Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer are undoubtedly the best three tennis players in the history of men’s tennis.

The trio dominated the sport for two decades, collecting 66 Grand Slam titles between them, with Djokovic topping the lot with 24 major honours.

The trio met several times at the backend of major tournaments and they left very little for any of their other rivals, despite the quality of the likes of Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, and Juan Martin del Potro.

There have been plenty of debate around which of Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal were the better player and now Goran Ivanisevic has chimed in with his view.

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In an interview with SportKlub, the Croatian said: “For me, Novak is one of the greatest athletes in history, and he is arguably the greatest tennis player.

“If we take Federer, who plays the most beautifully, and who is nice to watch even when he plays badly, then Nadal, who always gives his all and to whom I would entrust a match if my life depended on it.”

However, the 2001 Wimbledon champion did concede that he believes Djokovic stands above Federer and Nadal when you compare their entire careers.

“Novak is the most complete, he plays the best tennis,” said Ivanisevic. “He is like a shark or a snake, he catches you and just chokes you, there is no going back.”

Of course, Ivanisevic is biased as he worked as Djokovic’s coach for many of the years he was on top of the ATP Tour.

He worked with Djokovic between 2019 and 2023, which was a very fruitful time in the Serbian star’s career.

During their time together, Djokovic won three Wimbledon titles, two Roland Garros titles, three Australian Open titles, one US Open, two ATP Finals, and seven ATP 1000 events.

The former world No 2 has also worked with Marin Cilic, who won his sole Grand Slam title under Ivanisevic at the 2014 US Open.

Ivanisevic is currently working with Arthur Fils, who is widely considered to be one of the ATP Tour’s next great players.

The pair have been working together since the start of the 2026 season and the Frenchman currently sits at world No 21 in the ATP Tour rankings following his comeback from a back injury.

The star has collected the Barcelona Open title and reached the semi finals of two Masters tournaments, at the Miami Open and the Madrid Open, under Ivanisevic’s guidance.

He has picked up victories against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Rafael Jodar, Lorenzo Musetti, and Jiri Lehecka already this season.