Jim Courier has given his take on the GOAT debate and has declared Novak Djokovic as the best tennis player over his adversaries Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer based on statistics.

Courier competed on the men’s singles circuit for 12 years between 1988 and 2000. After drawing curtains on his tennis career, he has undertaken the role of covering and analyzing the sport day and night.

The four-time Grand Slam champion recently sat down at the Tennis Channel desk on the sidelines of the Indian Wells Masters 2024 and minced no words while putting Djokovic ahead of Nadal and Federer in the all-time list of the greatest tennis players.

“Statistically, it’s over. For now, unless Nadal somehow is able to find something and get back in the conversation with more Majors,” Jim Courier said.

Nadal has amassed 22 Major trophies while Federer has 20, with both trailing Djokovic’s tally of 24 Grand Slam titles.

Courier further backed his claim by citing Djokovic’s lead of 24-16 over Federer and 30-29 advantage over Nadal in the respective head-to-head accounts.

“But there’s a lot to it. It’s not just the Major titles, it’s also the head-to-head record. Novak has a sizeable head-to-head lead over Federer but a narrow one over Nadal, it’s close,” the four-time Grand Slam champion added while reading the numbers on the screen.

“Novak Djokovic’s the greatest and deserves all the accolades” – Jim Courier

Jim Courier carried on with his argument and highlighted the number of weeks Novak Djokovic has spent as the World No. 1 men’s singles player since turning professional.

“But one that’s not on this screen graphic I’ve been talking about for a while and I think it’s really important too. It’s the weeks at No. 1, Djokovic certainly has a massive lead there,” Courier stated.

The Serb has held the pole position for a staggering 416 weeks and counting. Roger Federer posted 310 weeks before calling it a day in September 2022 whereas Nadal has sat atop for 209 weeks.

Courier concluded his account by comparing the Serb’s Year-end finishes as the World No. 1 to those of the Spaniard and the Swiss Maestro.

“Then the Year-end No. 1, which is the true champion of the season, he’s done that eight times. Federer and Nadal five times each. Sampras, six times, so for me, the numbers don’t lie. He’s [Novak Djokovic] the greatest and deserves all the accolades,” the American added.

Courier, for his part, remained the World No. 1 in the men’s singles category for 58 weeks.