"Simply amazing!" - Martina Navratilova endorses comment calling Novak Djokovic the best male player in history
Martina Navratilova has shared her admiration for Novak Djokovic's sustained excellence ahead of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships final.
On Friday, July 14, Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 46 minutes to record his 34th consecutive win at the grasscourt Major. Subsequently, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to set up a blockbuster final clash on Sunday.
With his win, Djokovic advanced to his ninth Wimbledon final. He also reached his record 35th Grand Slam final, surpassing Chris Evert's tally of 34 Major finals.
Responding to the impressive stat on social media, American journalist Glenn Greenwald expressed his admiration for the Serb, stating that the 23-time Grand Slam champion was not only the best male player in history, but was also continuing to improve even at 36 years of age.
While Greenwald acknowledged that the absence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and the decline of Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka may have made the World No. 2's path to success easier, he asserted that the Serb's dismantling of younger players was remarkable.
"Djokovic isn't just now the clearly best male player in tennis history, but somehow seems to be getter better at the age of 36. Obviously it helps that Federer and Nadal aren't there, and Wawrinka and Murray are old, but rolling through these young players like this is amazing," Greenwald tweeted.
Martina Navratilova concurred with Greenwald's statement and chimed in with her own praise for the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
"Yup. Simply amazing!" Navratilova tweeted.
Yup. Simply amazing! twitter.com/ggreenwald/sta…
"If I win it could be amazing, to do it against Novak Djokovic would be super special" - Carlos Alcaraz ahead of Wimbledon final
Looking ahead to the Wimbledon 2023 final, Carlos Alcaraz admitted to finding extra motivation in taking on a legend like Novak Djokovic. He asserted that winning his maiden title at the grass court Major would carry greater significance were he to do so against the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
"Well, gives you extra motivation. I think it's more special to play final against a legend from our sport. Well, if I win, it could be amazing for me - not only win a Wimbledon title but do it against Novak would be super special," he said.
The Spaniard also acknowledged the challenges of facing the Serb. He said he would need to dig deep in order to form a winning strategy for the final given that the four-time defending champion had no discernible weaknesses in his game.
"I have to get deep into that because Novak has no weakness, so it's going to be really tough to find the way to be danger for him," he said.
Should Djokovic emerge victorious in the final, he will equal Roger Federer's record of eight Wimbledon titles. He will also match Federer and Bjorn Borg's record of five consecutive titles at SW19.