By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Hall of Famer Jim Courier's nuanced opinion on the GOAT—and how many majors the Grand Slam king will ultimately win.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Roland Garros is set to unveil its Rafael Nadal statue before the king of clay takes aim at a monumental major mark.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Nadal will play for his men's record 21st Grand Slam crown in Paris this month—three months after Novak Djokovic lifted his 18th career major championship in Melbourne.
More: Tennis Channel Roland Garros TV Schedule
The ongoing major rally between rivals Djokovic and Nadal will continue, Hall of Famer Jim Courier predicts, with the 34-year-old Spaniard winning two to three more major title and world No. 1 Djokovic challenging for Grand Slam titles until age 40 and ultimately reigning as Grand Slam king.
In a conference call with the media to promote Tennis Channel's Roland Garros coverage, which starts on Sunday at 5 a.m. Eastern Time, Courier was asked which Big 3 champion is most likely to win the most majors and mythical GOAT title.
The four-time major champion sees both Nadal and Djokovic continuing to rack up Grand Slam silverware in the coming years.
"It's hard to see Rafa not winning at least two to three more [Grand Slam titles] based on how healthy he seems right now and how much of a prohibitive favorite he is at Roland Garros," Courier said. "So if he punches out at 22 or 23 Novak has a lot of ground to make up."
Citing Djokovic's all-surface acumen, level of play, health and fitness and the fact he's the youngest of the Big 3, Courier asserts Djokovic will be a contender for more majors than Nadal in the coming years empowering him to break the men's Grand Slam record and possibly push toward an unprecedented 25th major singles championship.
"Big picture, I definitely think Novak will have more bites at the apple," Courier said. "Assuming they both stay healthy, I think he's a little more viable across the other surfaces if you compare the balance of where their majors have been won I think that's probably true—three of the four [Slams] are not on clay."
Given Djokovic's discipline and commitment to conquering the Grand Slam record, Courier envisions the 34-year-old Serbian contending for Slams until at least age 40 perhaps pushing tennis longevity standards as Tom Brady has done in the NFL and golfer Phil Mickelson did on Sunday making history as the sport's oldest major champion by capturing the PGA Championships at age 50.
"But [Novak] seems likely to have a longer career, he's a year younger, he tends to stay in pretty good health," Courier said. "As long as he can stay away from the operating table and stay focused he'll be viable until he's 40 years old.
"I hope Rafa is—it's amazing he's still going so strong right now given the toll his style of play takes on his body. We'll see. It doesn't matter what I think all that matters is what they do. And we're just lucky to get a chance to watch it."