"When people say Roger Federer has lost against Djokovic and Nadal more times and that's why he can't be the best, it's absurd" - Alex Corretja

Alex Corretja came to Roger Federer's defense in the GOAT debate

Alex Corretja recently gave his thoughts on the GOAT debate, asserting that Roger Federer should not be left out of the discussion simply because of his poor head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

For the record, the Swiss trails the Serb 23-27 in their head-to-head and has lost six of their last seven meetings. Against Nadal, Federer lags behind 16-24 but has won seven of their last eight meetings.

A crazy thing that I don't think that been posted in the aftermath:

Nadal now has a 20 wins - 10 losses combined H2H vs Federer and Djokovic in Slams. That is an unbelievable big match metric vs the other two GOAT contenders.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Spanish magazine Jot Down, Corretja remarked that head-to-head records should not be the be-all and end-all when it comes to deciding who the best is.

Kyrgios: "Federer is done for me in the GOAT talks. He has a losing H2H record against both Nadal and Djokovic. If Rafa wins his 22nd Major, he has got the crown."

In the former World No. 2's opinion, the fact that Nadal has fared well against the 20-time Grand Slam champion is not surprising since his style of play is better suited to facing Federer.

"When people say Roger Federer has lost against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal more times and that's why he can't be the best in history, it's absurd to me," Corretja said. "Because of their [contrasting] style of play, Nadal is obviously going to do a lot of damage to him."

The Spaniard pointed out that the only weakness in the 40-year-old's game is his ability to deal with high balls on his backhand. Corretja reckons that since Nadal can target Federer's backhand relentlessly with his top-spin forehand, it was only natural for the Swiss to struggle in their encounters.

"The only tactical mole that hurts him is the backhand high ball and the best shot in history is Rafa's high cross forehand to the opponent's backhand," Corretja said. "The best of one is combined with the only weak point of the other."

Unbalanced H2H:

🇷🇸 #Djokvic vs 🇨🇭 #Federer

Although Djokovic is ahead in the H2Hs against Federer (27-23), it's incredible to think that Roger in their challenges has won more sets, more games and more points https://t.co/47kqh4C1yO

Similarly, the 47-year-old noted how Djokovic's knack for playing long rallies, as well as his remarkable return, neutralizes the Swiss' natural game. Instead of seeing that as a reason to ignore the Swiss in the GOAT debate, Alex Corretja proclaimed that head-to-head records only served to showcase the advantages of one particular playstyle over another.

"And the fact that Djokovic beat him is also normal - because he neutralizes his serve like nobody else, because he plays very long, because he doesn't let him take his forehand as he likes," Corretja said. "It's normal that he beat him many times. What I mean is that they are styles of play, nothing more."

"It's normal that I beat Roger Federer on many occasions, what does that mean? Nothing" - Alex Corretja

Although he had a better record against Roger Federer, Alex Corretja did not think it mattered too much

Interestingly, Alex Corretja has a positive head-to-head record against both Roger Federer (3-2) and Rafael Nadal (2-0). But the former World No. 2 was quick to point out that it did not automatically mean he was a better player than both.

Just 3 Players in 🎾 history own a winning H2H record vs BOTH Federer & Nadal

*MUST have played ATLEAST 2 matches vs both

1.) Djokovic

- Leads Nadal 29-27
- Leads Federer 27-23

2.) Corretja

- Lead Federer 3-2
- Lead Nadal 2-0

3.) Hrbaty

- Lead Nadal 3-1
- Lead Federer 2-1

All it meant to the Spaniard was that he was fortunate enough to play against the duo when he was more experienced than them. In the grand scheme of things, however, Corretja reckoned that his results against the former World No. 1s were "insignificant" compared to what the pair have gone on to achieve since then.

"It's normal that I beat [Roger Federer] on many occasions. And what does that mean? Nothing. [All it means is] that my game, on his day, did not go sit well with his style because he was very young and failed a lot with the backhand," Corretja said. "On clay, it was enough for me to send him many high balls there. I caught [Rafael] Nadal very, very young too. He had no experience and I did. But all that is insignificant."