‘I practised with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic – it’s clear who the greatest ever is’

Even as the Big Three era reaches an end, the rivalry between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic continues to stir a debate.

By the numbers, Djokovic is clearly the greatest of all time. But plenty of people in the tennis world bring other things into the argument – influence, reputation, popularity.

A former hitting partner who sparred with all three multi-Grand Slam champions has now had his say, naming the man who is the “greatest that has ever played the game”.

British coach Mike Digby is now better known for working with WTA star Tamara Zidansek. But he has previously served as a sparring partner for some of the sport’s great champions.

As well as hitting with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, he has also been on the practice courts with Jannik Sinner and Naomi Osaka. And Digby has now explained how he’d differentiate each member of the Big Three if he was blindfolded.

“It is difficult because they all bring an aura. I speak about this word a lot, like an aura to the tennis court. They have a strong presence but if I was blindfolded, they’re very different auras,” he told Sportskeeda.

“I would say Federer, you can feel his presence just through the pure quality of ball striking.

So just the sound of the ball off the strings, the elegance that he brings when he does it, just the calm and class that he brings, you can just feel it.”

Turning his attention to Nadal, Zidansek’s coach thought the Spaniard was the opposite. He continued: “But on the flip side, Nadal would be someone that you can hear, right?

“His aura comes through what you hear through the heaviness of the strike, through the grunt, obviously, through the feet that you can kind of just hear him scurrying his feet.”

As for Djokovic? “Novak has a blend of those two. He has a bit more of an arrogance to him. And I love that about him,” Digby added.

That’s genuinely not a negative comment at all. I think that if he didn’t have that, he wouldn’t be the Novak Djokovic that we all know. It makes him who he is.”

When it comes to the GOAT debate, there’s only one answer for the British coach. “It makes him, in my opinion, the greatest that has ever played the game purely from a tennis standpoint,” he said of Djokovic.

“So yeah, if I was blindfolded, I think those would be my type of feel and hear really.”