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Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic spent the better part of two decades dominating tennis. Between them, they have 66 Grand Slam titles and have spent a combined 947 weeks at No. 1 in the world. While Djokovic was initially seen as the third man who crashed the Federer and Nadal party, he now stands alone in the history books. The Serbian superstar has 24 Major titles, the most weeks at No. 1 for any man, and has won titles at every level possible – Slams, Olympic gold, ATP Finals, Masters 1000s, and ATP 500s and 250s.
Djokovic has cemented his status as the GOAT, the greatest of all time. But many still enjoy debating who was the ‘best’ of the Big Three, whether it’s measured in numbers, in impact, or otherwise. And one of their old rivals has his own theory, too.
Former world No. 15 Juan Ignacio Chela faced all three men multiple times during his own career, and he believes that one of them has more “talent and class”, even if the records aren’t there.
“Roger's performance was impressive. For me... the thing is that they surpassed him in numbers, but for me, he's the greatest,” the retired Argentine told La Nacion last year.
“On top of that, I experienced it firsthand: I'd go into the game and... I mean, I beat Rafa once, [Andy] Murray too, but not Nole, but I had match point. I only won a set against Roger once in Miami, but I couldn't stay on the court.
I was a player who needed rhythm, I needed to get to the sixth or eighth ball, but I couldn't do it with Roger. He'd take me off the baseline, he'd make a great serve, he'd hit a drop shot, he'd come at me on a return, or he'd take time with his forehand and then he'd take me off the court.
“Besides, if you ask me to tell ChatGPT to make me the ideal tennis player, I think it makes Roger. Then the others (Djokovic and Nadal) surpassed him in numbers, with other characteristics, but I think no one else has Federer's ease, talent and class.”
However, Chela also knew there was no denying that Djokovic was better than the rest when it came to the number of titles he’d won and weeks he’d spent at the top. “Yeah, he's the greatest. In numbers... It's like they're three superheroes with different powers,” he added.
“In my time, [Pete] Sampras had won 14 Grand Slams, and it seemed impossible for anyone to catch him. And other legends had, I don't know, eight, nine, six, seven Grand Slams. These guys passed 20. It's crazy.”
A three-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, Chela never beat Federer or Djokovic. He went 0-6 against the Swiss star and 0-2 against the Serb. The former world No. 15 managed one win over Nadal in five meetings, winning in a final-set tiebreak at the 2004 Cincinnati Open.
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