Masur plays safe in the great debate
Former Australian star Wally Masur has weighed in on tennis’ GOAT debate, throwing a few curveballs into the discussion.
By taking out the Australian Open men’s final on Sunday, Novak Djokovic tied Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 grand slam titles.
Masur was asked if Djokovic is the greatest tennis player of all time, following his straight sets win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
‘‘Not yet,’’ he told Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily. ‘‘Rafa’s got 22 slams [as well]. I’m just going to go with the numbers.
‘‘You cannot compare eras. Don’t even bother. It was all relative.
‘‘So if he [Djokovic] wins 23 slams and Rafa ends up with 22 – he’s the greatest. If the opposite is true – Rafa is the greatest.’’
Omitting recently retired Swiss master Roger Federer from the conversation, Masur argued the numbers don’t lie.
‘‘He’s sitting on 20 [titles] – he’s not there, and he’s retired,’’ he said.
‘‘You don’t get points for grace in my book. There are no style points. It’s not ice skating. I’m just going to go purely with the numbers.’’
Another former Australian star, Alicia Molik, said Djokovic would be second to none by the end of his career.
Speaking on Nine’s Today, the former world No 8 said the Serbian was performing at a level above the rest.
‘‘I think the start of many more, he is going to top the charts and he will be remembered as the greatest of all time,’’ she said.
‘‘I still think he’s got three or four more [titles] left in him, at least. Let’s wait and see but he is dominating men’s tennis.’’
Addressing the media postmatch, Djokovic said he was motivated to go out on top and was prepared to put in the work to press on.
‘‘Of course, I am motivated to win as many slams as possible,’’ he said.