Novak Djokovic equalled the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles when he won the US Open earlier this month. At the age of 36, he now owns most records in the men’s game but he shows no sign of wanting to slow down just yet.
In the latest episode of Eye of the Coach, Patrick Mouratoglou explains why he thinks Djokovic has made it to the very top, putting himself above Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the conversation to be called the greatest player of all time.
“I think I said when he was on 12 or 13 Grand Slams that Novak would win the most of all,” Mouratoglou says. “He was dominant already. I thought at that time, he was superior. I knew that his body was in perfect shape. Novak’s game is not painful for the body. Novak is for me the perfect athlete for tennis. He’s a conqueror and a dominator, and he loves to prove people wrong.”
“All three have the main qualities. Roger probably loves tennis the most. He’s a player, he loves tennis, he’s breathing tennis, living tennis and that’s why he was playing that type of tennis. Rafa loves to fight, to suffer, tofight from the first point to the last. Nvak wants to doinate, he wants to be better, he has the willingness to be better than anyone. I think he’s superior to the others in that area. He wants it more, he’s prepared to do more. He wants to be on top of the world.
Mouraroglou says he does not think anything will change in Djokovic’s mentality even though he has won his 24th slam.
“He has competitors, Carlos (Alcaraz), Daniil (Medvedev) are pushing him and maybe tomorrow others will push him a lot. He still wants to be on top of the world and he wants to make history and be the best undoubtedly for all time. If he can make a record that will never ever be broken, that’s enough to give him the motivation.”
KEY MOMENTS FROM EYE OF THE COACH #82
0.15: Why Mouratoglou thought Djokovic would eventually win the most slams when he’d won 12 or 13
1.00: “Novak is the perfect athlete for tennis”
1.40: Roger loved tennis the most, Rafa likes to fight, Novak wants to be the best
2.15: Novak simply wants to dominate, to be better than anyone else, to prove people wrong
3.10: Winning his 24th slam won’t dent his motivation to win even more
In the latest episode of Eye of the Coach, Patrick Mouratoglou explains why he thinks Djokovic has made it to the very top, putting himself above Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the conversation to be called the greatest player of all time.
“I think I said when he was on 12 or 13 Grand Slams that Novak would win the most of all,” Mouratoglou says. “He was dominant already. I thought at that time, he was superior. I knew that his body was in perfect shape. Novak’s game is not painful for the body. Novak is for me the perfect athlete for tennis. He’s a conqueror and a dominator, and he loves to prove people wrong.”
“All three have the main qualities. Roger probably loves tennis the most. He’s a player, he loves tennis, he’s breathing tennis, living tennis and that’s why he was playing that type of tennis. Rafa loves to fight, to suffer, tofight from the first point to the last. Nvak wants to doinate, he wants to be better, he has the willingness to be better than anyone. I think he’s superior to the others in that area. He wants it more, he’s prepared to do more. He wants to be on top of the world.
Mouraroglou says he does not think anything will change in Djokovic’s mentality even though he has won his 24th slam.
“He has competitors, Carlos (Alcaraz), Daniil (Medvedev) are pushing him and maybe tomorrow others will push him a lot. He still wants to be on top of the world and he wants to make history and be the best undoubtedly for all time. If he can make a record that will never ever be broken, that’s enough to give him the motivation.”
KEY MOMENTS FROM EYE OF THE COACH #82
0.15: Why Mouratoglou thought Djokovic would eventually win the most slams when he’d won 12 or 13
1.00: “Novak is the perfect athlete for tennis”
1.40: Roger loved tennis the most, Rafa likes to fight, Novak wants to be the best
2.15: Novak simply wants to dominate, to be better than anyone else, to prove people wrong
3.10: Winning his 24th slam won’t dent his motivation to win even more
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Roger, Rafa, Novak have the main qualities.
00:03 But Novak wants to dominate.
00:06 He wants to be better.
00:07 He wants it more.
00:09 And that's where he's better than two others.
00:11 I think I said that he will probably be the record holder
00:18 of number of Grand Slams when he had 12 or 13.
00:21 I thought so for several reasons.
00:22 First of all, he was dominant already.
00:25 I felt that at that time,
00:26 he was better than Roger and Rafa.
00:30 Of course, Rafa was always better on clay,
00:32 but on all the other surfaces, he was superior.
00:36 Of course, he lost many matches against them,
00:38 but generally speaking, I felt he was winning more
00:41 and able to win more and constantly.
00:44 Also, he was still young,
00:45 and I knew that his body was in perfect shape
00:49 and ready to last much more than Rafa, for example,
00:53 who had so many injuries
00:54 and has a game that is painful for the body.
00:58 Novak's game is not painful for the body.
01:00 He has an incredible diet, training.
01:03 He's just, for me, the perfect athlete for tennis.
01:06 So that was the reason.
01:07 And third, I would say his mindset.
01:10 He's really someone who wants to dominate.
01:12 He's a concurrent and he's a dominator.
01:14 That's what he wants.
01:15 And also, he loves to prove people wrong.
01:19 And the fact that there were so many fans
01:21 for the two others and less for him,
01:23 that he was not as liked as the two others,
01:25 I felt that it created in him the will
01:27 to make a revenge one way or another.
01:29 And the best answer to that is to be undoubtedly better
01:33 than them in terms of achievement.
01:35 I think this combination of the three elements is key
01:37 and has been key in all his achievements
01:40 since he started to play tennis.
01:41 All three, Roger, Rafa, Novak, have the main qualities,
01:46 but some are better than others at certain things.
01:50 All three love tennis.
01:51 Maybe, probably, Roger is the one who loves tennis the most.
01:55 He's a player.
01:56 He loves tennis.
01:57 He's breathing tennis, he's living tennis all his career.
02:01 And that's why he was playing that type of tennis.
02:03 Rafa loves fights.
02:04 He loves to be on the court.
02:05 He loves to suffer.
02:06 He loves to fight from the first point to the last one
02:09 and give.
02:10 This is where he excels
02:11 and this is where he feels the more alive.
02:15 Novak wants to dominate.
02:17 He wants to be better.
02:18 And that's where he's better than two others.
02:19 He has the willingness to be better than anyone,
02:23 to dominate, to be the best.
02:25 It has been a driver for him all his career.
02:27 And I think he's superior to the two others
02:29 in that special area.
02:31 He wants it more.
02:32 It's more important to him.
02:34 He's prepared to do more.
02:36 He's prepared to have the diet,
02:38 the perfect diet every day in his life.
02:40 He's prepared to sacrifice everything to be the best.
02:44 The two others, yes, but he wants to be the best.
02:46 He wants to dominate.
02:47 He wants to be on top of the world.
02:48 That's, for him, that was his main driver,
02:52 his main motivation.
02:53 Roger wanted to play tennis and win
02:55 because he loves to play tennis
02:56 and he's a great competitor.
02:57 And Rapha wants to be on that court
02:59 and fight and suffer and end up winning.
03:02 It's more general for Novak.
03:04 He wants to be the one on top of the world,
03:06 on top of everyone.
03:07 He wants to be the best.
03:08 That's what drove him.
03:09 The fact that he's now obviously the best with 24 titles
03:13 will not change it because first, he has competitors.
03:17 He has Carlos who's pushing him a lot,
03:19 Daniel who's pushing him a lot,
03:21 and maybe two more others that are gonna push him a lot.
03:23 And he still wants to be on top of the world.
03:25 It's not something that he can accept to lose,
03:28 so he's gonna fight for that.
03:30 And second, he wants to make history.
03:32 He wants to be the best, undoubtedly, of all times.
03:34 And if he can make a record that will stay forever,
03:37 that will never, ever be beaten in history,
03:40 it's enough to give him the utmost motivation.
03:43 And he has it.
03:44 (upbeat music)
03:47 (upbeat music)
03:49 (upbeat music)
03:52 (upbeat music)