"Roger Federer looked the best, Rafael Nadal grinded the best, Novak Djokovic is the best" - Former Serena Williams coach Rick Macci
Former Serena Williams coach and American coaching legend Rick Macci heaped praise on Novak Djokovic after the Serb's historic 23rd Grand Slam at the French Open on Sunday.
Djokovic downed Casper Ruud 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5 in the title match to win his third trophy in Paris. Apart from completing the triple career Grand Slam (winning all four Majors at least thrice), he also reclaimed the World No. 1 spot from Carlos Alcaraz.
Taking to social media, Macci joined the rest of the tennis world in congratulating the 23-time Grand Slam champion. Macci was especially in awe of the 36-year-old's mentality, marveling at how he has wired himself to look at adversity and disappointment as his "best friend ever."
"Novak Djokovic mentally has trained and wired himself to look at adversity, disappointment and problems as his best friend ever," Macci said.
@DjokerNole mentally has trained and wired himself to look at adversity disappointment and problems as his best friend ever.
Rick Macci then compared Djokovic with his Big-3 rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He said that while Federer looked the best and Nadal grinded the best, Djokovic is simply the very best:
"Federer looked the best. Nadal grinded the best. Joker is the best," Macci said.
Federer looked the best. Nadal grinded the best. Joker is the best.
I have always compared myself to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - Novak Djokovic
At his post-match press conference after his French Open win, Novak Djokovic touched on his relationship with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, saying that he has always compared himself to the legendary duo.
Reiterating that they were two of his "greatest rivals," the World No. 1 said that he owed his success and constant improvement to them for continuously pushing him to be better.
"Well, the truth is that I have always compared myself to these guys, because those two are the two greatest rivals I ever had in my career," Djokovic said.
"I have said it before many times that they have actually defined me as a player, and all the success that I have, you know, they have contributed to it, in a way, because of the rivalries and the matchups that we had."
The 23-time Grand Slam champion added that the countless hours he spent thinking about how to beat them and devising strategies against them played a big part in eventually moulding him into the player that he is today.
"Countless hours of thinking and analyzing and what it takes to win against them on the biggest stage, you know, for me and my team, it was just those two guys were occupying my mind for the last 15 years quite a lot, in a professional sense," Djokovic said.
Djokovic is one of only three players in the Open Era to win the triple career Grand Slam, with the two others being Steffi Graf and Serena Williams.