Tim Henman breaks the internet with his controversial GOAT pick

Novak Djokovic heads to this year’s French Open aiming to strengthen his case as the greatest player the sport has ever seen.

Already holding the record for most men’s Grand Slam titles, Djokovic is chasing a 25th major trophy, which would take him past Margaret Court for the all-time lead.

His last Grand Slam win came at the 2023 US Open. Since then, he’s reached two finals but hasn’t added to his total yet.

He overtook Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal some time ago, with Federer retiring on 20 Slams and Nadal finishing on 22.

The debate over who’s the greatest continues, but plenty of fans back Djokovic. Former British No. 1 Tim Henman is among those who put him ahead of his two great rivals.

Tim Henman backs Djokovic as tennis’ greatest

During a chat with TNT Sports, Tim Henman was asked who he thinks is the ‘GOAT’ in tennis and replied: “Novak Djokovic.

“And that really comes down to a numbers game. He’s the one who has won 24 Grand Slams, going for his 25th here at Roland Garros, so he’s my tennis GOAT.”

On top of his Grand Slam record, Djokovic leads in several other categories, including weeks spent as world number one.

The 24-time major champion has spent a total of 428 weeks at the top spot in the rankings, compared to Federer’s 310 and Nadal’s 209.

He also holds positive head-to-head records against both of them—31-29 against Nadal and 27-23 against Federer.

Add to that his record haul of ATP Masters 1000 titles, with Djokovic holding 40 compared to Nadal’s 36 and Federer’s tally of 28.

What Federer said about the GOAT discussion

Back in 2018, Federer was asked about who he considered to be the ‘GOAT’ and responded: “It’s definitely difficult overall. I don’t think Ken Rosewall was thinking of how many majors he was going to win.

“You know, I think the future is only going to be reminded even more so of what everybody has achieved.

“But I think at the end of the day, it’s just a fun and interesting debate, nothing more. We will never quite know because you only get sometimes the chance to be the youngest to win a slam, and you only get a chance later on to be the oldest to win something.”

Federer won 15 of his 20 major titles before 2010, and clinched just five from 2010 until his retirement in 2022.

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