I hate the GOAT discussion – Holger Rune on rivalry between Nadal, Federer and Djokovic

Holger Rune doesn’t want to compare the Big 3 – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. The youngster feels the trio is incredible in their own ways as they are the three greatest players to have ever embraced the sport.

Federer won a total of 20 Grand Slam titles in his glorious career and retired after taking part in the Laver Cup 2022. Nadal currently has the most number of Grand Slam titles (22) whereas Novak Djokovic is hot on the heels of the Spaniard with 21 titles.

There is no denying the fact that the trio achieved more than they ever dreamed of and they have been role models for youngsters like Holger Rune.

“I think nothing about this, to be honest. I hate the GOAT discussion because who won the most titles, who won the most Grand Slams, and who was No. 1 for the longest time. I mean, all these guys are incredible. They have achieved something that is history-making. It also pushes the younger generations to what’s possible,” Holger Rune said as quoted by Express UK.

“Records are there to be broken. And now these guys made us work even harder to break records. That’s good for the future of tennis. The level will increase even more. I think players like Federer, Novak, Nadal, and Murray showed us the extremely high level of tennis and that is what makes the younger generation so good today. I hope we can continue like that in tennis, raising the level even more. I think it is possible,” he added.

On the other hand, Holger Rune’s coach Lars Christensen revealed he took the best of the Big 3 in order to get the best out of his pupil. The Danish player has won three ATP Tour singles titles, including a Masters 1000 title at the 2022 Paris Masters.

Speaking to ATP Tennis Radio Podcast, Lars Christensen said, “When I started building Holger from the beginning, I always took the best from the best guys, watching Djokovic’s footwork and his abilities to stay close to the baseline, the way he returns, watching Roger’s offensive game, how he approaches the net, how he serves. I was watching a lot of Rafa, how he was on the clay court, his will to put in that extra shot and do angles and lot of spin and stuff like that. I tried to pick the best of everybody and tried to build Holger on these inputs.”