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'They're Not Even The Greatest In Their Own Era': Connors Proclaims Djokovic Superior Of the Big 3
Jonathan Newton, Special to USA TODAY

Former ATP number 1 Jimmy Connors proclaimed Novak Djokovic as the superior member of the tennis Big 3.

In his recent podcast, Advantage Connors, the eight-time major champion was not pulling any punches as he made a bold admission that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer - two icons with unparalleled charisma - received unwavering crowd support to the detriment of Djokovic on the court.

The Big 3 account for the most Grand Slams in men's tennis, with Djokovic leading both Nadal (22) and the retired Federer (20) with 23 titles. And Connors, who won a record 109 career titles on the ATP Tour, feels Djokovic has always had a bullseye in his back throughout his playing career for beating the two darlings of tennis.

Djokovic owns a winning head-to-head record over both Federer and Nadal, something Connors believes has is enough justification to proclaim the Serb in the clear in the GOAT debate, adding that he is irked by the idea that the crowd is fed up with Djokovic.

"It comes to a point where a lot of people think he’s had enough. To me that’s bulls**t. Look at all the people that were on the Federer bandwagon and the Nadal bandwagon as the greatest of all time. They’re not even the greatest of all time in their own era."

Connors also highlighted that as long as Djokovic is healthy and winning , he does not see any reason why he should hang up his racket anytime soon as he always has a chance to win. Obviously, the 70-year-old is speaking from experience having won the most career titles (109) and played the most matches of any male player in singles (1,557).

"They think that maybe he’s had enough and it’s time for somebody else to come up. I look at it the other way, I say 'Kill it.' Stay out there and play until somebody just comes up and beats your brains out because you always got a chance to win"

This article first appeared on Tennis Infinity and was syndicated with permission.

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