Former Argentine tennis player Jose Luis Clerc doesn’t think Roger Federer will ever again win a Grand Slam as he has stated that Rafael Nadal will be the greatest tennis player of all time if he wins the French Open.
Federer, 40, is recovering from a knee surgery, while Nadal won a record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
Nadal has 21 Majors, while Federer and Novak Djokovic are tied on the second place with 20 Grand Slams each.
“If Nadal wins Roland Garros, he will be the greatest of all time. The one who I don’t think will win another Grand Slam is Roger. Those of us who love the sport want Federer to be eternal, but he is not. People tell me ‘Batata, Roger is the best,’ but for me the one who wins the most Grand Slam titles is going to be the greatest in history,” Clerc said.
Nadal and Djokovic set to battle for the French Open title
Many believe this year’s French Open could be the key in the GOAT debate.
Patrick Mouratoglou, a renowned tennis coach, recently explained the importance of this year’s French Open.
“If you look at the start of the season and if you look at the global situation, Novak has the lead for me. He is winning more Grand Slams than anyone every year, so he is the huge favorite to win more Grand Slams than anyone. But because of this COVID story he was not able to play most of the year, so he is lacking a lot of matches. And on the other hand, Rafa gained so much confidence because, as Novak wasn’t playing, he won almost everything. You had Novak with a big advantage and with what happened Rafa now has the edge. But then Rafa gets injured so he is not going to be able to play enough this year and then it comes back to kind of a balance,” Mouratoglou said in a clip posted on his Instagram.