Aryna Sabalenka says Novak Djokovic is "undoubtedly" the greatest tennis player of all time.
Ahead of the 2026 season, Sabalenka joined TNT Sports to answer some quick questions. After answering a couple of questions about her rivals, favorite tournaments and wins, the world No. 1 was asked to reveal her GOAT pick.
"Who is the tennis GOAT?" the interviewer asked the Belarusian tennis star, to which the 27-year-old responded: "Novak Djokovic, no doubt."
Aryna said Iga is the best player she has ever faced pic.twitter.com/eRcb4hemjL
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In 2023, Djokovic won three Grand Slam titles to beat out Rafael Nadal and improve to an all-time record of 24 Majors. Nadal finished with 22 Grand Slams, while Roger Federer won 20 Majors. When it comes to the world No. 1 ranking records, the Serb owns that one too as he is the only player in tennis history to have spent 400+ weeks at the world No. 1 spot.
Since the 38-year-old Serb owns the two biggest records in tennis, some believe that there shouldn't be any doubt about who won the GOAT battle.
Sabalenka received help from Djokovic this year
After losing back-to-back Grand Slam finals at the Australian Open and the French Open, Sabalenka suffered another painful defeat when she lost in the Wimbledon semifinal. The Belarusian thought that she was dealing with some kind of mental block in those biggest matches, and she turned to Djokovic for help. Two months later, she won the US Open and lifted her fourth Grand Slam title.
“How to stay settled and how to look at everything as you’re looking from the outside on the situation on the court, off the court. Just to, like, be able to sit back and look at everything. Kind of like it’s not you looking, it’s someone else looking at your situation. I think that’s the best lesson that you could take from Novak," Sabalenka shared when asked how the Serb helped her.
