Roger Federer is the GOAT, Nadal would make a good prime minister, Djokovic will not be the best even if he wins 32 Slams: Helene Pelletier
Helene Pelletier recently gave her thoughts on the GOAT race between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. According to Pelletier, Federer is the greatest of all time as he makes tennis look "easy."
Pelletier is a former Canadian Fed Cup player, best known for her exploits on the doubles circuit. The 62-year-old, who now works in the media industry, spoke to La Presse ahead of the National Bank Open, where she heaped praise on Federer's style of play and personality.
“I think that, for me, it (the greatest of all time) will always be Roger Federer," said Pelletier. "Because he makes tennis easy. Federer is gracious. So he takes us somewhere else when we look at him. We've seen him play well a lot more often than play badly! I would say 95% of his games, it's a real pleasure to see him because he (Roger Federer) makes us dream."
Shifting her focus to Rafael Nadal, the former pro admitted that she "adores" the Spaniard due to his generous nature. Pelletier recalled how the 20-time Major champion once shook the hand of every member of the technical staff during one of his media interactions in Montreal.
"People know how much I adore Nadal," Pelletier continued. “I love Nadal because he's a good person. He is humble, he is kind. When we did the interviews in Montreal before the tournament, he shook the hand of all the technicians before leaving. Not another one that came close to doing that."
Pelletier firmly believes that Nadal is amongst the first to jump to people's aid, citing the 35-year-old's efforts to help his countrypeople during the Mallorca floods in 2018.
"Suppose you have a disaster, it's Nadal you send," said Pelletier. "It’s Nadal you want as prime minister because he’s going to take care of it, that’s going to be fair. He's going to put on his rubber boots and he's going to go remove the mud like he did on Mallorca when there was flooding [in 2018]. He was with the people, he worked with them, and he did not say ready-made little marketing phrases. It’s a real one."
Pelletier was then asked to give her verdict on Novak Djokovic with regards to the GOAT race. She claimed that the Serb is "fascinating in his own way" but pointed out that Djokovic has too many flaws which is why she cannot consider him the GOAT even if he breaks all the tennis records.
“He's (Novak Djokovic) fascinating in his own way," said Pelletier. "But there are too many things he does that bother me deeply," said the Canadian. "So (even if) he will have 32 Grand Slam victories, he will not be my greatest player of all time."
Pelletier has always been skeptical of Novak Djokovic's achievements. In 2017, when Djokovic was tending to his injuries, she publicly stated that the ATP had given the Serb a silent ban due to possible doping charges.
Needless to say, her claims were unfounded and the Serb even pondered legal action against her at the time.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal & Novak Djokovic are all nursing injuries ahead of the US Open
Roger Federer recently pulled out of the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters due to his problematic knee.
Rafael Nadal is nursing a chronic foot problem that bothered him during the Citi Open in Washington. But he is scheduled to take part in the National Bank Open in Toronto, which begins on Monday.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, seemingly sustained a shoulder problem during the Tokyo Olympics. He will not feature in the National Bank Open and is unlikely to take part in Cincinnati either.
All three players face a race against time to be fit for the US Open, which begins at the end of the month.