism and determination there is an argument to be made that he, and not Federer, should eventually be considered the GOAT (greatest of all time). Older fans of Laver, Roy Emerson, and Bjorn Borg may wish to also offer an alternative view.
Where, then, in the general scheme of things does this leave Murray? In reaching Sunday’s ultimately one-sided denouement at Roland Garros, he became only the 10th man in the Open era to reach the final of all four slams. He has surprised even himself with his emergence during the past year or so as a serious contender on clay, and will be expected to continue to reach semi-finals and finals on both grass and hard courts, too. From a nation that struggled for decades to produce a man capable of even holding a racquet the right way round, his progression to become the second-best player in the world has been nothing short of remarkable from a British perspective.
When the time comes for him to finally call it a day, however, the 29 year-old may come to regret being born in the same era as three of the greatest players to ever play the game. He is exactly a week older than Djokovic, just 11 months younger than Nadal, and less than six years younger than Federer. The Scot must peek at the fairly average cast list of those coming through the men’s ranks and wish mum Judy and dad Willie had held off for five or six years more before having their second child.
Murray has reached 10 slam finals but won only two of them, losing three to Federer and five to Djokovic. That puts him on the same total as Stan Wawrinka, Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt, and makes a mockery of the notion that there is a Big Four competing for tennis’ major honours (although Murray does also have a Davis Cup win and an Olympic gold medal adorning his CV). After Nadal and Federer raised the standard between them, it has effectively now become a Big One, with nobody seemingly able to lay a glove on Djokovic in current form.
Murray will take solace in the fact that both his two slam victories, in the US Open and then at Wimbledon, came against Djokovic, although the first was back in 2012 and the latter in 2013. Should he go on to reach many more in the coming years, he will surely find himself wishing it is a different face staring at him from across the net.
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